Helping individuals thrive
Knowledge root
humans connect
AND dignity be felt
The Heart Behind My Work
Everything changed for me when I began asking a simple question: “What creates health in our lives, our bodies, and the places we live and work?” I’ve worked in cultures where stress was glorified, and saw people bring that same intensity to healing, pushing themselves in the name of balance. Somatic and depth psychology taught me that health begins in relationship, with our bodies, nervous systems, and the worlds we move through. When we understand that relationship is central to health, the question expands beyond the individual to how our environments nourish or erode our capacity to connect and thrive. I support people in doing just that: restoring health, honoring potential, and providing spaces where growth feels safe, meaningful, and enlivening.
Let’s leap forward together.
Relationships shape our mutual well-being
The quality of our relationships is the single most important factor shaping our health, as demonstrated by the 80-year Harvard Study of Adult Development. From birth to death, social connections mold how our brains develop, how we perceive the world, and how we manage stress. Because individuals spend roughly 1,800 hours a year at work, the nature of their interactions with colleagues, clients, leadership, and teams profoundly impacts their health.
So, what is the state of workplace interactions today? The International Labor Organization estimates that globally, about one in three workers experiences some form of harassment, violence, or bullying at work (ILO, 2022). Workplace bullying is defined as unwanted acts of aggression, manipulation, or isolation that persist for six months or more in a setting where a power imbalance makes it difficult to defend oneself (Einarsen et al., 2003). The hostile acts are unpredictable, ambiguous, erratic, and escalating, preventing anticipation and thus sustaining anxiety and hypervigilance (Nelson et al., 2015). In the United States, nearly half of workers report experiencing or witnessing bullying (Namie, 2024). In Germany, employees also report occasional or severe workplace bullying (BMAS, 2025).
The impact of workplace bullying is severe. Targeted employees face a 62% risk of losing their jobs and often endure long-lasting mental and physical health consequences, such as anxiety, insomnia, chronic illness, and trauma (Namie, 2024; Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012; Sansone & Sansone, 2015). The harm extends to the target’s family and coworkers.
High-quality work relationships foster vitality and organizational success (Tran et al., 2018). While positive connections among all colleagues matter, relationships with supervisors significantly impact employee performance and well-being. With this in mind, let’s invest in positive relationships and address workplace hostility together.
LEARN HOW TO Navigate and address hostility AT WORK
I help targets of workplace bullying regain clarity and vitality, while equipping leaders and institutions to understand its dynamics and respond more responsibly.
EMPLOYEES
Reclaim Your Well-being
After Workplace HOSTILity
Do you experience antagonism, hostility, exclusion, or feel anxious going to work?
I support those affected by workplace bullying to move from emotional shock to grounded self-understanding.
When sharing feels safe, stories are heard, and body and soul are witnessed, dignity, essence, and vitality reemerge.
Hostile relationships can have a devastating impact on physical and mental well-being. If you encounter ongoing and escalating hostility at work, know you can get support here.
Through counseling, Depth Psychology, Somatic Experiencing, and psychoeducation, you can understand the dynamics of workplace abuse, heal from emotional wounds, and develop effective coping strategies.
Start your journey toward healing, resilience, and a renewed sense of well-being.
EMPLOYERS
Address Workplace HOSTILITY,
Provide psychological safety
Are you receiving complaints about leadership, bullying, or your culture?
I help institutions recognize the seriousness of workplace bullying and strengthen conditions that better protect targeted staff and address such hostility.
Workplace bullying leads to high employee turnover, loss of skilled professionals, reduced productivity, and damage to a company’s reputation. Bullying can cost organizations thousands per employee annually through absenteeism, turnover, and lost engagement.
With 28+ years of corporate experience and extensive research on group dynamics and human behavior, I equip teams to transform conflict avoidance into constructive skills, fostering psychological safety and stronger teams.
Let’s collaborate to create a healthier, more productive, and bully-free workplace.
Educators
EQUIP STUDENTS TO
ADDRESS HOSTILITY AT WORK
Do you want to empower students to respond to hostility or abuse of power?
I equip students with a clearer understanding of workplace bullying dynamics so they can act responsibly when they encounter it as leaders.
Research shows early bullying education reduces future workplace incidents by 25-40% through bystander intervention skills.
My academic research on interfemale bullying has yielded valuable insights into the individual, interpersonal, and psychosocial dimensions of workplace abuse. I presented these findings at the International Association on Workplace Bullying & Harassment conference and lecture in executive MBA/psychology programs.
Equip today’s and tomorrow’s leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to create positive and respectful work environments.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
Reclaim your self!
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY
Depth Psychology offers insight into emotional conflicts and helps individuals understand inner and interpersonal processes. It supports the recovery of gifts—dormant or suppressed parts of the Self—leading to a profound alignment with one's deepest values. It is ideal for those facing oppression or anyone seeking personal growth to align with their innermost potential.
Somatic Experiencing®
Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented therapeutic model that helps to process shock, trauma, and emotional stress by focusing on physical sensations and thwarted defense responses to restore equilibrium. Developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine and clinically applied for four decades, Somatic Experiencing® is an effective approach for recovering from the wounds of relational abuse.
PSYCHOEDUCATION
Psychoeducation equips people with the knowledge necessary to make sense of and cope with hostile relationships and work dynamics and tactics such as controlling behavior, devaluation, manipulation of relationships and reality, blame-shifting, coercion, and social isolation. Our sessions provide you with the resources to navigate the disorganizing effects of such malice.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTING
Create a positive, productive WORKPLACE by addressing Hostility and prioritizing employee well-being.
Workplace bullying is a risk wherever people work together, especially during organizational change such as restructuring, management transitions, and new hires. Employers and managers must model desired behaviors because their words and actions profoundly shape workplace culture. Culture establishes the standards and behaviors expected, with management carrying primary responsibility.
Workplaces promoting respectful behavior and communication create healthy, safe environments free from psychological risks. They also help identify issues that may threaten the organization's overall well-being by ensuring that employees who observe misconduct or other concerns have confidential, trusted channels to report them, so their voices are heard and not silenced.
Employers must identify and control psychosocial hazards like bullying, ensuring secure environments through decisive action. Formulating strategies begins with thorough assessment, clear behavioral standards, and employee consultation. By uncovering your unique challenges, we pave the way for meaningful change. Just as in the therapeutic alliance, our relationship quality is essential to impact. Trust-based partnerships empower thriving.
Lasting change is fostered internally, not imposed externally. Dr. Kerstin Hecker collaborates closely with your teams. A collaborative approach ensures that sustainable change emerges organically within your business context.
Transformation is not without its hurdles. Sometimes, we must confront uncomfortable truths, including that we are part of the problem through omissions, acts, or procedures. I am committed to providing candid, constructive feedback that elevates your leadership, culture, and performance. Let’s connect to ignite meaningful change within your organization. Together, we’ll embark on a journey of curiosity, trust, insight, and collaboration.
WORKPLACE BULLYING RESEARCH
HARROWING STATISTICS
74.8 million U.S. workers ARE affected by bullying at WORK (Namie, 2024, WBI US Survey).
Workplace bullying is the deliberate or unconscious, persistent, and long-term display of negative behavior and infliction of psychological distress in a setting that involves a power imbalance so that targeted individuals have difficulty defending themselves (Einarsen et al., 2003).
Bullying can be verbal, nonverbal, or social, such as persistent criticism, withholding resources or information, micromanaging work/breaks, spreading false rumors, planning social exclusion, turning coworkers against the target, publicly discrediting/humiliating targets, intimidation, intentionally ignoring emails, sabotaging work, dismissing contributions, and nonverbal behavior signaling contempt. The acts are escalating in nature, designed to harm and leave the target feeling trapped, isolated, and void of self-worth (Einarsen et al., 2009; SHRM, n.d.).
A recent U.S. survey revealed that most workplace bullying is top-down. 55% of perpetrators of bullying were bosses (Namie, 2024). The same survey showed that 71% of workplace bullies were men, while 55% of their targets were men. Meanwhile, 29% of workplace bullies were women, and 67% of their targets were women (Namie, 2024).
There is no federal law or health or safety regulation in the U.S. that protects all workers from such abuse. CA, TN, UT, and PR have enacted legislation related to workplace bullying (Healthy Workplace Bill, 2024).
Exposure to bullying has significant life- and personality-altering health implications, including the onset of anticipatory anxiety, intrusive thoughts, insomnia, cognitive impairments, migraines, mood swings, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, pervasive sadness, panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, dissociative disorders, PTSD, and other forms of trauma (Namie, 2012; Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012; Sansone & Sansone, 2015).