What is the difference between psychotherapy and mental training?
Unlike psychotherapists, mental trainers always work with people who are healthy. Our clients have no underlying conditions, which is why we can be much more active and demanding. If I notice that a client of mine is not really towing the line, I can be more demanding. My success depends on how well my client can put into practice what we have developed together.

The incidence of mental health problems has been increasing for years. Why are more and more people seeking psychological help?
Mental problems are no longer taboo. People are able to say that they’re not doing well or that they’re feeling overwhelmed by something. However, I am convinced that many people hide behind statements like this, as it always takes personal effort to tackle and overcome the problems people face. If I’m being provocative, people who have the courage to admit that they are approaching their limits get a lot of sympathy from me. I think opening up about these issues is fundamentally the right thing to do. However, people then need to be active in tackling their problems. And people need to be willing to work on themselves.

Could more mental training break the trend towards people seeking psychological treatment?
Yes, if you start before the challenges that people face turn into patterns of illness. Mental training can achieve a lot, because it helps to show people that they are able to do a lot for themselves.

Does having a healthy level of self-confidence play a role in this respect?
This subject is very close to my heart: many children are well-parented – or more accurately put, “over-parented”. Children aren’t allowed to fall over, hit their heads, take any risks. Parents remove any obstacles that stand in their way. But here parents are doing their children no favours. Because without falling over, bumping their heads, hurting themselves occasionally, these children won’t know what it takes to succeed. Falling over, picking yourself up, falling over again, picking yourself up again – until it finally works. This helps them learn what it takes to succeed. Which in turn strengthens their self-confidence. People with a high level of self-confidence know what they are capable of and they are also more courageous when it comes to leaving their comfort zone.

Long waiting times for psychiatric or psychotherapeutic assistance are a problem in Switzerland, especially for young people. What do you think are the consequences of this?
This creates extreme suffering. I find it unacceptable that people get a diagnosis and are then left alone by themselves with it for a long time. Without any help, without any care. Parents are overwhelmed and so are the children, for understandable reasons. Knowing that you have something wrong with you, but there’s nothing you can do about it and nobody is helping you, that’s the worst thing.

How can companies better cope with challenges related to the mental health of their employees?
Rating employees on the basis of their strengths rather than their shortcomings or the mistakes they make is a good start. Both in the world of business and in competitive sport, performance is unfortunately still heavily assessed on the basis of mistakes that are made, without analysing them in detail and drawing conclusions for the future. If employees are constantly being reminded of the mistakes they have made and their shortcomings, their self-confidence will dwindle and their performance and motivation will suffer. Because here the focus is only on what a person can or can’t do, rather than on how they should confidently tackle tasks with the resources they have. Companies should, in their own interests, ensure that their employees have a positive attitude.

What makes a good employer today?
Firstly, a good employer should show appreciation for their employees; secondly, they should allow mistakes to be made and use the resulting lessons for personal development; and thirdly, they should allow enough time for employees to rest and recover. It would also be a good idea to rethink the expectation that employees must be available at all times.

Should mental health play a greater role in personal development – for preventative purposes, for example?
I’m convinced this is the case. When I work with 12 to 14-year-olds as part of alpine skiing youth development programmes and introduce them to simple methods such as breathing techniques or positive thinking, I see how grateful, creative and willing they are to try these methods out. Children and young people respond to such things and find them interesting, especially when they realise that it’s not that difficult to take the initiative themselves. The topic of “mental health” could generally be incorporated well in schools or in apprenticeship training. These are challenging times and young people can certainly use some support in their personal development. This would be good with regard to the long-term prevention of mental health problems.