Sometimes something tips over: an overload that will not stop, a separation that pulls the ground away, a business that no longer holds. What you need then is not a waiting list place in three months. You need someone who makes time soon and looks for the next step with you.
This page and my work are not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in acute danger, please call the emergency services first.
After that, or if this is not about acute danger, please get in touch with me. I usually reply within 24 hours.
You are not ill. You are a healthy person going through a hard stretch. That difference matters: a crisis is an exceptional situation, not a diagnosis. It also passes.
All three have one thing in common. You are still functioning, and still nothing is holding. That is exactly where we start.
I walk with you through the crisis, I do not solve it for you. I listen, I hold the space, I help you find ground under your feet again. I deliberately work with only a few people at a time. That way I have the time and the capacity for those who need support urgently.
What I am not: an emergency service, and not a psychiatrist who can diagnose or prescribe. If you need acute medical or psychiatric help, please turn to the emergency services or a specialist unit (numbers above). If it is not acute and you need medical help, please take it. We can carry on working together alongside that where it makes sense.
A crisis rarely calls for many sessions full of theory. It calls for someone to sort through what matters right now with you, and for you to reach that person quickly when you need them. That is what I offer.
You write me a short note about how you are and how to reach you. You do not need to know how to put it into words, one sentence is enough. I come back to you soon, usually within 24 hours.
In the first conversation we work out what is acute and what you need. No pressure, no obligation. After that we decide together whether and in what form you want support. It matters to me that we are both comfortable working together, which is why that first conversation carries weight for me too.
I deliberately keep only a few people in support at a time, so I can react quickly when it counts. I reply to an enquiry within 24 hours as a rule. Within the crisis package I come back to you reliably and soon, normally within one working day. That is a realistic promise, not an emergency service promise. In acute danger, call the emergency number first (see the block above).
A single session when something concrete has happened and you need an appointment at short notice. Online by video, up to two hours.
Close support through an acute crisis. Twice a week for the first six weeks, then once a week. Four additional crisis sessions are included in the package and can be called on within the twelve weeks if you need them. The package runs for the full twelve weeks and cannot be cancelled during that time.
For a phase that needs longer than a single crisis. One session per week is included and we agree fixed times in advance. You also have a 48-hour commitment: you reach me within 48 hours if something comes up or you need a different appointment. Minimum term three months, then cancellable with four weeks notice.
The amounts above are guide values in euro. A 14-day right of withdrawal applies from confirmation of the contract, and all conditions are set out in the terms. Questions about payment or invoicing we settle in the first conversation.
I am Karin Gutenbrunner Byom, a systemic-integral counsellor and coach. For years I have worked with people standing at a difficult point, in upheavals, decisions and crises. In 2022 a serious illness brought me to such a point myself. I know how it feels when nothing holds any more, and I have found that there is a way back. Several times in my life.
I emigrated from the beautiful Mühlviertel in Austria to equally beautiful Norway, left my roots behind and grew new ones. Eleven years as a paramedic with the Austrian Red Cross, twenty years in staff roles, leadership positions and change management. I trained in life and social counselling (diploma), in psychosocial organisational counselling and in salutology, and as a coach. I work with the person in front of me and with what is actually there, not to a fixed scheme meant to fit everyone.
Yes. You do not have to wait until it becomes unbearable. If too much is coming at you at once and you have lost your bearings, that is a good moment to ask for support. When demands keep piling up over a long stretch, it is no surprise that the tools and resources you normally rely on stop working. That does not mean something is wrong with you. It means you are in an exceptional situation, often a long and exhausting one that feels every bit as heavy as a full-blown crisis. I treat it just as seriously. So my answer is yes, please do get in touch.
No. I do not make diagnoses and I do not offer medical treatment. I am not a psychotherapist, not a clinical psychologist and not a psychiatrist, though I work with those professions regularly and gladly. If you need psychiatric or therapeutic help, or you are already receiving it, please tell me. I can work alongside that, but not instead of it. My work starts where you want to sort through a crisis, find your bearings and work out the next step. A crisis is not an illness, it is a time-limited exceptional situation. If you need more help than I can offer, I will refer you to the right professional. I will not leave you on your own while you wait for a place. A referral to the right service has brought real relief many times.
Yes. A separation can pull the ground away as thoroughly as any other crisis. I work with you as an individual when you come to me after a separation, including one that happened long ago. The point is that you find solid ground again. Losing someone you love through illness, death or distance is a form of separation too.
If you are stuck, please get in touch. This is core to my work. I have twenty years of experience in leadership, change management and advising self-employed people. I do not solve financial or legal questions. I support you in staying clear under pressure and making the next decisions. Specialists in other fields will handle the practical, legal and commercial side.
I deliberately work with only a few people at a time so that I can respond quickly. I usually reply to an urgent enquiry within 24 hours. A short-notice crisis session can normally be arranged soon after. If there is acute danger to life, the emergency number is always the first and faster route (see above).
German, English and Norwegian. Sessions are online by video, so where you live does not matter. Please tell me which language you would prefer when you get in touch.
You do not have to know how to put it into words yet. Write only as much as you want to say right now, using the short form (name, how to reach you, one sentence). I will come back to you soon.