I am a story-teller, a therapist and social scientist. Often a gardener. During the first years of my adult life I worked in the environmental sector and later on in the social sector. Being a story-teller, a social scientist or a therapist meant a hybrid identity and I always found it difficult to answer the question of who I am in a single sentence. I am passionate about nature and art, so these two blend into my work and daily life creating in-between spaces that are never clearly demarcated.
Since 2016 I have been introducing gardens into psychosocial intervention projects (and vice versa) and I am currently exploring the notion of tame and untamed gardens as spaces of healing and self-awareness.
More specifically:
Initially I studied social sciences and later continued with an MSc in Applied Psychology, completed with a qualitative research project on the gardening movement of Athens entitled “We were the seeds: relationships & identities within the urban gardening movement of Athens”. I have completed my training in metamodern systemic therapies (Bienestar Centre) and I am a graduate member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS) and a registered practicioner (BFRP) of the Bach Foundation. I have been trained as a group facilitator in the Work That Reconnects, while in the past I have attended various trainings on Process Oriented Psychology, but also alternative approaches to land cultivation combining the environmental to the social. At the moment, I am studying herbalism with a scholarship from the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. Which means that as I am growing older I keep learning.
For the most part of my professional life I have focused on issues of social exclusion with an emphasis on outreach methodologies, but also the use of art as a form of social intervention and in particular painting and story-telling.
Among others I have cooperated with: the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece “Archelon”, Greenpeace, the Association for the Social Support of Youth “Arsis”, Terre des hommes (Tdh), International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Therapy Centre for Dependent Individuals (KETHEA), the Research Centre for Gender Equality (KETHI), the Centre for Gender Rights and Equality “Diotima”, the Women’s Centre of Karditsa, the University of Athens, the Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government (ΕΕΤΑΑ), the Athenian Institute of Anthropos (ΑΚΜΑ), Social and Educational Action (SOCEDACT), the Emotions Museum for Children, Benakion Children’s Institute of Kifissia, the Centre for Psychological Applications and Erevnites Publications.
I have also been translating texts from English or German into Greek and I have participated in qualitative social research projects, authoring or co-authoring manuals for social scientists, that included:
- “Action as a Start for Reflection: Conclusions and Proposals Based on Implemented Action Plans of Women’s Organisations & Non-Governmental Organisations“, published in Greek
- “Counseling Guide for the Personal & Professional Support of Socially Excluded Groups”, published in Romanian
- “Material for the Training of Social Scientists on Social Exclusion Issues, Roma’s Social Inclusion with an Emphasis on Social Economy & Recycling”, published in Romanian
- “Production Of Methodological Tools For The Approach Of Socially Marginalized Groups & Pilot Implementation Of The Tools By Social Services”, published in Greek
