I am a therapist, a story-teller and a 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 (individual and group sessions) and daily life creating in-between spaces that are never clearly demarcated.
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 meta-modern systemic therapies (Bienestar Centre) and I am a graduate member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS) and a registered practitioner (BFRP) of the Bach Foundation. In the context of spiritual therapies, I am also a cosmoenergy practitioner since 2007 (Classical Cosmoenergy School of Emil Bagirov – part of the International Classic Cosmoenergy Federation and hence a member of the World Health Organisation since 2009 – under the supervision and teaching of Larissa Sabanova), offering healing in a holistic approach regarding symptoms relevant to the mind, soul and body.
I have been trained as a group facilitator in the Work That Reconnects, while from 1996 to 2012 I have attended various trainings on Process Oriented Psychology (focusing on dreamwork and bodywork, as well as conflict resolution and group processes) and systemic psychotherapy (AKMA – Athenian Institute of Anthropos), the latter including the fields of didactic group psychotherapy and genogram. I have studied herbalism with the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine (Herbal Immersion Course) and at the moment, I am attending Lindera – an online herbal intensive with Jim McDonald. Which means that learning is a lifelong process for me.
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, bringing attention into a conscious interaction of nature and human systems.
For a significant part of my professional life I have focused on issues of social exclusion with an emphasis on outreach methodologies, but also the implementation 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 am particularly interested in the application of theory to practice through qualitative social research and hence I have authored/ co-authored manuals for social scientists of different areas of expertise, with a special focus on counseling and psychosocial intervention methodologies.
