I am a Greek-British Systemic, Couple and Family Psychotherapist and a qualified / registered Systemic Supervisor with a background in psychology.
I offer psychotherapy to individuals, couples and families across the life span and consultation to teams and organisations. I have extensive experience working with diverse family structures and systems, and I am particularly sensitive to issues of justice, equality and diversity.
I am experienced working with families from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and take time to connect with the culture and social context relevant to the clients and their presenting difficulties.
Alongside my private practice, I consult with, supervise and train clinicians and teams in the NHS and teach as a Visiting Lecturer at different Universities in the UK.
I completed my MSc and PgCert in Systemic & Family Psychotherapy (with Distinction) under a King’s College Scholarship, combining the taught element of the courses with ongoing clinical placements in inpatient adolescent services (Coborn Centre, East London NHS Foundation Trust and The Beacon Centre, Barnet Enfield & Haringey NHS Foundation Trust), Neurodevelopmental child and adolescent mental health services (Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust), generic child & adolescent mental health services in the community (Lambeth CAMHS) and adult & couples outpatient services (South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust).
I also hold degrees in Psychology (MSc conversion degree, Westminster University), Organisational Management (MSc, Imperial College Business School), Communication Studies (BA, University of Athens, Greece) and Family & Systemic Psychotherapy Supervision, Consultation & Training (PgCert, Tavistock Centre).
As a Doctoral Candidate under a Leventis Foundation Scholariship, I research the co-occurrence of gender-related distress and restrictive eating disorders among birth registered female adolescents.
Apart from my University studies, I have completed additional specialist training in Attachment-Based Family Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Emotional Freedom Technique and other specialist interventions, which I integrate in my clinical practice when appropriate.
Clinically, I have held senior positions at different internationally renowned institutions, including the Maudsley Centre for Child & Adolescent Eating Disorders (MCCAED), Royal Free Hospital Eating Disorders Service and the Tavistock Centre in London (GIDS). I have extensive experience providing evidence-based interventions to people affected by an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, ARFID). I facilitate individual, family and multi-family therapy sessions and offer psycho-education to all those involved, including other professionals.
At GIDS, I established and led the first NHS Family Therapy & Consultation Service in London for gender non-conforming, gender diverse and gender questioning young people and their families and I was the joint lead of the service’s official training course for external agencies and professionals. I have significant experience working with individuals, couples and families who identify in LGBTQI+ identities from different cultural backgrounds. Alongside GIDS, I was an Honorary Systemic & Family Psychotherapist in the University College London Hospital (UCLH) in the paediatric endocrine liaison clinic.
I decided to leave GIDS in 2019, having openly disagreed with the service’s clinical pathways and having reported my concerns through the Trust’s appropriate channels. I then joined Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), as an Education Lead, taking up the role of training clinicians in the new gender services in England’s NHS. Following on from my role at GOSH, I’m now continuing in the same capacity through the Academy or Royal Medical Colleges, which is now responsible for skilling up multidisciplinary teams for children and young people’s gender services in the NHS.
I am the co-founder of Detrans Foundation, an organisation supporting people across the life-span who (for different reasons) decide to stop either the social or medical transition in relation to their gender. I’m also a member of the Institute of Mental Health for Children and Adults in Athens, Greece.
In 2020 I served as a scientific advisor for the production of the podcast series Sex Education, developed through the collaboration of Onassis Stegi and POD.GR, which delivered 12 psycho-educational podcasts focusing on developmentally-appropriate sex education for youth 16+. The project focused on the current evidence-base and approaches related to contraception, sexuality, gender identity development, bullying, body image difficulties, sexually-transmitted infections etc.
I currently consult with different teams in the National Health Service, both in the UK and in Greece for training, consultation, supervision and service development.
Apart from my clinical work, I am also a visiting lecturer on different MSc and Doctorate courses in universities in the UK and in Greece. I am active in teaching, training and research, focusing on different areas on mental health, such as eating disorders, gender identity, sexuality, attachment, affective disorders, and on specific therapeutic interventions, such as systemic and family psychotherapy.
Alongside my clinical and training roles, I serve as a Vice Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT) in the UK.
