Thomas Kretschmar

Thomas Kretschmar (born 1963) is a German economist, clinical psychologist and entrepreneur. He is the managing director of the Mind Institute SE.

Biography

Thomas Kretschmar studied business administration in Göttingen, majoring in the organisation of companies, and did his PhD on operational diagnostics there as a student of Jürgen Bloech. He later studied psychology at the Sigmund Freud University Vienna and at the International Psychoanalytic University Berlin.

From 1985 Kretschmar worked as a management consultant, initially in his own business and then later as part of the management team of Droege Group. He was then appointed resident professor for bank structures at the HTW University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics (Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin). In 1999 Kretschmar founded Hypoport AG, which he floated on the stock exchange in 2007 together with his partner Ronald Slabke. In 2010 he gave up the day-to-day running of the company and became a member of the company’s Supervisory Board.

Since that time, Kretschmar’s work has focused mainly on the field of business psychology, particularly the use of guided imagery and other methods of clinical psychology in business. In mid-2015 he stepped down from the Supervisory Board of Hypoport AG and Dr. Klein & Co. AG. In 2006 Kretschmar used the proceeds from his business activities to establish the Kretschmar Family Foundation, which, in its capacity as a shareholder of Mind Institute SE, funds most of the organisation’s research. Thomas Kretschmar has been the managing director and chairman of the board of directors of the Mind Institute SE in Berlin since 2012.

Overview of theory

Psychodynamic/psychoanalytical techniques have been proven to be of long-term benefit in psychotherapy. They are particularly effective when dealing with issues related to personality and relationship configuration, which also play a major role in coaching. According to Kretschmar, coaching using psychodynamic methods can be taught and applied much more efficiently if methods from clinical psychology undergo further modifications for use in coaching and in business.

The efficiency of psychodynamic diagnostics in coaching can be improved through

• psychometric testing that is based on the OPD-2 criteria
• inventories to record countertransference in the coach and scenic information in coaching
• systematic documentation of important life events, family structures and roles played by the client as a means of uncovering re-enactments in the here and now
• association techniques to reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings

The efficiency of psychodynamic intervention in coaching can be further improved through

• use of the imagination to work through issues symbolically
• semi-standardised imaginative symbols for specific aspects and concerns of the client (e.g. in major life decisions)
• targeted development of the coach’s containing abilities
• systematic development of metrics for classified coaching issues and measurement of these, taking into account the intervention techniques that are applied.