When the body won't come to rest, even though the findings are unremarkable.
Online psychological counselling for chronic tension, exhaustion and stress-related physical symptoms. Scientifically grounded and body-oriented.
I am Ruslan Spartakov, a psychologist (M.Sc.) with a specialisation in neuroscience. I work above all with high-functioning people who function on the outside and cannot come to rest inside.
The complaints this is about
A persistent inner tension that doesn't ease even at rest. Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Pressure on the chest, a stuttering heartbeat, stomach and gut complaints, a tinnitus that gets louder under stress. On the outside everything functions, inside the system is permanently wired.
Often this has already been medically checked, ECG, blood work, often more, and organically unremarkable. The complaints remain all the same.
This is not imagination, but a nervous system in constant alarm. That is exactly where the counselling begins.
What happens in the nervous system
Your heartbeat, breathing, digestion, muscle tension and sleep are run by your autonomic nervous system, largely without your doing. It takes its cue from how safe or threatened it continuously judges the situation to be. Under sustained pressure that judgement stays stuck on alarm, even when there is no real danger.
The body then keeps up a readiness that would fit genuine danger: the heart beats faster or stutters, the muscles tense, the gut speaks up, perception grows more sensitive, sleep stays shallow. That is exactly what you feel. It is not a defect in an organ, but a state of regulation, and that explains why the findings stay unremarkable and the complaints are there all the same.
The longer this state lasts, the more the system tries to counter it with even more control. The paradox: more control doesn't stabilise it, it makes the system more vulnerable. A well-rehearsed, automatic response runs best when conscious control leaves it in peace.
So it isn't about more control, but about the right measure.
I studied this very connection in my own research. It is the foundation of how I work, and the same principle that brings an overstimulated nervous system to rest.
What I work with
What this is about in concrete terms. Choose whatever comes closest to you, and that is where we go deeper.
Physical symptoms without an organic finding
A racing heart, pressure on the chest, an irritable gut, dizziness. Medically checked, organically unremarkable.
More on thisChronic tension and inner restlessness
Permanently wired, with no coming down, not even at rest.
More on thisExhaustion despite functioning
On the outside everything runs, inside the tank is empty, and breaks no longer carry you.
More on thisDecision and follow-through blocks
You know what would need to be done, and still you can't get into action.
More on thisOnline counselling
Individual psychological counselling online, confidential, in a protected setting. At its centre is the regulation of an overstimulated nervous system and the work on the patterns that keep it in alarm.
This is psychological counselling and support, not psychotherapy in the sense of the German Psychotherapy Act, and not the practice of medicine. Concerns that require acute treatment I refer to medical or psychotherapeutic services.
Methodological approach
At the centre
Body-oriented nervous-system regulation · Imaginative and emotion-focused work · Acceptance- and behaviour-based methods
Informed by
Own neuroscientific research on the nervous system and control (Cognitive Science Society, 2024) · Schema therapy · ACT · IFS
Format & process
50 minutes over an encrypted video connection. We start with what is moving you right now, work with what shows up, and look at the end at what you take with you. Clear, calm, precise.
Fee
- 95 € · Standard
- 70 € · Reduced, for students, trainees, pensioners and people on a low income
Per 50-minute session, including VAT. Free 30-minute intro call to clarify the right rate.
If this feels familiar
If you recognise yourself in one of these descriptions, my work probably fits you.
You understand yourself well, but your knowledge doesn't turn into change.
You have read and reflected a great deal and still notice that in your actual experience everything stays as it is. That very gap between understanding and changing is what we work on.
You function on the outside, inside the alarm runs constantly.
Appointments, performance, it all holds. But in the evening your mind won't switch off, and your body speaks up. We bring your system to rest, without you having to slow down.
You carry a lot of responsibility alone, and important things keep slipping.
Self-employed or in a role with real responsibility, finances and unpleasant things pile up, and underneath a quiet fear about making ends meet. We start at the root, not with more discipline.
About the person
I am Ruslan Spartakov, a psychologist (M.Sc.) with a specialisation in neuroscience. Rather than working on understanding alone, I start with the bodily and neural mechanisms that drive experience and behaviour.
How I got there, from research at the University of Marburg through the online practice Metanovia to more than ten years of body practice, you can read in more detail on the About me page.
Performance and inner stability are not a contradiction.
Many high-functioning people believe they have to choose: success or inner calm. I am convinced of the opposite. Those who understand their nervous system don't have to perform less, they stop working against their own body. That is exactly what I work on with you: that your performance stays and the constant alarm eases.
What clients take with them.
From the very beginning I felt taken seriously and truly understood. I came away with many small, everyday tools and concrete things to work with that help me shape my days more consciously and more stably. What I found especially valuable was that Ruslan showed me many different possible solutions, so that I could find the ways that fit me.
Client
Stability in daily life
Working with Ruslan has helped me immensely, especially in dealing with overstimulation, my burnout and the process of stabilising my nervous system again. I always felt very well understood and supported by him.
Client
Burnout & nervous system
The sessions with you give me positive energy, strength and new perspectives every single time. Through you and your words something big began to move in me, in a very positive direction.
Client
Clarity & inner movement
Let's talk
Write to me for a free intro call or a counselling enquiry. I reply within 48 hours.