About

Clients include:

Danish Film Institute, Denmark
Danske Bank, Denmark
Dorte Mandrup Architects, Denmark
DR Broadcasting, Denmark
Elgaard Architecture, Denmark
Henning Larsen Architects, Denmark

KADK, Denmark
Køge Kyst Development Project, Denmark
Nordic Film, Denmark
Realdania, Denmark
Riis Retail, Denmark
The Association of Architects, Denmark
The Danish Film School, Denmark
The Municipality of Vejle
The Minestry of Culture, Denmark
TV2 Broadcasting, Denmark
Velux, Denmark
Aarstiderne, Denmark
Filmgreb, Faeroe Islands
MAP Architecture, Faeroe Islands
Nuuk Department of Business, Greenland
ANTI, Norway
National Association of Norwegian Architects,
Norway
Nasjonalmuseet, Norway
Norwegian Film Institute, Norway
Film in South, Sweden

A native of Copenhagen, I have more than a decade of experience working as an executive coach and leadership course designer with top level managers in the private and public sector in Scandinavia in fields such as media, architecture, banking, politics and the arts.

I hold MA and MSc degrees in Psychology and in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Copenhagen.

Since 2007 I have been a Candidate in the Danish Psychoanalytical Association and since 2013 an active member in ISPSO – The International Society for the Psychoanalytical Studies of Organizations.

For over 12 years I have designed and taught courses on leading professional creativity for the Danish Association of Architects and the Danish Filmschool’s Professional Development Program.

I am the author of three books on professional creativity in Danish. In 2020 my first English book on professional creativity Coaching the Creative Impulse – Psychological Dynamics and Professional Creativity was published at Routledge.

I am a keynote speaker on the topics of creative leadership, innovation and professional creativity as well as moderator of professional panels.

I live in Milan, Italy, with my husband and our two daughters.

Credentials:

MSc in Psychology and MA in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark
External lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and The University of Roskilde, Denmark 2006 – 2016
Member of the Danish Association of Psychologists
Certified in Hogan Leadership Assessment
Candidate in The Danish Psychoanalytic Association

References.

"Thea is great to work with! She inspires and challenges with her high professionalism and human insight."

Marianne Grymer Bargeman, Director of learning at the ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus and former Head of the Children & Youth Department at The National Gallery of Denmark

“Thea is very sharp and quickly understands the professional and personal situations and challenges you face. Thea is a good sounding board and always gives me a lot to think about.”

Jacob Jarek, founding partner of award-winning Danish film company Profile Pictures

“Thea is good at understanding who you are and helping you develop your own professional voice.”

Lone Loklindt, former Member of the Danish Parliament and currently councilwoman for the city of Frederiksberg, Denmark

“We use Thea to strengthen our consultants in understanding the dynamics at stake in collaborating with the applicants. The feedback I receive is that the conversations with Thea give new and valuable understandings of action opportunities in a complicated role and strengthen the consultants in their work.”

Claus Ladegaard, CEO of the Danish Film Institute

“Thea and I have worked together for 10 years to strengthen architects in relation to one of their core competences - the professional care and management of creativity. Thea is a privilege and a great inspiration to work with. Her academic background and research have resulted in outstanding knowledge, which has happily benefited the architectural profession in Denmark.”

Lena McNair, Head of Continuing Education, Danish Association of Architects

“I have used Thea Mikkelsen's expertise in different periods and roles for the National Museum of Norway. She is incredibly skilled at seeing the challenges, pointing out development goals and driving the creative process forward. She goes straight to the point and makes complicated problems simple. She is one of the best in her field.”

Miriam Nordgaard, HR manager, The National Museum of Norway

“With her incredible ability to understand organizational challenges and needs, Thea was an invaluable resource on the innovation side who helped lay the foundation for one of our most successful ventures in the last years”

Stig Kirk Ørskov, CEO of Danish media company JP/Politikens Hus A/S, the largest privately owned media business in Denmark

“Thea is very straightforward and convincing. She immediately wins over those who might be skeptical about working with consultants. Her approach makes you feel like you are not setting out to achieve some predetermined result, but that you are moving towards a goal that you and her create along the way.”

Piv Bernth, CEO of Apple Tree Productions and producer of internationally acclaimed TV series The Bridge and The Killing for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation

“With help from Thea’s structured workshops we were exposed to the complex world of management in such a way that each individual leader could easily navigate in it.”

Lene Dammand Lund, Rector of the Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen

"With her deep and theoretical knowledge and understanding of the creative impulse, the creative process and challenges in the role as an architect and leader, Thea is a very inspiring and professional coach on how to lead with focus on the quality of architecture. After sessions with Thea I’m excited and highly motivated to go back to my daily work, as an architect and leader with new and very useful tools."

Rebecca Saaby Mehlum Architect, studio manager and partner at FOJAB, Sweden

Get in touch.

Ready for a professional development with a creativity centered approach?

[email protected]