Nancy Meesters

I am a Mental Health Care psychologist, working in different settings for 30 years (since 2014 I work only from my own practice). In the 30 years that I have worked in mental health care, I have met and treated people with very diverse problems and complaints.

I have gained experience in working with addiction problems, anxiety and mood complaints, traumatic experiences, (unexplained) physical (pain) complaints, personality and relational problems and work-related problems.

In addition to my work as a therapist, I have also worked as a psychological researcher and reporter.

I started my studies in psychology at Tilburg University, and completed my doctoral studies in clinical psychology in 1993 at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (now Radboud University). Since my doctoral internship at the Psychology Practice of Derksen & Klein Herenbrink, I have continued to work in mental health care.

From my personal interest in art and culture, and after a failed attempt to develop myself further in the field of music, I am very interested in all the different forms of expression. How people express themselves and make themselves understood. But especially in how we express ourselves, as human beings, in our daily lives.

In my work as a psychologist and therapist, I have mainly focused on emotions and our physical, mental and behavioral reactions to them. I support and treat people who are (at risk of) getting stuck by helping them to better understand situations and the reactions they have to them in thoughts, feelings and behavior.

The focus in my work with clients is mainly on restoring their own strength and better self-care by increasing the insight in the selve(s) they have. I mainly practice, together with my clients, in developing skills that can help them learn to handle difficult situations better. During my treatments (and especially training courses), clients learn to develop practical tools that they can continue with, even after the treatment has ended. In this way, people not only get a toolbox in their hands, but they also learn which tools they have to use for specific jobs, and how to use the tools.

When I came across the training to become a CFT therapist (which was given for the first time in 2022/2023 by Paul Gilbert and his team from the Compassionate Mind Foundation), I immediately knew: This is it!

This training to become a CFT therapist really feels like the ‘crowning glory’ of my personal development as a psychologist and therapist. But especially as a person.

CFT combines everything that occupies and fascinates me, with everything I have learned and done so far. It feels like a nice, warm and comfortable coat that protects me from rain and hail. At the same time, CFT is my coat rack on which I can hang everything (including ‘wet coats’).

Exactly the way I want to work as a therapist: together with people, investigate what is helpful for them, based on all available scientific knowledge and useful sources.

In addition to being a psychologist, I am also a Kundalini yoga teacher (3HO) and a Mindfulness trainer (MBSR/MBCT & MBCL and Breathworks CIC).

Graduated from the first Diploma course in CFT (provided from CMF) in 2023 I started Compassionate Mind Nederland. We provide:

• Promotion of theory and practice of CFT
• Individual & group treatment for clients
• Education & training in CFT
• Accompaniment supervision from a CFT viewpoint for caretakers & professionals in Health Care
• Individual & for teams
• Lectures & workshops in CFT
• Free material for practice and development in Compassion

I am a Mental Health Care psychologist, working in different settings for 30 years (since 2014 I work only from my own practice). In the 30 years that I have worked in mental health care, I have met and treated people with very diverse problems and complaints.

I have gained experience in working with addiction problems, anxiety and mood complaints, traumatic experiences, (unexplained) physical (pain) complaints, personality and relational problems and work-related problems.

In addition to my work as a therapist, I have also worked as a psychological researcher and reporter.

I started my studies in psychology at Tilburg University, and completed my doctoral studies in clinical psychology in 1993 at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (now Radboud University). Since my doctoral internship at the Psychology Practice of Derksen & Klein Herenbrink, I have continued to work in mental health care.

From my personal interest in art and culture, and after a failed attempt to develop myself further in the field of music, I am very interested in all the different forms of expression. How people express themselves and make themselves understood. But especially in how we express ourselves, as human beings, in our daily lives.

In my work as a psychologist and therapist, I have mainly focused on emotions and our physical, mental and behavioral reactions to them. I support and treat people who are (at risk of) getting stuck by helping them to better understand situations and the reactions they have to them in thoughts, feelings and behavior.

The focus in my work with clients is mainly on restoring their own strength and better self-care by increasing the insight in the selve(s) they have. I mainly practice, together with my clients, in developing skills that can help them learn to handle difficult situations better. During my treatments (and especially training courses), clients learn to develop practical tools that they can continue with, even after the treatment has ended. In this way, people not only get a toolbox in their hands, but they also learn which tools they have to use for specific jobs, and how to use the tools.

When I came across the training to become a CFT therapist (which was given for the first time in 2022/2023 by Paul Gilbert and his team from the Compassionate Mind Foundation), I immediately knew: This is it!

This training to become a CFT therapist really feels like the ‘crowning glory’ of my personal development as a psychologist and therapist. But especially as a person.

CFT combines everything that occupies and fascinates me, with everything I have learned and done so far. It feels like a nice, warm and comfortable coat that protects me from rain and hail. At the same time, CFT is my coat rack on which I can hang everything (including ‘wet coats’).

Exactly the way I want to work as a therapist: together with people, investigate what is helpful for them, based on all available scientific knowledge and useful sources.

In addition to being a psychologist, I am also a Kundalini yoga teacher (3HO) and a Mindfulness trainer (MBSR/MBCT & MBCL and Breathworks CIC).

Graduated from the first Diploma course in CFT (provided from CMF) in 2023 I started Compassionate Mind Nederland. We provide:

• Promotion of theory and practice of CFT
• Individual & group treatment for clients
• Education & training in CFT
• Accompaniment supervision from a CFT viewpoint for caretakers & professionals in Health Care
• Individual & for teams
• Lectures & workshops in CFT
• Free material for practice and development in Compassion

I am a Mental Health Care psychologist, working in different settings for 30 years (since 2014 I work only from my own practice). In the 30 years that I have worked in mental health care, I have met and treated people with very diverse problems and complaints.

I have gained experience in working with addiction problems, anxiety and mood complaints, traumatic experiences, (unexplained) physical (pain) complaints, personality and relational problems and work-related problems.

In addition to my work as a therapist, I have also worked as a psychological researcher and reporter.

I started my studies in psychology at Tilburg University, and completed my doctoral studies in clinical psychology in 1993 at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (now Radboud University). Since my doctoral internship at the Psychology Practice of Derksen & Klein Herenbrink, I have continued to work in mental health care.

From my personal interest in art and culture, and after a failed attempt to develop myself further in the field of music, I am very interested in all the different forms of expression. How people express themselves and make themselves understood. But especially in how we express ourselves, as human beings, in our daily lives.

In my work as a psychologist and therapist, I have mainly focused on emotions and our physical, mental and behavioral reactions to them. I support and treat people who are (at risk of) getting stuck by helping them to better understand situations and the reactions they have to them in thoughts, feelings and behavior.

The focus in my work with clients is mainly on restoring their own strength and better self-care by increasing the insight in the selve(s) they have. I mainly practice, together with my clients, in developing skills that can help them learn to handle difficult situations better. During my treatments (and especially training courses), clients learn to develop practical tools that they can continue with, even after the treatment has ended. In this way, people not only get a toolbox in their hands, but they also learn which tools they have to use for specific jobs, and how to use the tools.

When I came across the training to become a CFT therapist (which was given for the first time in 2022/2023 by Paul Gilbert and his team from the Compassionate Mind Foundation), I immediately knew: This is it!

This training to become a CFT therapist really feels like the ‘crowning glory’ of my personal development as a psychologist and therapist. But especially as a person.

CFT combines everything that occupies and fascinates me, with everything I have learned and done so far. It feels like a nice, warm and comfortable coat that protects me from rain and hail. At the same time, CFT is my coat rack on which I can hang everything (including ‘wet coats’).

Exactly the way I want to work as a therapist: together with people, investigate what is helpful for them, based on all available scientific knowledge and useful sources.

In addition to being a psychologist, I am also a Kundalini yoga teacher (3HO) and a Mindfulness trainer (MBSR/MBCT & MBCL and Breathworks CIC).

Graduated from the first Diploma course in CFT (provided from CMF) in 2023 I started Compassionate Mind Nederland. We provide:

• Promotion of theory and practice of CFT
• Individual & group treatment for clients
• Education & training in CFT
• Accompaniment supervision from a CFT viewpoint for caretakers & professionals in Health Care
• Individual & for teams
• Lectures & workshops in CFT
• Free material for practice and development in Compassion