Thomas Michael Semmler
Learn more about me as a person and my journey to becoming a psychosocial counsellor.
About me as a person
I don't like bullshit in my personal life either. Presenting yourself authentically without sounding contrived isn't easy, so I'll give it a try:
Maybe a few facts are a good place to start when it comes to the personal stuff: Born in 1990 in St. Veit/Glan, web designer & developer since 2010, in Vienna since 2011, runner & hiker, singer & songwriter. Okay, just listing facts isn't really the whole story either. So, let's get a little more detailed:
I grew up in Carinthia, where I showed an early interest in all kinds of creative things, especially drawing and singing. School wasn't easy for me, and I look back on that time with little nostalgia.
I was singled out as an outsider early on and bullied heavily, and coming out as gay at 15 certainly didn't help. I had few friends as a young person. The few I did have, however, were and still are special people, writing equally special and remarkable stories of their own.
As a teenager, my first unrequited love sent me into depression and eventually also led to an online gaming addiction and an eating disorder. As bleak as that time was, it was also when I taught myself web design & development.
After starting and dropping out of two secondary schools, I quite literally turned things around at the last minute and set my life on a new course. I moved to Vienna on a whim to find work as a web designer & developer, and I succeeded.
In Vienna, I was able to flourish, rediscover myself and write my own story on my own terms. Before long, I felt the urge to support other people facing similar challenges. And so my path led me to the university programme in Life & Social Counselling.
Contact
Call me at +436605591373 to arrange a suitable appointment, or email me at contact@thomassemmler.com.
FAQ
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Do you also offer coaching?
Yes and no. Under certain circumstances, my offering could certainly be described as "coaching". However, I don't particularly like using the term, because lately there seem to be quite a few people calling themselves coaches and publicly offering services that are not all that different from mine, without having any professional training.
The term "coaching" is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from psychosocial counselling. One argument is that it refers to psychosocial counselling in a job-related context. But if you look around on LinkedIn, you'll see that the content of these "coachings" are rarely confined to only job-related topics.
So the answer is complicated. Yes, what I offer could be called coaching. But also: No, because what is generally referred to as coaching cannot be compared with the professional standards of trained psychosocial counsellors like me.
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What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
Psychotherapists and counsellors share some areas of practice, but psychotherapy is the profession specifically concerned with mental disorders and other clinically significant psychological conditions. In Austria, psychotherapy is a regulated healthcare profession, with its legal scope including the prevention, assessment and treatment of disorders with clinical significance.
This is not meant to speak negatively about psychotherapy. While the understanding of the discipline varies somewhat depending on the particular method or school, the intention of psychotherapy, just like counselling, is to help people grow and develop. And sometimes particularly difficult issues can get in the way of that process — and those issues belong exclusively in psychotherapy.
One thing that can be confusing in English is the word "counselling" itself. Beratung translates directly to "counselling", but in English, counselling is often used interchangeably with "therapy". In German, and particularly in Austria, there is a much clearer distinction: Beratung and Psychotherapie are separate professional fields, with different scopes of practice and different legal frameworks. So when I say "counselling", I am deliberately not referring to psychotherapy or mental health treatment.
TLDR
This may sound a little complicated, so concretely: the following topics can be secondary subjects in counselling sessions, but we cannot offer any treatment for them:
- Personality disorders (Borderline, Bipolar, Histrionic, Narcissistic, etc.)
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorders
- Addiction
- Trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Counselling can also support you with these topics, but we are not permitted to treat them.
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I can't afford counselling, can you still help me?
Our professional code requires us as Life and Social Counsellors to charge a standard industry rate in order to prevent wage dumping. However, there is room for reduced rates for people in financial need.
Don't hesitate to get in touch with me anyway, and we'll find a way for you to get the support you need.