Visual empathy training, coaching and visual tools for learning organizations and training & development departments - to expand visual communication skills and toolboxes.

Visual Empathy Trainer & Coach, Graphic Recorder & Illustrator

Empathic coaching, conflict resolution, and mediation for cross-border couples, parents, families & families of former times - to love, live & parent beyond borders. 

Empathic Conflict Coach & Mediator

My years of experience in the field of visual communication as a design department leader stimulated me to learn and integrate empathy in my work.

For the past ten years I have been intensively trained in Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and NVC based mediation and conflict coaching.

While I continued working as an illustrator, graphic designer, graphic recorder and visual facilitator, I developed my own methods and courses to bring these two fields together in my Visual Empathy Courses.

To articulate the essential skill participants develop through my courses, I came up with the term ‘Visual Empathy’. I define it as ‘the visually attuned expression of our understanding, expressed with the intention to create connection with ourselves and others’.

Visual Empathy helps us understand the audience we communicate with and visual expression increases the efficacy of training and development activities. This increases both the relevance as the impact of learning experiences.

Back in 2006 I emigrated from The Netherlands to Slovenia for love. Though this experience has been wonderful, there have been plenty of challenges, such as an identity crisis, depression, more than one burn out, and many other stressful experiences that come along with living in a different culture and country.

Living abroad also means mourning what we need to let go of, maintaining connection with ones loved ones in our home country, building new relationships and bridging social and cultural differences that show up while living, loving and also in parenting.

To navigate myself through these challenges and conflicts in my life abroad, I immersed myself deeply in studying all the ins and outs of empathy and Nonviolent Communication, conflict coaching, mediation.

I became skilful in resolving conflicts, whether they were internal and related to my decisions, or external and relating to others.

After I separated from my son’s father, I stayed in Slovenia out of love for our son and for him to build a relationship with his father. This separation meant we needed to build a new supportive, harmonious co-parenting relationship while resolving many issues – and we do, without any conflicts.