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Professor Katarzyna Schier, PhD
A psychologist, a psychoanalyst, and a psychonalytical psychotherapist
Throughout her professional career she has combined research and clinical work. She is a psychotherapist certified by the Polish Psychological Association and the Polish Psychiatric Association, and completed a specialisation in psychotherapy of children and youth. For 30 years, she had worked at the Department of Clinical Psychology of Child and Family, Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw. She gained clinical experience working for four years at the Audiology Clinic, the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw.
She completed a five-year postgraduate studies in psychotherapy of children and youth in Heidelberg, Germany. She is an author of four books, a co-author of one book (written together with Professor Marina Zalewska, PhD) and an editor of two books, as well as of over 60 chapters in books and over 100 scientific papers for Polish and international audiences. Her recently published books are “Dorosłe dzieci. Psychologiczna problematyka odwrócenia ról w rodzinie” (Adult children. Psychological aspects of role reversal in a family) (2014-2024, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar), which had 25 reprints, and “Samotne ciało. Doświadczanie cielesności przez dzieci i ich rodziców” (Lonely body. Experiencing corporeality by children and their parents) (ed.) (2020, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar).
A post-trauma relation between the mind and the body
In our studies, we analyse mechanisms leading to psychosomatic disorders. In particular, we explore processes leading to somatisation of mental conditions, in which the body acts as a way of controlling emotions after traumatic experiences. Long-term studies of Professor Katarzyna Schier showed that psychosomatic disorders connect our body with our mind.
Professor Schier also studied hidden forms of trauma in families, such as parentification, i.e. a situation when a child is forced to take on the role of an adult in the family. It can represent a form of neglect or emotional abuse. Her studies show that parentification affects ability to control emotions, and this may lead to dissociation (separating components of own experience, thoughts, or emotions) and alexithymia (problems with identifying and naming own and other people emotions). This, in turn, may result in depression, problems with experiencing own body and its negative perception.
