Myhabitat.online is your preferred, safe space where you can thrive as a person. This is an online space designed for psychotherapists and clients who want to improve their relationships and build optimal habitats for them.
The basis of Myhabitat.online is safety and security, care and resources.
Myhabitat.online is your preferred, safe space where you can thrive as a person. This is an online space designed for psychotherapists and clients who want to improve their relationships and build optimal habitats for them.
The basis of Myhabitat.online is safety and security, care and resources.
About
I am a certified psychotherapist with more than 25 years experience in individual, couple & systemic family therapy. I specialise in attachment narrative theory, focussing on safety/security, danger and protection, addressing universal human problems. My professional experience is based on a solid academic background. I have published several scientific works (in Polish and English) on psychotherapy, couple conflict and the functioning of families. Currently I am interested in emotional regulation.
I studied psychotherapy in Poland and the UK (including at the Tavistock and the Institute of Narrative Therapy). I continue my professional development by undertaking selected courses (for example, an 18-day course on Adult Attachment Interview). I hold a European Certificate of Psychotherapy. Though I currently teach psychotherapy in Poland, I also give some workshops at Porto University in Portugal.
I am a board member of “Human Systems” as well as the Polish scientific journal “Psychoterapia”. I am also an active member of the European Family Therapy Association.
I take an attentive, responsive and caring attitude to my work that helps build a strong relationship with my clients and supervisees. My personal experience of living in two countries as I do has made me sensitive to the importance of cultural context and making human habitats safer places.
About
I am a certified psychotherapist with more than 25 years experience in individual, couple & systemic family therapy. I specialise in attachment narrative theory, focussing on safety/security, danger and protection, addressing universal human problems. My professional experience is based on a solid academic background. I have published several scientific works (in Polish and English) on psychotherapy, couple conflict and the functioning of families. Currently I am interested in emotional regulation.
I studied psychotherapy in Poland and the UK (including at the Tavistock and the Institute of Narrative Therapy). I continue my professional development by undertaking selected courses (for example, an 18-day course on Adult Attachment Interview). I hold a European Certificate of Psychotherapy. Though I currently teach psychotherapy in Poland, I also give some workshops at Porto University in Portugal.
I am a board member of “Human Systems” as well as the Polish scientific journal “Psychoterapia”. I am also an active member of the European Family Therapy Association.
I take an attentive, responsive and caring attitude to my work that helps build a strong relationship with my clients and supervisees. My personal experience of living in two countries as I do has made me sensitive to the importance of cultural context and making human habitats safer places.
Services
I try to help my clients to thrive. If we compare a client to a plant, I try to help this plant to blossom (cf. Draper, 2020). Many plants are rooted in soil. We can equate this soil with a sense of safety. A sense of safety is a basis of adaptive emotional regulation. Emotional regulation is a fundamental element of reflectivity. As a psychotherapist and supervisor, I try to address my clinical work on all these levels: safety, emotional regulation and reflectivity.
Plants not only need soil but also sun and protection. I discuss with my clients which protective strategies are helpful for them and which are non-adaptive.
If you want to thrive, you need regular care.
Online
supervision
Workshops on
attachment narrative
therapy
Couple and family
consultation
Inspirations
Research
In this section, I present my research projects. Research gives me an excellent opportunity to develop my curiosity. Paradoxically, research builds my not-knowing stance and also teaches me the art of asking questions. I am currently focussing on two research projects. The first is devoted to couple conflict and the second to security in relationships. In my first project, I try to understand different psychological factors related to conflict resolution in couples. I am using quantitative methodology. In my second piece of research, I am curious about how people understand security in their relationships. Security seems so obvious, yet we don't pay sufficient attention to what it means to feel secure. I analyse how people understand security and its various elements. I am also using IPA methodology in the project.
Publications
Books
Chrząstowski, S. (2022). Nie tylko schemat. Praktyka systemowej terapii rodzin [Not only a schema. The practice of systemic family therapy]. Warszawa: PWN.
This accessible book presents the basic ideas of systemic psychotherapy. It was written for postgraduate students.
Chrząstowski, S. (2022). Wiedzieć, troszcząc się o pacjenta. O zagadnieniu niewiedzenia w perspektywie narracyjnej terapii więzi. In: Drath, W. & de Barbaro, B. (Eds.). Psychoterapia między wiedzeniem i niewiedzeniem [Psychotherapy: between knowing and not-knowing]. Kraków: WUJ.
The whole book analyses the idea of knowing and not-knowing in psychotherapy. I suggest that attachment narrative therapists should "know with care" in my chapter. I also encourage my readers to look at this picture carefully “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump”
Chrząstowski, S. (2021). Diagnoza w narracyjnej terapii więzi, czyli o Wendy i Piotrusiu Panie [Assessement in attachment narrative therapy: Wendy and Peter Pan]. W: Zalewski, B. & Pinkowska-Zielińska, H. (Eds.). Diagnoza par w różnych podejściach. Warszawa: PWN.
In this chapter I try explain the basic rules of couple assessment in attachment narrative therapy, referring to Peter Pan, a fictional character created by J. M. Barrie.
Chrząstowski, S. (2021). Narracyjna terapia więzi. Przewodnik terapeuty par [Attachment narrative therapy. Guide for couple therapists]. Warszawa: PWN.
This book provides a comprehensive guide to attachment narrative therapy for couples. I use examples of various well-known paintings to present some concepts of the attachment narrative approach. The book was voted the best work on psychotherapy in 2021 by the Polish Psychological Association.
Chrząstowski S. & de Barbaro, B. (2011). Postmodernistyczne inspiracje w psychoterapii [Postmodernist inspiration in psychotherapy]. Kraków: WUJ.
The book is an introduction to postmodernism in psychotherapy. It consist of highly practical information and many examples, not only from clinical work but also from art. These examples help one to understand the complex phenomenon of postmodernism in psychotherapy.