Matthias Angelstorf, M.Sc. Clin. Psych.
Psychologist
Couple Therapist
Hamburg, Germany

About me

Here you will find some basic information about me, my method, and Couples Therapy Hamburg.

My Values

Helping couples rediscover their love for each other is something I do with great commitment and passion, because I really do believe that a strong and loving relationship is the foundation for a fulfilling and meaningful life. I also believe that couple relationships are the smallest unit of our society. Strong and loving couple relationships create loving families, loving families create loving neighborhoods, loving neighborhoods create loving communities, and loving communities create loving nations and more peace and compassion on this planet. So I view practicing couples therapy as my small contribution to creating a more loving world. 

My Education and Training

I hold a bachelor's and a master's degree in clinical psychology (cum laude and summa cum laude, respectively), and I was trained in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. I take regular supervision to minimize my own "blind spots" in therapy. I also attend regular trainings, so my mind stays fresh, and I continue to provide highest quality couples therapy. Since I've lived in the U.S. for two years, I speak English fluently. On top of that, I also offer couple therapy in German and Dutch.

My Method

As mentioned above, the method I use in my practice is called Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. That name refers to the fact that couples usually get together and get into trouble for emotional reasons. Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy is one of the best researched methods of couples therapy to date. There are only two methods whose effectiveness has been proven through rigorous scientific studies. One is Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and the other one is behavioral marital therapy. So both methods work, however in behavioral marital therapy relapse is a significant problem. In other words, with behavioral marital therapy improvements tend not to last for very long. In Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy relapse rates are much lower, even in high risk groups, i.e. couples who face massive stressors. Additionally, studies have demonstrated that Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy has much higher improvement rates: Scientific effectiveness studies have demonstrated that in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy 90 % of the couples improve their relationship significantly while 7 out of 10 couples recover fully from their distress. In comparison, in behavioral marital therapy improvement rates are at about 60-70 % on average, while recovery occurs only in about 3-4 out of 10 couples.

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy seems to be so effective because it focuses on the crux of the problem: How partners feel in relation to each other and how they deal with their emotions in their relationship. The high relapse rate in behavioral marital therapy is most likely due to the fact that in focusing mostly on behavior change, this therapy method only touches on the surface of the problem. To draw on a medical analogy: It only targets the behavioral symptoms without ever specifically addressing and curing the root cause.

Originally developed in Canada, Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy is now successfully practiced all over the world. However, as of today, I can pridefully proclaim that I'm the only couple therapist trained in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy who practices in Hamburg.

Under the button "Couple Therapy Hamburg" you can read more about how  Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy works exactly.

Other Methods

Couples are well-advised to be skeptical in regards to other methods of couples therapy. Other methods have either not been studied at all or not enough to be  able to say for sure that they actually work. Of course that does not mean that other methods don't work at all. But engaging in those methods asks couples to perform a huge leap of faith, as they invest much time, money and effort in  a method whose effectiveness is uncertain.