Psychology, gently explained
The Riverbank
A quiet place to sit, read and understand yourself a little better.
Short, honest articles about the things people bring to therapy: worry and exhaustion, love and loss, illness, family, life between cultures, and the question of what kind of help is right for you. Each one is built on careful research, and written the way I would explain it if you were sitting across from me.
Topics from A to Z
Anxiety & Panic4 articles
Body & Mind5 articles
- Chronic fatigue and ME/CFS: living with limited energy
- Chronic pain: how the nervous system amplifies pain, and how to cope
- Living with a chronic illness: how to cope mentally
- Long Covid: coping mentally, and the role of the nervous system
- Tinnitus: how the mind and nervous system shape the sound, and how to cope
Body Image & Self-Esteem2 articles
Cancer & Psycho-Oncology4 articles
Depression & Low Mood4 articles
Family & Caregiving2 articles
Finding the Right Help5 articles
- How to choose a therapist: questions to ask and signs of a good fit
- ICD-11, ICD-10 and DSM-5: how mental health diagnoses are made, and why it matters to you
- Mental health diagnoses: why they help, and how they can hurt
- Therapy or coaching? What a life coach does, and when you need a therapist
- Which therapy is right for me? How to choose an approach and a therapist
Grief & Loss2 articles
Hormones & Mood2 articles
Inner Peace & Self-Compassion5 articles
Intercultural Life & Couples3 articles
Love & Relationships6 articles
- Communication problems in relationships: patterns that hurt and what helps
- Falling out of love: why it happens and what it means
- How to get over a breakup: why heartbreak hurts and how healing works
- Peace flows both ways: how inner calm changes your relationships
- What makes a relationship work, and what slowly wears it down
- When sex declines in a relationship: what it can mean, and how couples handle it
Medication2 articles
Migrating from Latin America3 articles
Migration & Life Abroad4 articles
Open Relationships & Polyamory2 articles
Psychotherapy in Berlin12 articles
- Berlin winters: low mood, short days and what helps
- Couples therapy in Berlin: how it works, what it costs and how to find the right fit
- Does insurance pay for psychotherapy? Statutory, private and supplementary insurance explained
- Finding psychotherapy in Berlin: your options, step by step
- Getting psychotherapy paid by public health insurance in Germany: a step-by-step guide
- Individual psychotherapy in Berlin: what to expect from your first sessions
- Learning German in Berlin: when the language becomes a vicious circle
- Life in Berlin: housing stress, bureaucracy and the expat bubble
- Psicoterapia en español en Berlín: opciones, preguntas y cómo elegir in Spanish
- Psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist or Heilpraktiker: what’s the difference?
- Psychotherapy in English in Berlin: options, questions and how to choose
- Waiting times for psychotherapy in Berlin: why it takes so long and what you can do meanwhile
Sex Workers6 articles
- How sex workers experience their work: good sides, hard sides and exploitation
- Sex workers and stigma: family, friends and healthcare
- Sex workers and the law: how legislation shapes daily life, and how to reach health and social care
- Sex workers, money and security: income, debt and the future
- Support for sex workers in Berlin: Hydra e.V. and other places that can help
- The positive sides of sex work: what sex workers and their clients can gain
Sexual & Gender Identity8 articles
Who we are attracted to, who we love and who we are in terms of gender are part of our identity. These articles are about sexual orientation (gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual and more) and gender identity (trans, non-binary and more): accepting yourself, coming out, relationships, family and everyday life.
- Asexuality: what it means, how it feels and what research says
- Coming out at any age: a step-by-step look
- Living as non-binary: names, pronouns, visibility and everyday life
- Queer and migrant: carrying two identities
- Sexual identity and self-acceptance: a gentle guide
- Therapy as a non-binary person: finding space beyond the binary
- Therapy as a trans person: what affirming support can look like
- Trans lives: family, relationships, work and gender euphoria
Stress & Burnout3 articles
Types of Therapy5 articles
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT): how it works and who it can help
- Humanistic therapy: person-centred, Gestalt and emotion-focused approaches
- Psychodynamic therapy: understanding the past to free the present
- Systemic therapy: seeing problems in the context of relationships
- Which therapy is right for me? How to choose an approach and a therapist
Every article draws on peer-reviewed research that is freely available, with the references at the end so you can read the sources yourself. The articles are here to inform and to help you reflect. They cannot diagnose anything, and they do not replace a conversation with a professional.
Reading is a good start. Talking can take it further.
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