Psychotherapy for English speakers

I am a professional psychotherapist and trained psychoanalyst offering counseling and psychotherapy services in English.

I provide individual and group psychotherapy, individual counseling, as well as couples and family therapy to adults experiencing relationship, life or professional challenges, life transitions, anxiety, depression, addiction, mood disorders and other psychological conditions. I also provide psycho-social support programs in several areas such as grief counseling, stress management, conflict resolution and other.

I have studied and worked in the United States for 11 years and have a native language level of proficiency in English. I have obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Psychology from New York University (NYU). I have also completed one of the most prestigious and rigorous 5-year training programs in psychoanalytic group therapy and family therapy at the Hellenic Association for Group Analysis and Family Therapy. I am a member of the International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes and a certified trainer for Gordon’s Parent Effectiveness Training model. For the past four years, I teach psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice at the Hellenic Educational Institute for Analytical Group & Family Psychotherapy (www.elekin.gr).

I draw on 20+ years of experience in human behavior, human performance and organizational behavior from my careers in psychotherapy, counseling, business and marketing. I also bring to my counseling a broad multicultural experience having lived, studied and worked in Philadelphia, New York and Athens for several years. If you are an expat or a local who is interested in psychotherapy and/or counseling services in English, please feel free to reach out to me for more information about the services I can provide you.

MY APPROACH

My practice in psychotherapy is based on a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approach, but it also incorporates elements from other approaches (cognitive, systemic) where necessary, in order to achieve the most appropriate therapeutic result for each individual’s needs.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of intensive therapy based on the theories and principles of psychoanalysis. It studies the psychological forces that underlie human behavior and builds on the belief that factors that transcend our conscious awareness (implicit beliefs about self and others, unconscious desires and fantasies) have a profound effect on our motivations and behavior. Although we are unaware of their existence in our daily lives, these factors often relate to the difficulties for which patients seek treatment.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is often indicated for people whose lives are essentially stable, who have achieved some success in work and relationships but for whom an enduring sense of life satisfaction or relief from troubling symptoms (anxiety, sadness, emotional vacuum) has proven elusive.  Psychodynamic therapy can be especially helpful for people who experience:

  • Low self-esteem
  • Feelings of ineffectiveness and/or failure at work
  • Lack of flexibility, rigidity and great need for control
  • Chronic anxieties
  • Recurrent depression
  • Difficulty feeling happy / satisfied, even when things are going well
  • Problems with anger and irritability
  • Recurring disappointments in love relations and friendships
  • Problems with intimacy and / or sexual relations

The theories and techniques that distinguish psychodynamic therapy from other types of therapy include a focus on identifying, understanding, expressing and overcoming negative, contradictory and repressed emotions in order to improve different aspects of the patient’s life and interpersonal relationships. The therapist helps the patient understand how his or her repressed or conflicting emotions affect his/her motivation, decision making, behavior, and relationships. Psychodynamic therapy is also helpful to individuals who know and understand the origin of their difficulties, but are unable to overcome their current issues on their own. In therapy, patients learn to analyze and resolve their current issues in relationships through the profound exploration and analysis of past experiences and emotions.

Psychoanalytic therapy is frequently caricatured as a treatment that focuses on the patient’s past. Although many psychoanalysts would agree that one’s experience of early family relationships forms important templates for later experiences, many modes of contemporary psychoanalysis involve an intensive examination of the patient’s current life through the lenses of work, love, and interpersonal relationships. This characterizes my approach to psychoanalysis.

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