Client Interview: Stephanie on De-Armouring, Being a Human in a Wheelchair and Finding Freedom

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Dear Reader,
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Already in June, I sat down with my client Stephanie to talk about her experience with De-Armouring work. What started as a simple conversation turned into something that's been sitting with me ever since.

​Stephanie is a para-athlete, activist for more inclusion and an author. She published her first book: "Bunte Hunde" beginning of this year. She lives with cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, and navigates a world that often treats her as less than whole.

Through our work together, she's been finding new connections - between her body, her nervous system, her past, and her sense of what freedom actually means and feels.
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Near the end of our conversation, I asked her what was particularly helpful in our sessions.

She said: "You see me as a human being. Not as a person with a disability. Not just as a disabled person. Just as a human."

And then she said something that's been working on me ever since:

"It's not about making the symptoms go away. It's about giving space. Holding space. Creating protected spaces. 'Schutzräume.' That's the word that came to me. Protected spaces where I can feel. Where I don't have to perform."

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Schutzräume.

I realized something in that moment.

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The Difference Between Safe Spaces and Protected Spaces

I don't actually create "safe spaces" in the way that term is usually understood.

I create Schutzräume - protected spaces.

There's a difference.

In a typical safe space, the goal is often to avoid discomfort. To minimize risk. To ensure nothing challenging arises. Everything stays smooth. Contained. Manageable.

But in a protected "Schutzraum", you're actually invited to fall.

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To see your patterns. To be challenged by what comes up. To let your nervous system respond the way it needs to - without having to perform, without having to be okay, without having to make it easier for anyone else.

The protection isn't from difficulty. It's for your process.

It's a space where you can face what's uncomfortable, where your body can say what it's been holding, where you don't have to pretend. And I'm there with you through it - not to rescue you, not to fix you - to support you and guide you while you navigate what's real. In that sweet spot, you have the unique chance to feel what your system needs to relax, you can see the pattern coming up without becoming highjacked by it.

Such a crucial moment in every De-Armouring process.

Stephanie's body can react intensely to stress. She used to think her body was just reacting randomly. Out of control.

Through our work, she's learned to notice the connections. To understand how her body responds the way it does. To work with it rather than against it.

"I can make a connection now," she told me. "I realize: okay, something triggered this. And that makes a big difference."

That's the heart of De-Armouring.

Not fixing. Not bypassing - Feeling and creating the conditions where your body can unfold what it's been holding.

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What My Clients Teach Me

This conversation reminded me of something and made me aware about my work:

It shows me what's needed. What's missing. What's possible.

Stephanie talks about freedom - not as an absence of challenges, but as "the feeling of being an object that was in chains, and then the chains explode. Not all at once, but slowly."

She talks about healing differently now too.

"I used to think therapy was only successful if I never had a flashback again," she said. "That made everything feel impossible. Now I know: even if I have a flashback, I can still live a life that is worth living."

That shift - from needing to be "fixed" to learning to be with yourself - is everything.

And I watch this happen in my practice room more often. Not in big dramatic moments. In the small realizations. In the way someone breathes differently after a session. In the tears that finally come. In the laughter that surprises them.

In the moment when someone realizes: I can feel this. I can be with this.

That's the "Schutzraum" doing its work.

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Read the full conversation with Stephanie - including how she experiences her body, what changed through our work, and what freedom means to her:
​Read the complete interview here.

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An Invitation

If you're reading this and something in you is nodding - you know what I'm talking about.

Maybe you're tired of spaces that feel too careful. Too managed. Too small.

Maybe you're ready for a space where you can actually be yourself without performing. Where you can see your patterns. Were you allowed to fall and find your personal sweet spot.

Where someone sees you as a human being first.

That's what I offer.

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If you feel you need someone to walk this with you - I’m here.

​Lets Talk and see, if that work is for you.

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Full Body De-Armouring Sessions in Berlin-Kreuzberg

In this Studio @RollingTiger-Studio I am offering 1:1 Sessions every Monday / Wednesday & Saturday's.

Here we meet whatever wants to be seen - sometimes through stillness, sometimes through movement, sometimes through voice and sound. Always in loving-presence.

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November is already 50% booked, late spots still available and booking for December is open.

Saturdays will appear occasionally in the calendar as well or by personal request.

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​Book your session - here​

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Feel free to respond, ask a question or just share what comes up for you.
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Warmly,

Johannes

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P.S. Stephanie, thank you for this interview and for allowing me to share it. Thank you for your trust, your honesty, and your bravery in doing this work. And for making me aware of what it means to create spaces that actually matter.

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Für alle die Deutsch sprechen - hier geht es zu der neuen Seite in Deutscher Sprache: https://dearmouring.berlin/​

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​www.johannesebert.com​

Johannes Ebert Bodywork // 13351 Berlin // hello@johannesebert.com // +49 173 29 88 497
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