The Gentle Self is a guide for introverts, conflict avoiders, people with low self esteem, and worriers of all kinds. “I found that many people are too fragile to ask for what they need and have trouble sustaining relationships, for fear of not getting what they need or being abandoned,” said Gerti Schoen, M.A., LP, the blog’s creator and author of the book The Gentle Self.

Gerti Schoen, M.A., LP is a writer and psychotherapist in private practice with offices in New York City and Hoboken, NJ. She was born and raised in Germany where she trained and worked as a journalist for German National Public Radio and the national newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau. She came to New York City to work as a foreign correspondent in 1998. After 15 years as a reporter and editor, she decided to change professions and became a licensed psychotherapist. In 2007, she completed her psychoanalytic training at both the Washington Square Institute and the Training and Research Institute for Self Psychology in New York.

She has also been a Zen practitioner for ten years and integrates the teachings of mindfulness and meditation into her work with clients. Recently she started training in the martial arts of Aikido which is closely connected to Zen, noting, “I see it as a way to explore embodiment practices to increase self awareness and confidence.”