About me
I grew up in the Frankfurt Main area (Taunus). At the age of 18, my wanderlust lured me to the Middle East, to Israel and the Palestinian territories, where I did internships with various NGOs. The Middle East conflict touched me deeply and it was there that my interest in psychology grew. “How do conflicts arise?” “How can outer and inner peace be found and strengthened?”
Three years and many encounters later, after a detour to Berlin, I moved further west, to the USA. First to Long Beach, then to Los Angeles, California. There I began my psychology studies, which I completed with a Ph.D. in the area of health psychology on the topic: “The effects of breathing meditation on self-regulation”. During my time in the USA, I became increasingly involved with the topic of meditation and consciousness development and began to incorporate this topic into my very rigorous research studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After a while I realized that I was more interested in the practical applications of psychology rather than in theoretical research.
Hence, after my Ph.D. studies, after having lived in the US for 12 years, I moved back to Germany and stayed in Berlin for a few months before setting up camp in Hanover, with intermediate stops in southern Germany and South Tyrol. For a few years I worked as a freelance health psychologist in the private sector. I also began to work in the therapeutic field and completed my psychotherapeutic training with a focus on behavioral therapy in Hanover.
I have always felt a great connection to the mountains, so in 2022 I packed my bags again and pitched my tent in Switzerland, in the beautiful Engadin region. In addition to my freelance work, I worked at the Clinica Holistica Engiadina, a psychosomatic clinic for burnout and stress-related diseases.
To say that I enjoy accompanying people on their journey through life would be an oversimplification of how I feel about my work. Rather, it is a great sense of purpose and gratitude for being able to practice this wonderful profession. My constant further development is very important to me. Therefore, I regularly complete further education n the following areas
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), somatic-oriented therapy approaches such as meditation and yoga.
Visit my website www.kundaliniconnection.com to find out more about my Kundalini Yoga classes.
For those interested: facts and figures
04/2022 Approbation (D) psychological psychotherapist (behavioural therapy), accredited by Psychology Professional Commission (PsyKo, Bern)
03/2014 Ph.D. in Psychology with a Major in health psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), dissertation on the topic: Effects of Breathing Meditation Intervention on self-regulation in healthy adults.
12/2009 Master of Arts in psychology with a major in health psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), master’s thesis on: Motivations for physical activity in young breast cancer survivors: After Breast Cancer (ABC) Study.
06/2007 Bachelor of Arts in psychology, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), USA
05/2022 – 10/2023 Clinica Holistica Engiadina, Susch, psychotherapist since January 2023
10/2019 – 04/2022 Institute outpatient clinic of the German society for behavioral therapy, psychotherapeutic treatment of outpatients, Hanover (Germany)
02/2018 – 10/2019 Klinikum Wahrendorff GmbH, case management psychotherapeutic treatment of in- and outpatients, Ilten/Hanover (Germany)
03/2017 – 12/2017 Lecturer, social psychology, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
03/2017 – 12/2017 Research associate, ARCIM Institute, Filderklinik (Germany)
04/2014 – 09/2014 Lecturer, health psychology; Medical School Berlin (Germany)
04/2014 – 04/2022 Freelance work as a speaker and seminar leader concerning health related topics
07/2013 – 03/2014 Writing of dissertation
09/2008 – 04/2014 Master and PhD, psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
08/2002 – 06/2007 Bachelor of Science in psychology, Long Beach City College and California State University, Long Beach
06/2001 – 09/2001 Internship: CEGAS: Education advice center for Arab-Israeli students; Haifa, Israel
09/2000 – 09/2001 Internship: Mossawa Center: advocacy center for Arab citizens of Israel; Haifa, Israel
08/1999 – 01/2000 Internship, House of Grace, homeless shelter; Haifa, Israel
From 2004 – 2014 I was involved in various research projects as part of my bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies. The following are projects, which had the greatest impact on my work: Cambodian trauma survivors; CSULB, USA; Quality of life in men with prostate cancer; UCLA; effects of a breathing meditation intervention on self-regulation in healthy adults; UCLA, principal investigator, health, well-being and blood glucose study; UCLA.
Vagedes, J., Helmert, E., Kuderer, S., Mueller, V., Voege, P., et al. (2018). Effects of footbaths with mustard, ginger, or warm water only on objective and subjective warmth distribution in healthy subjects: a randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Med, 41, 287-294.
Voege, P. (2014). The effects of a Yogic breath intervention on attention control and other domains of self-control. Dissertation, Permalink: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0m2198vp
Voege, P., Bower, J.E., Stanton, A. L., & Ganz, P. A. (2015). Motivations associated with physical activity in young breast cancer survivors. Psychology, Health, and Medicine, 20, 393 -399.
Pomykala, K.L., Silverman, D.H.S., Geist, C.L., Voege, P., Siddarth, P., Nazarian, N., Cyr, N.M.St., Khalsa, D.S., & Lavretsky, H. (2012). A pilot study of the effects of meditation on regional brain metabolism in distressed dementia caregivers. Aging Health, 8, 509 – 516.