ABOUT ME and how I work
“The essence of my work is to find a ‘place’ where we can meet with love. From this place change can happen. Curiosity and respect are the two most powerful tools I have…”
Hello there, I am Margarete Koenning and my passion lies in supporting people to move from disconnection to connection and in the activation of resilience within everybody. I have been working with people for over 40 years and since I was a young child I have been fascinated by human relationships and psyches.
I have been very fortunate to meet and learn from some amazing teachers in Gestalt therapy, Family Constellations and beyond and would like to offer my immense gratitude for their past and ongoing wisdom.
I am now very priviledged that I get to share my passion with clients and students and if you have found your way here, I look forward to connecting with you!
Hello there, I am Margarete Koenning and my passion lies in supporting people to move from disconnection to connection and in the activation of resilience within everybody. I have been working with people for over 40 years and since I was a young child I have been fascinated by human relationships and psyches.
I have been very fortunate to meet and learn from some amazing teachers in Gestalt therapy, Family Constellations and beyond and would like to offer my immense gratitude for their past and ongoing wisdom.
I am now very priviledged that I get to share my passion with clients and students and if you have found your way here, I look forward to connecting with you!
I was born in Colombia and raised in Germany but have lived and worked in Maleny, Queensland, Australia for almost four decades. I developed a passion for social work at a young age and trained as a social worker in Germany, where I was running a centre for disadvantaged children and youth for seven years.
In 1985, I completed a five-year Gestalt Training at the GENI Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, where I studied under Laura Perls amongst others. My first job as a psychotherapist was in a German hospital where I worked in the area of substance abuse and addictions. Following this, I was employed by the German government to provide therapeutic care in a family counselling centre.
Fulfilling a growing dream for a sustainable and community-driven lifestyle, I relocated to Australia in 1992 where I soon established my own private practice in the heart of Maleny, Queensland and began teaching counselling skills at the Nambour TAFE College. Over the next eight years following my migration, I worked as a faculty member for the Brisbane Gestalt Institute as well as for other Gestalt Institutes in Lismore, Terrigal and Sydney. Additionally, I supervised Lifeline counsellors and provided counselling services to indigenous clients through for North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health (NCACCH). For the last five years, I worked in the local residential retreat Palladium Private, offering group work to support to guests overcome mental health struggles.
My passion is the modality of Family Constellation, for which I received training in Germany in the late 1990's. I frequently run Family & Systemic Constellation Workshops in Maleny and other areas of Australia and Europe. When I am not working, I enjoy being actively involved in her community and spending time in my garden, growing food and developing a self-sufficient home environment.
The core principle of my approach is to meet each individual with love and gentleness because I believe that through love, change can happen.
In 1985, I completed a five-year Gestalt Training at the GENI Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, where I studied under Laura Perls amongst others. My first job as a psychotherapist was in a German hospital where I worked in the area of substance abuse and addictions. Following this, I was employed by the German government to provide therapeutic care in a family counselling centre.
Fulfilling a growing dream for a sustainable and community-driven lifestyle, I relocated to Australia in 1992 where I soon established my own private practice in the heart of Maleny, Queensland and began teaching counselling skills at the Nambour TAFE College. Over the next eight years following my migration, I worked as a faculty member for the Brisbane Gestalt Institute as well as for other Gestalt Institutes in Lismore, Terrigal and Sydney. Additionally, I supervised Lifeline counsellors and provided counselling services to indigenous clients through for North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health (NCACCH). For the last five years, I worked in the local residential retreat Palladium Private, offering group work to support to guests overcome mental health struggles.
My passion is the modality of Family Constellation, for which I received training in Germany in the late 1990's. I frequently run Family & Systemic Constellation Workshops in Maleny and other areas of Australia and Europe. When I am not working, I enjoy being actively involved in her community and spending time in my garden, growing food and developing a self-sufficient home environment.
The core principle of my approach is to meet each individual with love and gentleness because I believe that through love, change can happen.