Work is never just work - An online therapy group

People come to work as adults. And then something strange happens.

A manager does not praise you, and suddenly you feel like a small child in short trousers.

A colleague gets promoted, and you smile politely while something inside wants to disappear or destroy them.

Your employee repeats the same mistake, and you do not know whether to support them, teach them or smash your laptop against the wall.

You want to grow, but the next level looks like the same political game with a bigger budget and better lighting.

This group is about that place. The place where work becomes psychological.

What this group is

Not a course on leadership. A place to see what you actually do with people.

It is not

a career coaching program
a course on leadership skills
a networking club
quick tools and homework
a place to hide and only listen
a space where everyone must stay nice and comfortable

It is

A therapeutic group for people who work with roles, salaries, titles, clients, teams and responsibility - and who notice that the same relational patterns keep repeating underneath all of it.

We talk about real work situations, but we do not stay on the surface of strategy and advice. We look at what happens underneath, and we do it in live contact with other people, not only in your own head.

It is supportive, but not soft in the sentimental sense. Real contact includes care, irritation, envy, shame, disagreement, competition, withdrawal and repair.

What happens underneath

The questions we explore together.

Why do I feel like an impostor when everyone else seems adult and competent?

Why do I want recognition so badly, and feel ashamed of wanting it?

How do I compete without destroying others or disappearing myself?

What do I do with envy, greed and ambition?

Why do I become cold, controlling, pleasing, silent or aggressive at work?

How do I know whether I need to grow, leave, rest, fight, adapt or build something of my own?

How the work happens

A theme opens the door. Then we work with what appears between us.

The theme opens

Each meeting begins with a theme. It is not a lecture - it sets a direction.

You bring the real material

Participants bring actual situations, reactions and questions from work and life.

We move into live process

Someone advises, someone competes, someone hides, someone wants to be liked. That is the material.

We work with it here

Your patterns with people stop being abstract. You do them in the room, and we can work with them.

Possible themes

Twelve doors into the same room.

T01

A child among adults

Impostor feelings, shame, status and the fear that everyone else knows what they are doing.

T02

Work as a place of shame

Mistakes, visibility, asking for help, wanting recognition and hiding weakness.

T03

Authority and dependency

How power shapes our relationships with bosses, employees and clients.

T04

Competition and scarcity

One position, many people. How to move forward without killing everyone or betraying yourself.

T05

Envy, greed, ambition

What if these are not moral failures, but parts of growth that need to be integrated?

T06

Aggression and influence

How to push for results without turning people into objects.

T07

Burnout and lost meaning

When pushing through stops working and the old identity begins to collapse.

T08

The career ceiling

When it looks like money or promotion, but is really about dependency and contact.

T09

The founder in their own way

Delegating, hiring, firing, trusting people and surviving that others are not you.

T10

Staying human in the system

Politics, budgets, deadlines, KPI, power games and the price of your choices.

T11

Money and wanting more

What you really want: freedom, power, safety, status, love, respect.

T12

Integration

What you now understand about yourself at work, and what you want to try differently.

Fit

Who this group is for.

This may be for you

A manager, project or product lead, founder, consultant, coach, therapist or self-employed professional
Working in an international environment or living between cultures
Successful on the outside, but often tense, ashamed, angry, tired or lonely inside
Dealing with burnout, a career transition or ambition that is hard to admit
Tired of understanding everything intellectually while repeating the same patterns
Curious about group therapy and ready to explore yourself in contact with others

This is probably not for you if you want

A lecture, or career advice only
Quick tools and homework
A networking community
A place to hide and only listen
A purely supportive group without any frustration
A space where everyone must always be nice and comfortable

Especially relevant for expats, internationals, digital nomads and people who live and work between countries, languages and professional identities.

The setting

A closed, considered space - small enough for real contact.

Where

OnlineIn English

Rhythm

10-12Weekly meetings

When

Wednesdays2 hours per meeting

Group

8-10Closed / semi-closed

Participation begins with a short introductory call, for the safety of the group. Exact dates, time and price are announced separately.

The facilitators

Two practitioners who have lived in both worlds.

Valeriy Karasaev

Psychologist (MPsy) · Gestalt therapist (EAGT)

Executive coach and former Head of PMO and Program Manager with 15+ years of corporate and international experience. Worked with large-scale transformation projects, cross-functional teams and corporate systems across Europe.

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Irina Tsyplenkova Baan

Psychologist / therapist · Group facilitator

Works in individual and group practice, with experience of international life and of people navigating relationships, identity, relocation and professional pressure.

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Application

Become more honest, more aware, more capable of contact.

Participation starts with a short introductory call - to understand whether the group is a good fit for you, your request and the current composition of the group.

Request your introductory call ↗

The goal is not to become a perfect professional. It is to become more capable of contact.