My name is Johannes Van Damme and I’m born in Gent (Belgium). I moved to the Netherlands when I was 11 years old, where I have both lived in Groningen and Nijmegen. In 2025 love made me move to Stockholm, where I started my own practice. I have always been interested in helping people develop themselves, whatever way I could. At first as a football trainer for youth players, during my gym teachers education (which I didn’t finish) and during my time as student-assistant at the University.
I finished my master in psychology in 2016 at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Afterwards I worked as a teacher at a university of applied sciences, and as a trainer and coach in sport psychology. Later I changed to the field of clinical psychology where I worked in specialized mental healthcare, mainly with people with somatic symptom disorders and in a practice for general psychiatric problems. I completed my post-master education for Dutch licensed healthcare psychologist in 2024 at the Rino Groep in Utrecht. During this education I gave extra attention to the therapeutic relationship, bodily focused psychotherapy, and neuropsychological assessments. Besides my educations, I followed courses in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), EMDR, affect phobia therapy and schema therapy.
As a psychologist I’m authentic, concerned, transparent and curious. I have an accessible approach, while remaining a sharp and analytic view which helps me to get to the core of the problem. Simultaneously, I make sure clients are able to work on their problems in their own pace. Furthermore I think it’s important to incorporate humor in my treatments, without losing the underlying problems or emotions.
Treatment vision
I believe that a client is the most important factor in a successful treatment. My task as a therapist is to do everything I can so the client can work in the best way on their own treatment. I
I believe that the client is the most important factor for a successful treatment. My role as a therapist is to do everything I can to enable the client to engage with their treatment in the best possible way. I do this by ensuring that the therapeutic relationship is strong and that we work with a method that suits the client and the problem. Based on this belief, I do not have a set method for my treatments.
Additionally, I believe that having specific goals for the treatment is an important factor in the success of therapy. The goals determine the direction, intensity, and persistence with which we work. Goals also help to clarify what needs to be learned during the treatment in order for it to be effective.
Finally, I think it is important that there is an endpoint to therapy, without limiting it to a fixed number of sessions. A treatment lasts as short as possible, but as long as necessary. The most important thing is that there are clear goals aligned with the presenting problem, and that the treatment fits within my scope of practice as a psychologist.
For me, this means working in good contact, using an appropriate method, and focusing on clear goals that relate to the client’s help request. When the problem has been addressed and there are no more treatment goals, therapy has been a success!