About Merel
I am Merel Ackx, psychologist, gestalt therapist and trainer.
Merel Ackx
Who am I?
I am a psychologist, gestalt therapist and trainer. Sensitivity, authenticity and the strength of vulnerability are recurring themes throughout my life and my work.
Alongside my professional expertise, I also draw on life itself. As a partner, mother, stepmother, ex-partner, daughter and sister, I know how rich, complex and vulnerable life can be. Those experiences help me to be present with openness, respect and genuine engagement when others share their stories.
How do I work?
I do not start from a fixed step-by-step plan, but from your story, your context and whatever presents itself at that moment. Together we slow down and explore what is at play beneath the surface: feelings, needs, beliefs and patterns that have often come to feel self-evident.
What was once necessary or helpful can start to limit you later in life. By consciously pausing to notice what you feel, experience and need, these patterns become more visible. That creates room to look differently, to discover new possibilities and to choose more consciously.
From the gestalt perspective I pay particular attention to what is happening here and now. I invite you to meet whatever presents itself with open curiosity, including what feels difficult, unfamiliar or vulnerable.
For me, growing does not mean that you have to get everything under control or become someone else. It is about becoming less caught up in old patterns and stories, and reconnecting with your own voice, needs and possibilities.
What expertise and experience do I bring?
My expertise rests on a solid foundation of training and more than twenty years of professional experience. I have worked in clinical settings, in academia and in HR. That makes me familiar with questions that touch on personal, relational and professional life alike.
My expertise lies among other things in:
In therapy I offer a safe environment in which you can explore what moves you. Not with the promise that life will always be simple or painless, but from the trust that more room can arise to be present with what is there and to choose more consciously how you want to go on.
Your past shapes you, but it does not have to keep defining you.
Inspiration
The name Tagore Therapie is a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore: poet, philosopher and thinker who inspired generations with his words. As a child I got to know his work through my mother, who taught speech and drama. His poetry, wisdom and trust in the human capacity to grow continue to inspire me.
My work is also nourished by many other thinkers and writers, and by art, literature, poetry, film and philosophy. Stories and frameworks of thought can heal too.
Training & lifelong learning
A full overview of training, specialisations and certifications can be found below (in Dutch).
View the full overview (PDF)