Counselling center Changes has been established by Claudia Krumme. I was born in Amsterdam in 1972. From a young age I have been interested in the human psyche, and I have read everything about this subject that I could get my hands on. At the same time I have been driven by excitement and adventure. Because of this, I choose to learn through experience in stead of theoretically.

During this learning process I was soon confronted with compulsions and obsessions. In my adolescence, during my ballet training, I developed an obsession about my body image, which laid the foundation for developing an eating disorder: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) at a later age.

At the same time I was experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex and lived and worked in a scene in which this lifestyle was normal. This behaviour developed progressively for about 15 years.

During my development as a young adult woman I discovered that love can also be an obsession that can bring more pain than joy. At a young age I fell in love with the so called ‘ mr wrong’ (emotionally not available). At the age of 27 I reached an emotional bottom caused by alcohol, drugs and unhealthy relationships. This was the start of a growth process in which I have developed myself both mentally, emotionally as well as spiritually.

After about one year of abstinence from alcohol and drugs the obsession with food came about. I discovered that addiction has very little to due with the substance but more with the person and that my addiction would find other substances or behaviours to deal with my feelings. During this process of recovery I learned more and more about myself in relation to others, learning about co dependency, co addiction and relationship addiction.

Now that I was abstinent from all substances as well as compulsive eating I could start working on these co-dependency issues within different relationships, with family, friends and with my partner. I learned to set boundaries and how to meet my own needs and wants. I have learned to love myself more which is reflected in the choices that I make.

During this process the interest in human behaviour always remained present. It was an obvious choice for me to follow several agogic courses both in the Netherlands and abroad. Through these courses I have been able to follow a theoretical path of learning which makes me knowledgeable in both areas.

After several years of working with battered woman, homeless people and people with psychological and psychiatrical problems I started working within the addiction field. Through this experience I realised 9 out of 10 women with an alcohol or drug addiction also deal with eating disorders, relationship addiction, sex addiction and underlying co-dependency issues. This lead to my specialisation in relationship addiction, sex addiction, codependency and co-addiction.