I find working with young people and their families rewarding and fulfilling. I love meeting new clients and hearing their stories. Every time and with every client, I feel privileged being part of their journey and perceive myself and the therapeutic relationship as the healing agent to help my clients thrive. My approach is gentle, kind, authentic, attentive, and playful. I am comfortable to allow the therapeutic process to unfold and go with the flow of my clients, along with not being afraid to challenge and break old patterns of relating. Therefore, clients working with me would say that they feel ‘felt’ at a core level, heard, accepted, and safe to be themselves.
Having also worked in various school settings during the last 15 years, and in different capacities, I have augmented my counselling experience developing a holistic view by engaging in teaching and leading the well-being, welfare, and pastoral school agendas. In all my roles, supporting children and young people to achieve their potential and meet their goals on a social, emotional, cognitive, and academic level was a crucial success factor and personal goal of mine.
Born in Greece, I moved to London, UK where I lived for ten years and achieved my qualification as a Child & Adolescent Counsellor. I have worked with children and youth coming from diverse backgrounds in school settings as well as in private practice. Through my personal experience, I have a deep understanding and compassion of what changes may entail in someone’s life and the possible impact of them in their well-being. It does not matter whether a change is small or big, planned, or unexpected, every person, and especially children and youth, may have a hard time processing and coming to terms with it.
I love travelling, visiting new places and connecting with people. It fascinates me to get to know and learn about new cultures and ways of living. Through my travels, I have developed a better awareness of diversity and difference, which helps me challenge my personal views and blind spots. And when I am not able to travel, I read books to immerse myself in different adventures. Another thing close to my heart is my love of nature. Going for a walk and/ or visiting a green space is an integral part of me, helping recharge my batteries and feel grounded and calm.
Qualifications
- Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Adolescent Counselling and Psychotherapy
- MA Child-Centred Interprofessional Practice (Birth to 19yrs)
- MSc Information and Communication Technology in Education
- BSc Computer Science
Further Training
- Introduction to Infant-Parent Psychotherapy
- Advanced Infant-Parent Psychotherapy (pending)
- Becoming a Parent whilst Healing from Complex Trauma
- Developmental Trauma
- Working with Relational Trauma: Dealing with Disorganised Attachment
- Play Therapy approaches and interventions for autistic and neurodivergent children and adolescents
- Engaging Children in Relating, Regulating and Reflecting
- Self-regulation in Mental Health – How Self-Regulation Mapping Can Help Stressed Nervous Systems Find a Way Back to Calm
- Managing risk when working with children and young people
- Dealing with Distress: Working with Suicide and Self-Harm
- Navigating High Conflict Divorce & Custody cases
- Psychological First Aid
- Making trauma therapy safe
- The Flash Technique: Basic Principles and Protocols
- Foundation of Cyber-counselling