+357 
Therapy is a way to get help with a mental health problem, or get extra support if you are going through a difficult period in your life. It can also help you understand the causes and triggers of the issues or symptoms that are troubling you. Therapy isn’t just for moments of crisis though; we can all benefit from someone objective to talk to about issues we face, whether we have a specific psychological condition or we are struggling with life challenges and decisions we need to make.
You should expect a private and non-judgmental space for you to explore the best course of action for you. Through this process of exploration, we enable self-knowledge and self-awareness, to help you grow and conquer any obstacles and issues that might have been experienced as overwhelming and affecting you negatively. We will help you develop new coping skills and healthier ways of dealing with your present issues, identify your personal strengths, improve communication, deal with the trauma, and acknowledge what is meaningful in your life.
The psychotherapeutic approaches we offer include:
- Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)
- Mindfulness
- Schema therapy
- Dialectical Behavioural therapy (DBT)
Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT)
“Change your thoughts, and you’ll change your world”
Cognitive behavioural therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions and behaviours, they all interrelate and influence each other. It Is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the important role of thinking in how we feel and what we do; we feel what we think. This in return affects how we respond to situations. Hence, things are not upsetting, it’s the way we think about them that upsets us. So, by learning in which ways our thinking is distorted, we can try and change it, and manage our distress better. The therapist challenges the thoughts that are present, and helps the client develop more balanced beliefs based on reality. CBT also focuses on how to change unhelpful behaviours; the clients are taught different tools and develop new coping strategies in order to assist them forming positive habits and new behaviours.
CBT is a tool that you can learn and practice after therapy has ended. It’s great for targeting specific issues; we agree on the goals of therapy and it is structured, relatively brief type of therapy which also uses “homework”. This is to encourage clients to practice the techniques they have learned in the session, and to help them start noticing more in-depth certain triggers and the effect they have internally.
Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)
“You are not your thoughts or emotions; they are just visitors, so allow them to come and go as they please”
Acceptance and Commitment therapy is another form of therapy that is based on psychological interventions that use acceptance and mindfulness strategies, as well as commitment and behaviour-change strategies, in order to increase psychological flexibility.
ACT looks at pain and suffering as normal and an unavoidable part of the human experience; long-term suffering takes place when we try to control painful thoughts and feelings, or when we try to avoid these difficult experiences and situations. Hence, ACT invites people to open up to unwanted emotions and thoughts, and teaches them not to react or avoid them, but to develop a different attitude towards them: a more compassionate, non-judgemental stance, where we notice, accept and embrace all that is causing pain to us, and choose to take action towards the direction that is in accordance to our “values”.
ACT helps you understand what is truly important and what makes you feel fulfilled; these are what we call “values”. The aim of ACT is to help people live a meaningful life while handling the pain and stress of living. We will look into the steps in order to move towards a more “valued direction”, and take action where we can.
Μindfulness
“To be beautiful means to be yourself; you don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself”
Mindfulness is a psychological process of bringing the focus of our attention to the here-and-now, to the present moment, to things as they are with no judgment. It’s a useful technique that helps us notice our inner experience and reactions to situations and events, with curiosity and an open mind, without reacting in auto pilot or avoiding what’s painful and difficult. Thoughts are just thoughts, they’re not facts and they are not “ME”. So, we learn to accept all the unwanted thoughts and emotions without having to analyse them and in turn affect us, and we then let them go.
Mindfulness-based interventions are particularly beneficial in reducing anxiety, depression, and pain. They can also improve sleep, and in general one’s quality of life.
Schema therapy
“Once you can open up to the idea that your defectiveness is not a fact, the healing process can begin to work”
Schema therapy can help us make sense of how we have learned to adapt and cope with different situations through our own personal experiences. The concept of a ‘schema’, is used to describe a blue print that the individual has developed about themselves, the world and other people, and which are often at the core of their emotional difficulties. Schemas or “negative life beliefs”, can lead to low self-esteem, lack of connection to others, problems expressing feelings and emotions, and excessive worrying about basic safety issues. The beliefs can also create strong attraction to inappropriate partners and lead to dissatisfying careers. Schemas are formed during childhood when some or all of our needs are not met due to toxic or traumatic childhood experiences (e.g. need for security, affection, intimacy, attention, protection). All human beings have strivings towards connection, understanding and growth; the more our strivings are characterised by deprivation, neglect, trauma or loss, the more profound and painful our longings can become. Understanding our needs and the related schemas can help us to make changes to the patterns we find ourselves in.
Schema therapy is helpful in treating chronic depression, anxiety, personality disorders and relationship difficulties. It is designed to address unmet needs and to help clients break these patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, and to develop healthier alternatives to replace them. The result can be a sense of vitality and renewed energy.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
“Sometimes we cannot change the environment significantly, but we can perhaps alter the way in which we perceive it”
Dialectical Behaviour therapy (DBT) is based on CBT and is adapted to help individuals who have difficulty managing and regulating emotions, and may also be prone to self-destructive behaviours. It was originally developed to treat Borderline personality disorder but has been found to be useful for many mental health problems including PTSD, self-harm, and aggression. It is a structured therapy that focuses on teaching four core skills: Mindfulness, acceptance and distress tolerance, emotional regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Clients start working on those skills through a series of sessions and then start applying them to their life.
The aim of DBT is to help you understand and accept your difficult feelings and stop being controlled by them. It also helps people accept reality and themselves as they are, whilst working towards making changes to make life meaningful.