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In this blog I want to tell you about Veronica Sartori. This enthusiastic woman is the first participant who followed the Transactional Analysis (TA) course fully online with me. And successfully! She recently finished year 1 and is experiencing a lot of changes in her life thanks to TA. At the end of the season I had a conversation with her via ZOOM about her experience. I’d like to share it for inspiration, because I think everyone benefits from learning TA.

Burn-out

In the interview, I first invited Veronica to explain something about her background and the situation she was in before she started training.
“I’m originally from Uruguay, a country in South America. I ‘ve lived in several countries, including Spain, Brazil, Belgium and now South Korea. Two years ago, I was struggling with a burnout. I needed help. My reflexologist introduced me to Linda and initially I was given a number of sessions of psychotherapy with her. It was during those sessions that I first came into contact with TA”.

Back then, you were looking for something. Can you tell me anything more about that?
“When I became burnout, I decided almost immediately that I didn’t want to continue the work I was doing at that time. I was looking for a change in my life. I wanted to give my life more meaning. When I heard about TA and felt the effects of it myself in the sessions with Linda, I decided to go for the introduction to TA”.

As soon as Veronica starts talking about TA, I see a change in her attitude. She becomes happier and seems almost relieved.
“From that moment on, I actually went non-stop into TA. I wanted to learn all about it and that’s why I decided to enrol in the TA Coaching course”.

Language barrier

Here the conversation falls silent for a moment, with a radiant Veronica on the other side of the computer screen. I help her continue with the following remark:

Uniquely, you were the first to take this course online…
I don’t even have to ask her a follow-up question. She starts laughing and telling:
“Yeah, that wasn’t quite planned. When I moved to South Korea, I was planning to do a TA programme there. I contacted the local TA community, but didn’t get the response I had hoped for. The language barrier caused more problems than I had hoped for”.

One e-mail was enough

“I remember sending Linda an email asking: ‘Do you think we could plan an online meeting so you might be able to help me get in touch with the TA community here in South Korea?’ We met the next day. I suggested, actually as a joke out of frustration because it didn’t work out here, the possibility of doing the TA training online. And we decided to try that together. We both found it exciting (in the interview Veronica uses the phrase ‘maybe afraid’) but everything went very well and at the moment I’m finishing my first year!”

Part of the group

“It’s great. I really feel part of the group. With two or three colleagues from the group I do practical exercises, all online. Every two weeks we have a supervision. If I need extra support, Linda is always there to help and guide me. Even with the time difference, it’s actually going great! I’m making the same progress I would make if I were physically present in the Yurt”. (The Yurt is the location where the physical classes are given).

Veronica’s right. Her growth is the same as the other students in this group. Being online doesn’t make a difference, something I’m very happy to see. I thank her very much for suggesting the idea. I am proud of Veronica and of myself. We did a really good job.

You’re now at the end of your first year and you’ve just started your coaching practice. Anything you want to say about that?
“Yes, I started receiving clients a few months ago. There’s an expat community here where there’s a lot of need for coaching. I’m also networking via LinkedIn and blogging to promote myself. I write about myself, my experience with TA. TA becomes part of me, is always present in me. It helps me, not only in building my career, but also in my relationships with family, with friends, with my daughter and my husband”.

TA helps in difficult times

“A month ago, my mother passed away. Thanks to TA, I was able to deal with that very well. I’m OK. That’s one of the big pillars in TA: I’m OK, you’re OK… and even when my mother died, I felt OK. I think TA helped a lot with that”.

I thank Veronica for sharing this personal experience. I’m also curious how she sees the future:
How do you see yourself in 3 years on a professional level? Maybe you also want to tell me something about how you see yourself on a personal level?

“On a personal level, I hope to be back in Belgium in my own home, with my husband and daughter and all the friends I left there when I moved to South Korea.

In my professional career I see myself working as a coach in the hospitality sector. I’ve worked in the hospitality industry myself, so I have a lot of ex-colleagues and friends there. I have worked in hotels in different countries for many years and I think there is a great need for coaching in that sector. I also want to give personal coaching, not related to the hospitality industry.”

I wish Veronica a lot of luck with her plans and am happy to see her grow in the second and third year of training. I wish her all the best in building up her practice in the meantime.

The conversation I had with Veronica was via ZOOM. Are you curious about the images of this? You’ll find them here.

In consultation a lot is possible

For Veronica’s situation I facilitated a tailor-made solution. Are you interested in one of the courses, but are you – just like Veronica – not able to make the trip to Belgium for every meeting? Feel free to contact me via a free Strategy Conversation. Together we will discuss the possibilities for your situation.