Angela Bollhalder
Career
I am Angela Bollhalder (born in 1990), the founder of ZEBRA. In 2014 I completed my training as a graduate registered nurse specializing in children, adolescents, woman and families at the University Hospital of Zurich and continued to work on the neonatal ward there for about one and one half years as a graduate registered nurse. I found the work with premature and sick newborn babies and their families very fulfilling. I was already focusing on the subject of resilience back then. I often wondered what gave the parents the strength to cope with the many different pressures they were experiencing while their baby was on the neonatal ward. It was always a moving moment for me when, sometimes after long months of waiting, the profoundly grateful parents were able to take their children home with them.
In 2015 I fulfilled my dream of traveling around the world. For one and one half years the world was my home and life itself became my school. While I filled my backpack with experiences, I kept on discovering ever more of myself. The discovery that there is more in me than I had ever thought called forth new potential in me.
When I returned to Switzerland in 2017, I resumed my career as a graduate registered nurse and worked on a number of delivery and neonatal wards. As before, I enjoyed working with families, but in the hospital atmosphere I found my opportunities increasingly limited. The wish “to leave the hospital and enter life” prompted me to take the risk of changing jobs.
Since August 2018 I have been working for the City of Zurich’s Social Services as a parental counselor. Parents turn to parental counseling, if the have questions or concerns relatingt to their children or to their role as parents. The areas are many and various and extend from care, and nutrition, through parenting and development counseling, up to psycho-social topics. The focus is always on the individual situation of each family. The concept of strengthening parents in their role, so that they in turn can strengthen their children enthralls me.
With the founding of ZEBRA in spring 2023 another chapter is opening up. Parents and parents-to-be shall also be able to benefit form the many and varied possiblities of mental coaching and thus grow into their role as parents. I am delighted to accompany you on your parental journey.
Find out more about ZEBRA here.
Education
2011 – 2014:
Registered Pediatric Nurse Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education, Careum Zurich
2019 – 2021:
Postgraduate Diploma in Parental Clounseling, Careum Bildungszentrum Aarau
2022:
SAFE Mentor®, Karl Heinz Brisch
2022:
Cert. Fertility Coach, HypnoBirthing Course Instructor and Mental Coach, Nadine Ballmer
2023/24:
Professional support during the early death of a child – dealing with crisis, pain and grief in the physiological events of pregnancy, birth and continue to live, Franziska Maurer
2024:
Coach for Autogenic Training (in Training), IKP Institut für Körperzentrierte Psychotherapie
Partners and memberships
Member of the Schweizerischer Fachverband für Mütter- und Väterberatung SF MVB (Swiss Professional Association for Parental Counseling)
