When was the last time you looked in the mirror and could not say who was looking back at you?

Ceri Samvilian joins Michael for his final episode of Psychologists Off the Clock, recorded in the Vienna living room where the two of them met ten years ago. Ceri moved from Nairobi to Vienna at 27 and spent years playing what she calls the role of a good immigrant. Speak German properly, do not be too loud, stay in the box. She only saw the cost later, when she realized she had suppressed herself in order to be accepted. The turning point arrived as a question in the mirror on an ordinary morning. Who are you now?

They also get into the Saturday afternoon that changed things for both of them. Ceri had prepared a seven-minute talk about dropping the mask, then watched her cue cards leave on the train without her. She cried in Michael's bathroom, rewrote the whole thing from memory, and gave the talk anyway. From there she gets practical about journaling as a standing habit rather than an emergency tool, and about the three stages she now takes clients through. Reignite, reconnect, redesign. 

Listen and Learn: 

  • Why moving countries changes who you are and not only where you live
  • How the masks we wear to fit in start out as protection and end up as suppression
  • What happens when accommodating everyone else finally runs out, and why Ceri's limit arrived with her second child
  • Why the three questions Deepak Chopra raised in that Oprah interview are worth living with for a year instead of answering on the spot
  • How journaling works better as a habit than as an emergency tool, and why writing an idea down protects it from other people's opinions
  • What a mirror moment is, and how Ceri turned hers into the reignite, reconnect and redesign stages she uses with clients
  • Why a stronger net of friends lets you dare more, and how a simple signal makes it easier to ask for help as an adult

Resources: 


About Ceri Samvilian

Ceri Samvilian is a Certified Life Coach and Author specializing in identity reconstruction for women. As the creator of The Phoenix Awakening, she has guided hundreds of women to rediscover themselves and redesign their lives. Ceri is a keynote speaker who has spoken to over 300 audiences across Europe. She is also a board member of NIWA (Network of International Women in Austria) and the author of the book Journal and Discover Your Authentic Self. Her mission is to liberate one million women from the belief that choosing themselves is selfish.

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