Equipo

Thanks to her father’s encouragement, she has treasured international experiences since a very young age. It all began with a summer in Ireland at the age of 13, doing a full immersion with a host family in Dublin. The following summers were filled with American adventures in Maryland, Seattle, and Orlando. The 4th of July remains etched in her memory, along with the taste of red crabs, and to this day, she is still in touch with her “American sis” from Duvall. Lidia is passionate about books, a love of reading that runs in her maternal family, and it was through literature that she found her way into forensic psychology. Those criminology books sparked her interest in human nature.

She graduated in Psychology from the Complutense University of Madrid, and it was during her second year of university that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted her studies, leading her to discover her vocation for helping others by supporting them in times of greatest difficulty through volunteering with SAMUR-PC. Since then, ambulances and emergency care have become a fundamental part of her life and a great learning experience in knowing how to intervene in crisis situations. Today, she is a squad leader and coordinates volunteers in event assistance while also providing psychological services within the organization.

Upon finishing her undergraduate degree, she did her internship at a psychology clinic, where she discovered another approach—emotional systemic therapy—which enriched her foundation in cognitive-behavioral therapy. That same year, she enrolled in the Master´s in General Health Psychology at the European University of Madrid to achieve her goal of treating patients at a psychotherapeutic level. During her internship, she had a class with Gema Rubio and realized that she could train in an international environment in Madrid while recovering her command of English. During her internship, she had the opportunity to be mentored by a specialist in EMDR and decided to deepen her training in attachment and trauma. Today, Lidia treats past wounds that cause issues in the present (such as a difficult childhood, the loss of loved ones, complicated family relationships, or extraordinarily challenging events we have lived through).

At the same time, inspired by a class on the subject, she decided to expand her knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through a Master’s program and became certified to administer the ADI-R and ADOS diagnostic tests.

For a year, Lidia worked in the suicide prevention and care service of the Spanish Red Cross (024). This, along with her experience in crisis intervention, makes her an ideal professional to support individuals grieving from suicide loss and those struggling with thoughts of death or having attempted suicide in their past.

By the time she completed her internship, it was clear that we wanted to have her on board. Since joining the team, Lidia has been working as a university counselor, helping young adults with a wide range of challenges, including mood disorders, anxiety, grief, and family issues. She is also one of the professionals in the department who works with individuals on the spectrum, both during the initial stages of diagnosis, when the relief of making sense of their difficulties takes place, and later, offering support in organizing routines, adapting to changes, managing anxiety, and sensory overload.

Lidia works from an integrative perspective with a cognitive-behavioral base, but her priority is the relief of emotional distress. She creates a safe and comfortable space for her patients, where the therapeutic process they deserve can unfold. Moreover, by breaking down the language barrier and using two languages, she helps patients from all over the world access this process and feel supported in their personal growth.

Mária sa narodila na Slovensku v rodine, kde sa dovtedy nikto predtým nerozhodol opustiť svoju krajinu v hľadaní nového domova. Stala sa teda prvou, ktorá sa rozhodla presťahovať do zahraničia, poháňaná túžbou objavovať príležitosti, ktoré jej iná krajina môže poskytnúť. Motivovaná záujmom o ľudí a ich príbehy, študovala psychológiu vo svojej domovskej krajine, kde pokračovala vo svojej špecializácii magisterským titulom v odbore organizačná a vzdelávacia psychológia. Počas posledného roka postgraduálneho štúdia mala príležitosť zúčastniť sa výmenného programu Erasmus v Portugalsku na Univerzite Trás-os-Montes a Alto Douro vo Vila Real. Štúdium v zahraničí a v jazyku, ktorý nepoznala, jej pomohlo uvedomiť si dôležitosť sociálnych vzťahov – práve tie jej pomohli pri prispôsobovaní sa novému prostrediu. A práve tam sa prebudila aj jej vášeň pre terapeutickú prácu.

Počas svojho štúdia na Slovensku, inšpirovaná svojím bratom, oddaným sociálnym pracovníkom, spolupracovala na jednom z projektov UNICEF-u, „Linka detskej istoty“, kde prijímala hovory od detí a adolescentov, ktorí čelili rôznym problémom – šikanovanie, problémy nadviazať vzťahy so svojimi rovesníkmi, neporozumenie rodiny… Snažila sa im pomáhať nájsť riešenia v týchto náročných situáciách, s ktorými sa dennodenne potýkali.

V garáži-herni neziskovej organizácie Ulita pracovala s deťmi a adolescentmi žijúcimi v znevýhodnenom prostredí jedného bratislavského sídliska. Prostredníctvom hry mohla nahliadnuť do ich životov, čo len potvrdilo jej túžbu pokračovať v odbornom vzdelávaní sa pre prácu s touto populáciou. Presvedčená, že detstvo a adolescencia sú obdobia s veľkým potenciálom na zmenu a uzdravenie, si uvedomila, že hra nie je len prostriedkom na nadviazanie prvého kontaktu s dieťaťom, ale aj bezpečným priestorom, kde mu môžeme dať našu plnú pozornosť.

Neskôr pracovala ako psychologička v neziskovej organizácii Prima, kde pomáhala ľuďom s problémom závislostí a ohrozeným sociálnym vylúčením, prostredníctvom prístupu na znižovanie škôd. Tento prístup nevyžaduje abstinenciu – zameriava sa na zlepšovanie starostlivosti o seba samého po fyzickej a psychickej stránke a popri tom podporuje motiváciu prestať s užívaním drog. Táto skúsenosť na ňu hlboko zapôsobila; ukázala jej nielen ničivé účinky spoločenského znevýhodnenia, ale práve možnosť spoznávať ľudí s tak komplikovanými životnými príbehmi jej pomohla uvedomiť si, že aj s malým úsilím – aktívnym počúvaním a rešpektom – môžeme dosiahnuť úžasné zmeny. Po dokončení programu Erasmus sa presťahovala do Španielska v rámci projektu Európskej dobrovoľníckej služby a pracovala ako dobrovoľníčka v jednej terapeutickej komunite. Tam sa opäť zamerala na rehabilitáciu a pracovnú reintegráciu ľudí s problémom drogových závislostí a s tými, ktorí trpeli HIV/AIDS.

Po tomto projekte sa rozhodla zostať v Španielsku a dokončiť magisterské štúdium sociálnej psychológie na Univerzite Complutense v Madride (UCM). Stále však bola presvedčená, že jej pravým poslaním je klinická psychológia, vďaka ktorej by mohla ponúknuť viac individualizovanej starostlivosti. Jej titul zo Slovenska nebol uznávaný v Španielsku, preto musela znovu začať svoje psychologické štúdium na UCM a následne pokračovať magisterským štúdiom v odbore všeobecnej zdravotnej psychológie na Univerzite Alfonso X El Sabio. Bolo to dlhé a náročné obdobie, počas ktorého Mária preukázala jednu zo svojich najsilných stránok: dôslednosť a schopnosť nasledovať svoje ciele. Na tieto roky však spomína ako na ako obdobie výnimočného osobného a profesionálneho rastu. Skombinovala štúdium s prácami v oblastiach nesúvisiacich s psychológiou, pričom si budovala nový život v inej krajine a budovala vzťahy s ľuďmi, ktorí sa neskôr stali jej novou rodinou.

Počas magisterského štúdia v odbore všeobecnej zdravotnej psychológie bola vybraná prostredníctvom náročného výberového procesu na stáž v SINEWS, kde sme sa okamžite zamilovali do nej a jej schopnosti pomáhať našim medzinárodným pacientom s úzkosťou, depresiou, ťažkosťami v medziľudských vzťahoch v dospelosti a ďalšími problémami… Nemohli sme ju nechať odísť.

Mária sa dnes naďalej vzdeláva v oblasti integratívnej terapie so zameraním na vzťahové väzby a traumy, s dôrazom na špecializáciu v EMDR. Jej terapeutický štýl práce je predovšetkým kognitívno-behaviorálny, založený na vedeckej presnosti, ale vždy prispôsobený individuálnym potrebám každého človeka. Je presvedčená, že všetci máme vo svojom vnútri obrovský potenciál čakajúci na svoje objavenie a že práve terapia je mocným nástrojom na jeho dosiahnutie. Prostredníctvom terapeutického procesu sa medzi terapeutom a pacientom vytvára jedinečné puto schopné liečiť hlboké rany, ktoré často ovplyvňujú náš spôsob bytia, veľakrát bez toho, aby sme si toho boli vedomí. Porozumie tomu, čo formovalo náš život a náš emocionálny svet, nám môže pomôcť robiť lepšie rozhodnutia a efektívnejšie zvládať naše emócie.

Mária was born in Slovakia, in a family where no one had previously decided to leave their country in search of a new home. Thus, she became the first to move abroad, driven by a desire to explore new opportunities. Motivated by an interest in people and their stories, she studied Psychology in her home country, where she went on to specialize with a master’s in organizational and educational psychology. During the final year of her postgraduate studies, she had the opportunity to participate in an Erasmus exchange in Portugal, at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro in Vila Real. Studying in a foreign country and in a language she wasn’t fully familiar with, helped her reflect on the importance of building a social support network when adapting to a new environment. It was there that her passion for therapeutic work was awakened.

During her studies in Slovakia, inspired by her brother, a dedicated social worker, she supported one of UNICEF’s projects, the “Child Safety Line”, where she answered calls from children and adolescents facing a wide range of issues, particularly survivors of bullying.

In the garage-playroom of the NGO Ulita, she worked through play with children and adolescents from an underprivileged neighborhood in Bratislava, which allowed her to gain insight into their lives and reaffirmed her desire to continue training to work with this population. Convinced that childhood and adolescence are stages with great potential for change and healing, she was able to see that play is not only a means of connection but also a safe space where they can receive full attention.

Later, she worked as a psychologist at the NGO Prima, helping people with addictions at risk of social exclusion through a harm reduction approach, where abstinence was not required. Instead, the focus was on improving self-care and fostering the desire to stop using substances. This experience had a profound impact on her, teaching her the devastating effects of marginalization, while the privilege of getting to know people with such complicated life stories allowed her to understand that with very little – simply active listening and respect – we can make a significant positive impact. After completing her Erasmus, she moved to Spain as a volunteer in a therapeutic community through the European Voluntary Service project. There, she once again focused on the rehabilitation and labor reintegration of individuals with drug dependencies and those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

After this project, she decided to stay in Spain and complete a master’s in social psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid. However, she remained convinced that her true calling was clinical psychology, where she could offer more individualized care. Her degree from Slovakia was not recognized in Spain, so she had to restart her psychology studies at UCM and then continue with a master’s in general health psychology at Alfonso X El Sabio University. It was a long journey filled with challenges, during which Mária demonstrated one of her greatest strengths: consistency and the ability to persist in her goals. She remembers these difficult years as a time of significant personal and professional growth. She balanced her studies with jobs in fields unrelated to psychology, all while building a new life in another country and forming deep bonds with people who would become her new family.

During her master’s in general health psychology, she was selected through a rigorous interview process to do her internship at SINEWS, where we immediately fell in love with her and her ability to help our international patients with anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties in adulthood, and more… We couldn’t let her go.

Today, Mária continues her training in integrative therapy, focusing on attachment and trauma, and specializing in EMDR. Her therapeutic method is primarily cognitive-behavioral, based on scientific rigor, but always tailored to the individual needs of each patient. She is convinced that we all have immense potential waiting to be discovered, and that therapy is a powerful tool to achieve this. Through the therapeutic process, a unique bond is created between therapist and patient, a bond capable of healing deep wounds that often influence our way of being without us even realizing it. our emotions more effectively. Understanding our origins and our emotional world helps us make better decisions and manage our emotions more effectively.

Chaimaa est une psychologue passionnée, originaire du Maroc. À l’âge de 17 ans, elle a pris la décision audacieuse de déménager en Espagne pour s’immerger dans la langue et la culture espagnoles tout en étudiant la psychologie. Sa fascination pour cette discipline est multidimensionnelle, lui offrant un stimulant constant pour explorer la complexité de l’esprit humain et son impact sur le comportement.

Avec une riche expérience multiculturelle, Chaimaa maîtrise plusieurs langues, dont l’arabe, le français, l’anglais et l’espagnol, ce qui lui permet d’offrir des thérapies dans différentes langues et de se connecter ainsi avec un large éventail de patients. Son parcours académique l’a menée à travers plusieurs villes d’Espagne, de Grenade et Almería jusqu’à Madrid, lui apportant non seulement des connaissances universitaires, mais aussi une profonde compréhension des diverses cultures présentes dans le pays.

Elle a obtenu son diplôme de psychologie à l’Université de Grenade, où elle a découvert sa passion pour la neuropsychologie clinique. Ses premières expériences pratiques étaient centrées sur la stimulation cognitive des nourrissons et des enfants atteints de trisomie 21, ce qui a éveillé son intérêt pour ce domaine d’étude. Par la suite, elle a complété un Master en Neuropsychologie Clinique, acquérant des compétences spécialisées dans l’évaluation et le traitement des troubles neurologiques. Engagée à approfondir le domaine de la neuropsychologie, elle a également obtenu un autre master en Sciences du Système Nerveux avec une spécialisation en rééducation neurologique. Lors de ses stages à l’Unité de Lésions Cérébrales Acquises de l’Hôpital de San Vicente à Madrid, elle a développé des compétences en rééducation neuropsychologique en prenant en charge des patients souffrant de traumatismes crâniens, de tumeurs, d’anoxies et d’infections.

Elle a aussi eu l’opportunité de faire des stages à SINEWS MTI, où elle a acquis de l’expérience en thérapie pour adultes et adolescents. Avec une expertise couvrant divers troubles, dont l’anxiété, la dépression, les phobies, le trouble du déficit de l’attention avec ou sans hyperactivité (TDAH), le stress post-traumatique (PTSD), entre autres, elle est en mesure de fournir un soutien adapté aux besoins individuels de chaque patient. Grâce à une approche intégrative et une solide formation en neuropsychologie et psychothérapie, elle accompagne ses patients dans la compréhension et la gestion de leurs difficultés pour favoriser leur bien-être mental et émotionnel.

Tout au long de son parcours académique et professionnel, elle a participé activement à des congrès et des cours en psychologie, enrichissant ainsi ses connaissances et se tenant informée des derniers progrès de la discipline.

Elle travaille avec une approche intégrative fondée sur des preuves, avec une forte influence cognitivo-comportementale, s’adaptant aux besoins de chaque individu pour identifier et renforcer leurs atouts. Avec une combinaison d’empathie, de savoir-faire et d’expérience, Chaimaa s’engage à offrir un soutien personnalisé et sans jugement à ceux qui souhaitent améliorer leur bien-être mental et émotionnel.

Sara has a solid background in the field of education, and a deep interest in language development and multilingualism. Raised in Madrid, she became familiar with two languages from an early age, as her mother is Australian and she attended the American School of Madrid (ASM) from the age of 3 to 18. In this environment, English was both the academic and social language, allowing her to master both languages.

She graduated in Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2011, specializing in Educational Psychology. Sara has dedicated over 12 years of her professional life to the educational sector in international contexts. Her most relevant work experience began at English for Fun, an American learning center that included an Early Childhood Education program, after school activities, and urban camps for children. During her time there, Sara served as director, counselor, and educator in all programs. Years later, she became SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) at IE University, and school counselor at different British schools. These experiences have enabled her to help her patients overcome the academic demands of international schools. Sara views difficulties (such as dyslexia, language disorders, attention or auditory processing difficulties) not only from a clinical perspective but also through an educational approach.

Throughout her career, Sara has observed firsthand the significant impact that communication, speech, and/or language difficulties can have on various areas of children’s lives, including their social and family relationships, learning, behavior, and self-esteem. This led her to pursue a degree in Speech and Language Therapy through the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in 2021. For her undergraduate thesis, she wrote a clinical guideline to improve the diagnostic process of Developmental Language Disorder in bilingual children. Her interest and experience with multilingualism have also led her to conduct workshops on this topic, as well as giving formal advice to parents who are interested in raising their children in multiple languages.

Sara also applies her knowledge and experience in her daily life as a mother of two young children, whom she speaks to in English, while her husband uses Spanish. Currently, in addition to her clinical work, she serves as a counselor at Kings Infant School Chamartín, where she continues to support the holistic development of her students.

شيماء هي معالجة نفسية شغوفة من أصل مغربي. في سن السابعة عشرة، قررت الانتقال إلى إسبانيا بهدف الاندماج في اللغة والثقافة الإسبانية أثناء دراستها لعلم النفس. شغفها بعلم النفس متعدد الأوجه، حيث تجد فيه تحفيزاً دائماً لاستكشاف تعقيد العقل البشري وتأثيره على السلوك.

بفضل خبرتها المتعددة الثقافات، تُجيد شيماء عدة لغات، بما في ذلك العربية والفرنسية والإنجليزية والإسبانية، مما يتيح لها تقديم جلسات علاج نفسي بعدة لغات والتواصل مع مجموعة واسعة من المرضى. قادتها دراستها الأكاديمية إلى مدن مختلفة في إسبانيا، من غرناطة وألميريا إلى مدريد، مما منحها ليس فقط المعرفة الأكاديمية، بل أيضًا فهماً عميقاً للثقافات المختلفة الموجودة في البلاد.

أكملت دراستها في علم النفس في جامعة غرناطة، حيث اكتشفت شغفها بعلم النفس العصبي السريري. كانت أولى ممارساتها في التحفيز المعرفي للأطفال والرضع المصابين بمتلازمة داون، مما أثار اهتمامها بهذا المجال من الدراسة. لاحقًا، أكملت ماجستير في علم النفس العصبي السريري، حيث اكتسبت مهارات متخصصة في تقييم وعلاج الاضطرابات العصبية. وفي سعيها للتعمق في مجال علم النفس العصبي، حصلت على ماجستير آخر في علوم الجهاز العصبي، مع تخصص في إعادة التأهيل العصبي. خلال تدريباتها في وحدة إصابات الدماغ المكتسبة بمستشفى San Vicente في مدريد، طورت مهارات في إعادة التأهيل العصبي النفسي لعلاج مرضى الإصابات الدماغية الرضية، والأورام، ونقص الأكسجين، والالتهابات. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، أتيحت لها الفرصة للتدريب في SINEWS MTI، حيث اكتسبت خبرة في العلاج النفسي مع البالغين وتخصصت في تقييم وعلاج اضطراب فرط الحركة ونقص الانتباه. هذا المزيج من التخصصات يمنحها فهماً شاملاً لتعقيدات الجهاز العصبي ويمكنها من تلبية احتياجات مرضاها بشكل أكثر فعالية.

خلال مسيرتها الأكاديمية والمهنية، شاركت بشكل فعال في مؤتمرات ودورات في علم النفس، مما أثرى معرفتها وأبقائها على اطلاع بآخر التطورات في هذا المجال.

تعمل شيماء من منظور تكاملي قائم على الأدلة مع تأثير واضح للنموذج المعرفي السلوكي، حيث تتكيف مع احتياجات كل فرد لتحديد وتعزيز نقاط قوته. مع مزيج من التعاطف والمعرفة والخبرة، تلتزم شيماء بتقديم رعاية شخصية خالية من الأحكام المسبقة لأولئك الذين يسعون لتحسين صحتهم النفسية والعاطفية.

Chaimaa is a passionate psychologist originally from Morocco, who at the age of 17 decided to move to Spain with the aim of immersing herself in the Spanish language and culture while studying Psychology. Her fascination with psychology is multifaceted, finding in it a constant stimulus to explore the complexity of the human mind and its impact on behavior.

With a rich multicultural experience, Chaimaa is fluent in several languages, including Arabic, French, English and Spanish, allowing her to offer therapies in different languages, thus connecting with a wide range of patients. Her academic training took her to visit different cities in Spain, from Granada and Almería to Madrid, providing her not only academic knowledge, but also a deep understanding of the various cultures present in the country.

She completed his degree in Psychology at the University of Granada, where she discovered her passion for clinical neuropsychology. Her first internships were in cognitive stimulation for babies and children with Down syndrome, which sparked her interest in this area of ​​study. She subsequently completed a Master’s Degree in Clinical Neuropsychology, where she acquired specialized skills in the evaluation and treatment of neurological disorders. Dedicated to delving deeper into the field of neuropsychology, she obtained another master’s degree in Nervous System Sciences, with a specialization in neurorehabilitation.

During her internship at the Acquired Brain Injury Unit of the San Vicente Hospital in Madrid, she developed skills in neuropsychological rehabilitation, caring for patients with traumatic brain injuries, tumors, anoxia and infections. Additionally, she had the opportunity to do an internship at SINEWS MTI, where she gained experience in therapy with adults and specialized in the evaluation and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This combination of specialties gives you a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the nervous system and allows you to address your patients’ needs more effectively.

During her academic and professional career, she has actively participated in conferences and courses in Psychology, nurturing her knowledge and staying up to date with the latest advances in the discipline.

Chaimaa works from an integrative perspective based on evidence with a marked cognitive-behavioral influence, adapting to the needs of each individual to identify and enhance their strengths. With a combination of empathy, knowledge and experience, Chaimaa is committed to providing personalized, non-judgmental care to those seeking to improve their mental and emotional health.

Clara Gallego è cresciuta in un ambiente molto interessato alla diversità culturale, segnato dall’emigrazione del bisnonno in Francia e dai legami con la famiglia che viveva lì e dallo spirito di viaggio dei suoi genitori, che a loro volta hanno svolto parte del loro dottorato nel Regno Unito.

L’amore per l’equitazione l’ha portata un’estate a Killarney, in Irlanda, mentre i successivi soggiorni a Dublino e a Toronto, in Canada, sono stati finalizzati a continuare la sua formazione linguistica e a vivere in altre culture. Clara è appassionata di natura e sente un legame speciale con i cavalli, con i quali trascorre gran parte del suo tempo libero. Si è interessata alla terapia assistita dagli animali in giovane età, partecipando come volontaria per quasi un decennio alle sessioni che si svolgevano nella sua scuola di equitazione (in particolare con i bambini dello spettro autistico). Ritiene che i cavalli, in quanto esseri viventi che interagiscono, offrano una relazione senza aspettarsi una risposta socialmente determinata e questo ha un effetto curativo unico.

Inoltre, è sempre stata una persona molto sociale e ha cercato attivamente le relazioni sociali. Dopo una buona esperienza personale con uno psicologo, e in combinazione con la vocazione ad aiutare, ha scelto la psicologia come laurea.

È laureata in Psicologia  nell’Università Pontificia di Comillas, dove ha svolto internship con i bambini, nell Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Merced, nell’aula di Pedagogia Terapeutica con bambini affetti da dislessia, discalculia, ritardo nello sviluppo…, e nell’Ospedale San Rafael nell’ambito dell’assistenza e della stimolazione precoce. Ha anche avuto un primo contatto con i pazienti nel campo della salute sessuale nella Fondazione Sexpol, dall’interesse per un’area del benessere umano poco esplorata. Dopo aver conseguito il Master in Psicologia Generale della Salute nell’Università Complutense di Madrid, ha deciso di concentrare il suo lavoro terapeutico sugli adulti.

Ha iniziato la sua carriera professionale come volontaria in NB Psicología e Amalgama Social dopo aver terminato il internship MPGS nella Clínica López Ibor, per continuare ad acquisire esperienza. Nell’ambiente di lavoro, ha presto rivolto la sua attenzione alla comunità degli espatriati, sia nelle sessioni terapeutiche che negli interventi in caso di crisi, nell’ambito dei programmi di sostegno ai dipendenti. Ha anche tenuto webinar e corsi di formazione sulla salute mentale per diverse aziende.

Questa esperienza gli ha permesso di confermare come un problema di ansia, un umore depressivo, una separazione o un lutto influiscano sulla nostra vita quotidiana al lavoro. L’ha anche avvicinata alle difficoltà dell’acculturazione e della migrazione, come la perdita del senso di appartenenza.

La sua esperienza come terapeuta psicosessuale che tratta uomini adulti con disfunzioni sessuali e i loro partner le ha insegnato che è ancora molto difficile chiedere aiuto e che molti tabù devono essere infranti. La relazione tra la qualità della relazione intima e la qualità della relazione affettiva rende possibile migliorare l’una, curare l’altra e viceversa. Dalla sua concezione del sesso come strumento di piacere e di comunicazione, Clara è convinta di quanto sia importante cambiare la visione coitocentrica e fallocentrica ed essere disposti ad aprire la mente ad altri modelli di rapporti sessuali.

È consapevole che la coppia è l’aspirazione e la relazione principale degli adulti, quindi è fondamentale prendere in considerazione le relazioni di coppia e le loro disfunzioni. Crede che una buona relazione di coppia sia uno spazio sicuro, in cui una persona può essere e sentirsi veramente realizzata.

Da un’innata curiosità e dalla volontà di continuare a formarsi, ha completato un corso associato all’UCM in Compassion and Mindfulness Cultivation, oltre a due diplomi universitari di specializzazione, uno in Terapia sessuale e di coppia e l’altro in Trauma, Attaccamento ed EMDR.

Per questo motivo, Clara sviluppa la sua attività terapeutica da un punto di vista integrativo, con una forte visione sistemica. Crede che sia importante percepire le persone non come un individuo isolato, ma come qualcuno che agisce, pensa e sente in relazione alle proprie esperienze e al proprio ambiente. Pertanto, dà spazio anche al discorso sulle prime esperienze di apprendimento nella vita. A suo avviso, le prime esperienze di legame modellano il modo in cui le persone si relazionano tra loro in seguito. Allo stesso modo, le prime esperienze traumatiche possono avere un impatto sullo sviluppo e sul comportamento degli adulti.

La sua concezione della terapia è uno spazio di accompagnamento in cui può sostenere e guidare il paziente come protagonista del proprio processo di crescita e cambiamento.

From his summers at Oxford and Manchester, Héctor especially remembers his bicycle routes, multicultural friendships, and the amazing music culture. It turns out that music for him is a way of living and connecting with emotions. His times as a teenage rocker with friends led to a more professional stage playing in musicals, town concerts, and cover bands to finally end up as the lead guitarist in a Madrid based indie band.

He studied at Elche’s University Miguel Hernández where he earned a degree in Psychology. It was here that he also got the chance to do an Erasmus year in The Netherlands studying at Groningen University. It was a year where he discovered an international environment and a very advanced country in aspects like mobility and open mindedness. This experience helped to challenge and expand the ideas he held about life and about himself. This was in great part thanks to the group of friends he made there, with whom he shared values ​​such as curiosity and the desire to continue growing as people.

Héctor specialized in the field of addictions, first researching the disease in a laboratory, and then beginning to do therapy in clinics with inpatients and outpatients. He discovered that in this disease that is often invisible to the human eye, group therapy has the incredible power to engage people in the processes of change and to teach us to manage emotions together. He had great mentors and colleagues who also helped him to have a very well rounded view of the disease and mental health. The goal in therapy is to never judge, see the person as a whole, and help them become who they feel they want to be.

During his training in multifamily therapy, Héctor personally participated in group therapy where he met families of all shapes and sizes such as a mother with her daughter, a couple without children, people who came alone, larger families, as well as the students of the course. This helped him understand, among many other things, the shame that can be felt while being in therapy and the importance of building a safe environment, which marked a before and after in the way he understood his patients.

To families or couples who are considering starting family therapy, Héctor says: “it can help us to see problems from the outside and in a comprehensive way, facilitating empathy, communication, intimacy, and objectivity. The experiences and emotions that arise in therapy help to get out of the loop of arguments many of us find ourselves in within our relationships.”

In recent years, he has focused on the practice of individual therapy with adult patients who struggle with anxiety, suffer from depression, want to reduce the stress in their lives, or “simply” want to work on their personal growth. He also works with couples who are striving to improve their communication, work in the area of ​​sexual intimacy, or overcome jealousy.

Héctor considers himself an integrative psychologist who places great importance on the patient’s needs and preferences when designing the treatment plan. To do this, he tries to make it easier for the patient to connect their emotions with the present moment and provide concrete guidelines that explain how to change what they need. He has a variety of tools to pull from when facilitating sessions, as not all methods work for all patients. He likes to analyze in depth where the core of the problem is and select which methods to use accordingly. It is perhaps because of this that many patients tell him he hits the nail on the head with his sessions.

Ana studied from kindergarten to high school in a bilingual Spanish-English school, where she also learned French and German, thanks to the global and forward-thinking vision of her parents who decided to invest in a school with a marked international character.

During her adolescence, Ana participated in various exchange programs in the United States, France (Biarritz) and Germany (Berlin). She still remembers the time she spent in New Jersey as one of the best of her life and still maintains contact with her “American family.” These small cultural immersions not only helped her improve her fluency in the language, but she also gained maturity and confidence from a very young age. Likewise, she began to become familiar with other cultures, which only increased her interest in the study of diversity. She considers traveling one of her great hobbies and meeting new people from all over the world as one of the things that enriches her the most.

This is why Ana decided to study Psychology in English at the Complutense University of Madrid to professionalize her command of the language and, most importantly, with the dream of being able, in the future, to cover a demand that was of interest to Ana. special: offering support to expatriates in their native language.

During her degree, Ana specialized in Neuropsychology and carried out her internship in the Memory Unit of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, where she worked with geriatric patients with or without cognitive impairment, performing neuropsychological evaluations and functional assessments, with a view to a multidisciplinary diagnosis, as well as subsequent treatment. There she acquired basic knowledge for the interpretation of neuroimaging tests and made her first contact with action protocols in the field of public health. She chose the University of Birmingham for her Erasmus program, where she continued to deepen her interests with subjects such as Neuroimaging, Psychology of Intellectual Disability or Atypical Development and Early Intervention. During her stay in the United Kingdom, she got a job as a Spanish Teaching Assistant at a school as part of a volunteer program. There she joined the Modern Foreign Languages ​​department where she prepared students to take Spanish for their GCSE. After finishing her degree, she carried out extracurricular internships at the Neuroscience Research and Cognition Center of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, within the Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Group.

That same September she was admitted to the Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid. During these almost 6 years at said University, Ana combined her studies with her position in the University’s International Relations Office, which brought her closer to the needs and challenges faced by study abroad students.

At that time Ana was beginning to show special attention to what neurodiversity meant. She chose her internship at AMITEA, the Complex Diagnostic Unit for Autism Spectrum Disorders at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital, where she was able to specialize in the psychological tools necessary for a differential diagnosis such as the ADOS-2 test. She also had the opportunity to follow up on patients diagnosed with ASD, and accompany them through behavioral, socialization and communication difficulties.

After the Master’s degree, Ana was selected as a Teaching Assistant at Vassar College, New York. During her stay in the United States she was also able to take subjects such as Neuroscience and Behavior. During that time, she also participated in volunteer work as an interpreter for a non-profit organization that provides lawyers to refugees and immigrants facing deportation in the New York City area. Knowing how language barriers can lead to other barriers such as social, emotional or cultural barriers, as well as barriers when it comes to accessing resources and ultimately, access to human rights, was what encouraged her to focus on this project.

Most of her work and academic experience has therefore been related to this passion for multilingualism, and she is excited to be able to work with a diverse and multicultural population. Currently, Ana speaks fluent German, French, English, Spanish and Galician. Having lived as an expatriate has helped her understand and connect with the difficulties that come with not identifying with a single culture when being far from your country of origin, and that is why she has decided to open the focus of her intervention to other languages ​​to cover the needs of people who do not speak Spanish or at least it is not their mother tongue.

During the last two years she has worked in an association for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) where she has been Responsible for Intervention in Natural Contexts with Spanish and English speaking families. In addition, Ana performed neuropsychological evaluations focused on the differential diagnosis of ASD, due to comorbidity and confusion with other conditions such as high abilities, ADHD or dyslexia, as well as individual sessions with adolescents and adults. Her work in the field of ASD has forged in her a depathologizing view within the world of neurodivegency and much more focused on the person and the family, with a marked systemic nature and with the quality of family life as an indicator. That is why during this time Ana has not only been able to learn more about neurodiversity, but also address and work on her problems outside of the diagnosis such as grief, breakups, anxiety or low self-esteem.

Ana is currently immersed in her Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid at the La Paz Hospital. However, for her it is vitally important to combine research with clinical practice, since she understands scientific research work as fundamental to contributing to improving the quality of life of the population.

Ana works from an integrative perspective, focused on the person, well-being and personal growth, although she values ​​above all the trust and comfort of the person in the therapeutic process, regardless of the approach applied, which, in most cases, will depend on the personal needs of each patient. Her professional commitment is to be able to facilitate, through languages, that foreign people can connect emotionally in their own language with a therapeutic process.