About me
My path, my approach, my qualifications — and why cross-cultural therapy matters to me.
Dr. phil. Leyla Demir, M.Sc.
Psychotherapy & cross-cultural counselling
Background
Born 1984 in Berlin as the daughter of a Turkish migrant family. Raised between German and Turkish — and the daily question of where one actually belongs.
Studied psychology at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Istanbul. Doctorate on cross-cultural aspects of mental health 2014 at the Charité.
Licensed as a psychological psychotherapist 2016, focus on cognitive behavioural therapy. Further training in EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Schema Therapy.
Own practice in Berlin-Mitte since 2018. Public-insurance approval since 2019. Teaching at FU Berlin in cross-cultural psychotherapy.
Why did I choose this profession? Because I have lived what it means to seek help without the right language and without an understanding of your own story — and because I am convinced that it must be different.
Qualifications
I speak German and Turkish natively, English fluently (10 years of international clinical experience), Arabic conversationally and with a qualified interpreter on request. With multilingual themes we switch within the session — some feelings live in one language, others in another.
I work in cognitive behavioural therapy — evidence-based, with a clear structure, but never by rote. Methods are tools that I adapt to you, not the other way around. What matters to me: transparency (you understand every step), warmth (you are not 'case number X'), and honesty (even when something is uncomfortable).
Licensed 2016 by the Berlin Senate Health Authority.
Member of the Berlin Chamber of Psychotherapists (PTK Berlin).
Professional liability: HDI Insurance. Practice under the code of professional conduct of the Berlin Chamber of Psychotherapists and under medical confidentiality (§ 203 StGB).