Lemme Haldre works as a psychotherapist. In her work she meets different children and adults. Often their problems include distress, depression, hopelessness, messed up relationships and abuse. They might have been neglected or abused by loved ones, or teased or rejected by their peers. They may have experienced bullying at school. Some children don’t know anything about their families. Their parents have abandoned them and, as a result, they have to live in an orphanage.
Her clients mostly share a common feature: a lack of love and security. They rarely articulate their needs concretely. They are often self-critical. They feel that they have done something wrong, have not tried hard enough or have not been good enough.
“The cravings of these children and adults, their emotions and dreams are painful to me. Sometimes I can’t shake off their thoughts and sufferings; they go round and round inside my head, and form images, even traps. Sometimes it is like a merry-go-round that I cannot get off. But sometimes I experience great joy. This is when the inner reserves of strength that have been hidden from clients are revealed, providing them fuel to go on with life. My personal joy is fuelled by understanding that a person will make it,” the artist explains.
Lemme Haldre (b. 1955) is an Estonian paediatrician, clinical psychologist-psychotherapist, clinical sexologist and artist. She studied paediatrics at the University of Tartu, where she also qualified as a clinical psychologist. Haldre has worked as a paediatrician at the Children’s Clinic of the Tartu University Hospital and the Tartu Sanatorium School, as a psychotherapist at the Tartu Child Support Centre and Elite Clinic, and as a lecturer at the University of Tartu and the National Institute for Health Development. She studied art at the Konrad Mägi Studio under Heldur Viires and is a member of the Tartu Artists’ Union.
