A Short Story About a Long Way
From Struggles to Systems
In November 2001 – more than 24 years ago – I received an MRI diagnosis that was a big surprise for me. Back then, a young radiologist recommended „to celebrate the next Christmas consciously (because it could be the last).“ This was the true shock for me, not the MRI images.
24 Christmas Eves later, I am very much alive, and for sure better than ever before.
This article is about how life changes when you decide to be the change
The diagnosis back then was a „benign brain tumor.“ Rare type. Honestly, then, I lost all sense of humor for 7 days.
When I came back from a week of beer and cigarettes and blaming life while smoking on our balcony, I made the decision: This uninvited participant in my life will become a part of my life.
This struggle, I will change into something useful. Like using a stone in my path to build a platform to stand on and see better what’s around, what can be behind a „mountain“ of problems.
I tried Tibetan medical treatment in Switzerland and was in a German neurosurgery clinic ready for brain surgery, but I decided against surgery and knew: It is „only“ about symptoms but not about life.
So, I decided to develop techniques and tools for myself to help me function in daily life, and to go beyond explanations and the question „Why me?“
This is, in short the everlasting story of developing tools and short-stories to support myself and others in coping.
How to get from Struggles to Systems
I am aware that my diagnosis is a mild one, compared to others. Nevertheless, the restrictions are immanent. So, I am writing from my perspective what I learned in more than 24 years about dealing and coping with hard facts.
From stop to run – overcoming the barriers
Struggles are invitations of life.
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- You can want to ignore them.
- You can try to fight them.
- And you can describe and live them as a research environment.
Integrate what you can’t get rid of
When former concepts of life don’t work anymore
This is what I do with my concept of Permanent Brain Research.
Permanent Brain Research – Concept by Johannes Faupel
I decided to research how my own brain reacts to different doses of sports and nutrition. Symptoms like noise in the head, I am exercising to place outside the skull.
This led to the principle of Excentration.
How to improve concentration by excentration
My answer to years of exhaustion is my concept of Burnout Coping, published at Springer Nature and in my own publishing office.
The decision for transformation becomes the transformation
Whatever a person’s „mud“ might be – the Lotus is there. Sometimes invisible.
Utilization instead of fight
The true art of Utilization, as taught by Milton Erickson, is the radical re-description of the present issue. It is the realization that the „mud“ we stand in is the only substrate capable of growing extraordinary fruit. Thich Nhat Hanh captured this in a singular image:
No Mud, No Lotus.
Without the mud, there is no blossom.
From over 24 years of living with a space-occupying lesion (SOL), I have not merely „coped“ or „survived.“ Instead, I have cultivated a series of systemic concepts that now serve as vital assets in psychiatric supervision and therapeutic practice.
Mind Rooms – one of my core concepts
Mind Rooms – one of my core concepts
Some Fruits of the Mud
- Redefining the Deficit-Narrative: In psychiatric supervision, my experience serves to open new pathways for people who describe themselves exclusively as „deficient.“ We move away from the paralyzing search for „safety“ and toward exploring what is possible because of and despite limitations.
- The Shift in OCD Treatment: I have moved the traditional understanding of OCD – behind the disorder concept, there is a deep „search for security“ – toward an approach that emphasizes life beyond the markers of fear. By shifting the connotation, we transform a „disorder“ into a unique form of systemic competence.
- Competencehyperdominance: This model establishes the dominance of one’s own capabilities over the dominance of a medical or psychological diagnosis. It is the conscious decision to anchor one’s identity in agency, allowing the resistance to remain in the background as a mere observer.
- Excentration: The principle of Excentration acts as the counterweight to the ego-centric fixation on pain or suffering. It is the deliberate movement out of the center of distress and into the world of creative contribution.
A Declaration of Winning by Walking the „Dog“
These developments, the books I have authored, and the concepts applied in clinical settings are not victories against a condition. They are gains for life. Walking the „dog“ of a medical struggle makes it a companion, not an enemy.
More Skills instead of more Pills
They prove that the description of reality is more powerful than reality itself. When we stop fighting the „space-occupying lesion“ as an enemy and begin to utilize it as the substrate for insights, the struggles transform into operating systems.
It is the decision to stop cursing the mud and to start planting the lotus.
Over the years, I became a Lotus discoverer.
Finding the key to one’s own treasure chamber is the most rewarding part of this journey.
Why did I decide to publish this?
In March 2026, I attended a „No Excuses Deep Dive“ online workshop by Laura St. John. The next morning, I took the decision to let you look behind the scenes and get an idea „why my clients change so quickly“. It is because I know from my own experience how the mere change of verbal description changes a situation. So, thank you, Laura, for your inspiration.