Episode 117 - Sophie Friedel

Episode 117 with Sophie Friedel, skateboarder and Gestalt therapist from Freiburg, Germany.

Together we discussed her picking up skateboarding as a young adult in Cornwall, England; in the early 2010’s traveling to Kabul, Afghanistan three times to volunteer among other things as an English teacher, skateboard instructor and program coordinator at Skateistan; in 2015 publishing her first book “The Art of Living Sideways: Skateboarding, Peace and Elicitive Conflict Transformation” based on her MA thesis; since 2018 pioneering the use of skateboarding in mental health care with a Scholarship in Germany; becoming a qualified Gestalt therapist and running her project “Drop In Ride Out” which combines skateboarding and Gestalt therapy…

(00:13) – Intro

(01:25) – Starting skateboarding

(09:22) – Studies

(19:35) – First trip to Afghanistan

(28:21) – Writing “The art of living sideways”

(38:09) – Transition from peace work to therapeutic work

(45:26) – Gestalt therapy

(49:46) – Chapter in “Skate/Worlds – New pedagogies for skateboarding”

(52:28) – Starting “Drop in ride out”

(57:49) – Skateboarding as a therapeutic tool