Mieke van der Veen's Photo

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  • Last login about 4 years ago

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Overview

  • 6 references 3 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in Dutch, English; learning French, German
  • 40, Female
  • Member since 2009
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapist
  • MSc behavioural sciences, cognitive behavioural therapy
  • No hometown listed
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

Spread the positivity!

ABOUT ME
I'm a kind, outgoing girl, I try enjoying every bit of my life. My personality is warm, bubbly and enthousiastic.

I work as a behavioural scientist/therapist with children with developmental problems (autism, adhd, down or any other syndrome. My main job is toilet training incontinent children, from the age of 5 till 18. Once every other week I work with young children with severe eating disorders (ARFID, not anorexia). Due to illness or psychiatric problems eat very restricted or don't eat at all. Both trainings are last resort methods and very intensive. It sounds very heavy and it is lots of times. But it's so great and rewarding. I consider myself lucky every workday.
But even though I love my job, I love my free time and relaxation more. I used to be a busy person but I quit doing that a few years ago because it made me sick in many ways. I now work parttime (I know I'm very lucky I can), so I have time to be bored, which I think is great for the mind.
At that time I also decided to quit social media because it made me restless. So I'm not on facebook, instagram, twitter or whatever. It was hard for a few days but it gives me so much peace.

I’m always up for a chat. I like going out with friends. I'm not a clubbing kind of person but I love having a drink in a pub, go to festivals. I also do theater sport, which is a very fast and funny kind of improv theater.
But I also love solitude, listening to music, watch series, draw and paint. I’m also sort of a fantasy geek: I like gaming, read fantasy novels and my paintings are usually in a fantasy theme (with elves and dragons). And I play world of warcraft. No shame!! ;-)

I live with my boyfriend Dirk, in a small apartment. He’s a musician, a choir conductor and recently played in a musical. He specializes in Irish Folk and Reggae/Ska. He makes me really happy, even thinking about him always makes me smile :)
There is not a lot of space to host but our couch is comfy. Our cats love entertaining people through the night with their cuddles and in your face hugging :-P it’s not so great for a solid night sleep but it is very adorable.

PHILOSOPHY

The best place to be is a few steps out of your comfortzone!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

While traveling I met a lot of interesting people from all over the world! I learned a lot from them and gave me great insights about how I want to lead my life. It also tought me to look at myself as someone who lives by a particular culture, and made me notice habits that I never paid attention to before. Above that, I love meeting new people, sharing stories and experiences!

I hosted and couch surfed some people a few years ago. But due to busy times and no space I haven't been able to host for a while. But I love meeting new people I believe CS is the best way to get to know the real country and culture!

Interests

I'm interested in music, series, movies, yoga, drawing, painting, singing, theater sports, hiking, surfing, meeting friends for food or a drink, cooking and of course traveling! I'm always craving for new experiences, challenges and most of all love meeting new people.

  • culture
  • books
  • music festivals
  • festivals
  • dancing
  • education
  • cooking
  • movies
  • traveling
  • socializing
  • drawing
  • music
  • surfing
  • sports
  • swimming
  • psychology
  • social science
  • series

Music, Movies, and Books

My music taste is very diverse. I love a variety of music between the 30’s and 70’s. It’s a very wide range but like so much of it. I also like reggae, world music and some sort of electronical music that I can’t really label (Chantelier Fou, Amon Tobin, Cristobal Tapia De Veer). And my old time favourites are Radiohead and Portishead, but all really depends on my mood.

If I find the time and peace I love reading novels. Especially the nerdy fantasy kind, or the girly ones with vampires haha. I'm currently reading Game of Thrones again, because it's so great and I want to erase the last episodes of the series from my mind :-P

I like movies but not watching many these days. I do watch loads of series. Some of my more recent favourites are Rick&Morty, Stranger Things, The Good Place, The End of the Fucking World, Dark Mirror, Peaky Blinders

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have done so many amazing things but some stand out:

Attended a friend's full week Hindu wedding in Bangalore, India

Seen a vulcano erupt in Java, while being waaay too close to the crater. It was the most impressive thing I've ever seen and made respect this planet so much more

One of the things I'm most proud of: I walked the 4 day marches in my hometown Nijmegen twice! 160km in 4 days (which is a huge event, with even bigger festival, which everybody should visit at least once in their lives :-P)

And finally, I'm lucky not to have to travel to see and do amazing things. The fact that I can improve a child's life and independence so much (with my toilet training work) in only two weeks is very rewarding. It can be really tough but it still always gives me chills when a child picks up what I train them to do.

Teach, Learn, Share

As I said in the participation bit, I like to learn from people of other cultures. To learn about their culture and about my own (since many daily habits are so normal here, I forget they aren't in many other cultures). Of course it would go the other way around too :)
I do know a lot about psychology and as my profile illustrates I am very passionate about my job. And I find it very interesting how people think and learn. I see people as interesting puzzles, some are very difficult to figure out. But I tend to move towards the more complicated people, they are the most interesting right?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Peace and love haha!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Cambodia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Netherlands

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