Petra Deij

I am an enthusiast systemic family therapist; I consider myself lucky being able to work with people, patterns, and possibilities of change. My background of mental health nursing and social work fits beautifully with my current systemic practice, and this is how I considered myself until some six years ago: as a full-blown practitioner.

I had never considered becoming a researcher, as I thought of scientists being incredibly intelligent people that live in a country far far away, speaking a language that I did not understand.

However, it turned out differently, when I seized the chance of entering a doctoral programme for systemic practitioners. Then I became, to my own surprise, a practitioner-researcher.