Hi I’m Christine Reinholt and welcome to Confidence Reactivate!
I am a Practitioner of Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) and a Transformation Life Coach, with a background in Clinical Psychology. I help clients just like you overcome their struggles and gain the supreme confidence to achieve their goals. I help my clients reach their highest potential by identifying the limiting beliefs that have been holding them back and replacing those beliefs with new, powerful, self-serving ones, so they can live the life they are meant to.
I personally went through an existential crisis in 2013 and struggled with anxiety, depression, self-doubt and low self-esteem stemming from early trauma, until I dove deep to answer those initial questions and came out better on the other end.
It breaks my heart to see people needlessly struggling, being stuck with self-doubt and fear, and feeling flawed, hopeless, and alone. Nothing makes me happier than to see my clients transform into confident, joyful and exuberant women who boldly take action towards the life they deserve and achieve their goals with ease, while finally feeling whole, authentic and accomplished.
This is what drives me.
Working with me, you will change your mindset, your attitude, your thinking, your beliefs and even your language towards yourself and your surroundings. You will shed non-serving beliefs holding you back and cherish your authentic self, while dazzling those around you with your increased sense of self-esteem and self-value. You will surpass your own expectations and achieve the things you want with a new level of self-love, self-belief, self-worth and lasting inner self-assurance.
You need to know you are not alone and you deserve to have the life you want!
My story
As the daughter of an expatriate and later the wife of one, I have spent my entire life moving countries. I always relished the numerous upsides of such a lifestyle, but as a child, the constant change along with various traumatic experiences, such as the horrible sounds of war and two evacuations, a near miss encounter with a pedophile whom I allowed in our home and later having to identify him to police while he made threatening gestures at me, being run over by a car and out of commission for 6 months, me repeating my grade the following year, my parents divorcing and subsequently watching my mother suffer from depression and anxiety by age 9, all instilled feelings of insecurity, hopelessness and helplessness in me. To the outside world, I put on a brave mask and thrived, while internally I endured constant mild anxiety and self-doubt.
At university, while working on my master’s thesis in Clinical Psychology, my mentor sexually harassed me and after repeatedly turning down his advances and confronting him about his inappropriateness numerous times, he then continuously found fault with my work. I felt utterly powerless and helpless; after all there was little I could do as a student in the face of a Professor with tenure who had all the power of withholding my degree. Exposing or suing him would have been fruitless, a case of his word against mine, and would have only tarnished my reputation at university and later professionally. I sadly gave up on the master’s thesis and completely dismissed the idea of pursuing a PhD. Having already secured a job, I buried the feelings and once again moved on.
I worked as a Bilingual School Psychologist for a few years and then moved into Human Resources for the next 8 years. My fast-paced, highly demanding career as a Human Resources Manager in a multinational company came to an abrupt halt, when my husband’s work moved us to Africa for the next 10 years.
I spent some of my best years in Africa with its beautiful landscapes and amazing wildlife. It is after all where my two incredible sons were born, adding so much joy and meaning to my life and a place where I made many life-long friends. However, as the spouse of an expatriate in Africa, I was not allowed to take on paid or even unpaid work. Having always been driven and financially independent since the age of 18, this was a very hard nut for me to swallow. Although I focused on my children and hobbies and had a very active social life with countless spouses in a similar position, this lack of professional responsibility and being all too often ignored by working professionals at functions, making me feel as though I had nothing of essence to contribute, slowly but surely eroded my self-confidence.
Moving to France proved to be a very difficult readjustment for me, which further increased those feelings and eventually made me retreat into my shell. Everything was so expensive and with only one salary coming in and two kids in a private school, things were rather tight financially. The weather was constantly grey and everything and everyone seemed miserable to me. My previous active social life came to a complete standstill, as everyone had somewhere to be, something to do. I was home, feeling isolated in a small town outside of Paris, dealing with the seemingly never-ending household chores and taking care of the children. Dragging my youngest son, who had been having difficulties, from one specialist to the next on my own, soothing him into agreeing to undergo one test after the other, and afterwards trying to convince him that this was for his benefit and not some sort of cruel punishment was also taking its toll on me.
His subsequent diagnosis of DiGeorge Syndrome made me feel as though I had completely failed him as a parent. Logically, I knew it was not my fault, but emotionally, I felt as though it was. His treatments were draining the savings we had accumulated over the years and a second income was needed, but my son needed me to be present. My husband traveled a lot for his work and my children relied on me always being there. Who would help him with his homework? Who would take him to the various therapies he needed? Who would push him to believe in himself and refuse to be limited or defined by his DNA? Who would have the patience and drive to do so? A stranger? And what kind of job could I get after being away from the work force for over 10 years? What did I have to offer? What kind of income would I make? Would it even be enough to cover the salary of said stranger? Was this the meaning of life? Was this as good as it got? No, I refused to accept that! I had not brought my kids into this world to have them taken care of by someone else. I needed to give them the sense of stability that I hadn’t had as child and I needed to keep some form of control over my home environment when everything else seemed out of control. And if I had to be away, it would be to provide more for them, not less. Deep down, I knew I was meant to do or be more, but what?
I had anger and resentment towards myself and everyone and everything around me. My dreaded scale was flashing six extra kilos and no amount of dieting or exercising would make it go down, increasing my feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing. I had no desire to interact with others outside my family, and occasionally, I even wanted to escape them as well. My mind was brimming with “what ifs, should haves, could haves, would haves” looping scenarios in regard to my past and crippling fears in anticipation of the future. I felt completely depleted. I had taken care of everyone around me, but I had neglected myself and my own growth completely. No one seemed to understand me and everyone was full of advice as to what I “should” do. It all fell on deaf ears and only led me to communicate less and less. I was going through the motions, existing, not living up to the person I could be and wanted to be. I was a spouse, a mother, a daughter, and a sister, but what had happened to the “true me” outside of those roles?
I knew that no amount of talk therapy was going to help in the short-term sense and that all this accumulated baggage needed to be released somehow. It was time to hit the stop button on this endless spin cycle of fear, pain, and low self-esteem. I needed to take bold action and find the lost me, heal her fast and in the process uncover what she truly wanted. And I needed to do it by following my heart, in my own time and at my own pace, and irrespective of what others thought I “should” do. After some research and deliberation with my husband, I decided to move with my sons to Athens, Greece, my husband’s native city, a place where my kids had spent every summer since birth and adored, a place where I had numerous friends, a place that offered lots of sunshine, blue skies and clear seas, and a place where schools, rents and therapies were a fraction of those in Paris. My incredibly supportive husband was willing to remain behind and only spend weekends and holidays with us, so that I could focus on finding myself and my purpose, while still being present for the kids. And so my journey to self-discovery and healing began in 2015.
Conscious techniques in combination with in-depth subconscious work through RTT enabled me to face my fears and release limiting beliefs holding me back. In doing so, I was able to change my mindset and uncover my authentic self. I prioritized self-love, self-acceptance, self-belief and self-worth and in doing so my self-esteem and self-confidence skyrocketed; my relationships were deeper and more fulfilling; I was a better spouse after 20 years of being together and a better, more relaxed mother; my weight decreased and stabilized; and the anxiety that I struggled with my entire life was completely eliminated. I finally had a deep feeling within of being good enough and safe enough to follow my dreams and worthy of achieving them. I trained in RTT and in Transformation Life Coaching partly to regain financial independence and professional responsibilities, as they equal direction, choice and safety for me. I got to provide more for my family and choose my own working hours. Yet my biggest reason was to show others they are not alone and to help free them from similar pain using the techniques that had helped me.
I believe it is both my childhood and adult struggles that make me so passionate about alleviating people’s pain. Helping clients heal their past and let go of dis-empowering beliefs and then watching them embrace their true selves and blossoming into their most confident selves while achieving their goals is the ultimate in job satisfaction! It truly fills me with joy and brings so much meaning to my life. It also allows me to set an example for my sons, to keep striving for their true desires, by demonstrating that following your heart and facing your fears, creates the most valuable breakthroughs and leads to a life of fulfillment.