In memory of Daniela Heinzl

October 13, 2023

Dear members of EAP, dear colleagues

We are deeply saddened to inform you that our dear colleague and long-time member of the EAP Head-office team Daniela Heinzl passed away on 11th of July 2023.

It is hard to find proper words to express the sadness for losing such a colleague and friend, and such a deeply loving, wise, capable, compassionate person as Daniela Heinzl was. She was one of the pillars of the European Association for Psychotherapy. Some colleagues called her the “soul and heart of the organization “. EAP cannot thank her enough for all her contributions during more than 20 years of her work in EAP.

Daniela fought with cancer in an admirably courageous and dignified way. Her courage and strength were recognized, and thus she was asked to contribute with an article/interview for a book published by the health centre aiming at encouraging cancer patients to fight this difficult disease. This was Daniela’s character – she was so resourceful that she could write this article and  give to others when most people would have nothing left to give. We are sure that her experience has been assisting many people who are going through the difficult path of cancer treatments and recovery.

Daniela was a source of extraordinary knowledge of our organization, procedures, people and history of EAP. We all could always ask Daniela for advice and ideas on how to approach complicated matters. We learned from her how administration could be friendly, caring, helpful in all kinds of issues – completely different from what we usually experience in other parts of life.

Daniela was doing so much work, but always had time for a smile and was ready to find a better way to resolve whatever came, from the small details to the big issues. She was very proud of the EAP family constantly growing and she was fully dedicated to it.

During the last months, many colleagues from the whole Europe, from Portugal, to Russia, from UK to Greece, were sending emails to EAP expressing their sadness as well as their gratitude to Daniela. Here are some words from the EAP members:

“For us Daniela was a sunlight. Always in a good mood, open, personal, joking. Her energy for working at EAP was wonderful.”

“Daniela was recognized for her warmth, attitude, authentic and spontaneous kindness, and charm. Rarely do we meet someone so dedicated to creating and maintaining strong relationships as Daniela did.”

“I admired that energy and heart which she put in the agenda. It was always nice to receive her emails and I had a feeling of a very personal relationship with all she was communicating with.”

The passing of Daniela Heinzl is a great loss for EAP and for everybody who knew her.

Rest in peace dear Daniela. We will always treasure you and miss you immensely.

On behalf of the EAP Governing Board

EAP President	EAP Registrar	EAP General Secretary