 Volunteers The Hague: Antiloneliness as keynote speaker! (14/11/2018)
Volunteers of The Hague organised again an enormous event at 7AM Den Haag! We were honored by the invitation as keynote speaker of the event with the topic of Self-Reliance and Setting Goals. We joined forces with organisations and foundations of the Hague which are conducting a great non-profit job for the community, and we spoke with many eager volunteers! Well done to everyone for the great event and the great job that you are doing. Workshop: Setting boundaries, taking control of your life! (9/11/2018) No one was tiptoeing around anyone this time! Thank you all for the full house in the Antiloneliness office in a really illustrative workshop about taking control of your life. We got an idea of how we can set boundaries to others and STILL be the kind, caring and loving person that you are. Saying “NO” is not that difficult after all! Setting boundaries, nevertheless, is not an easy process. We all agreed to that! It needs time and and a conscious commitment in changing little by little everyday. Stay tuned and don’t forget: keep digging!
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 Workshop: The traps of perfectionism, the gifts of imperfection!
(27/10/2018) Perfectionism is always a challenge even for the most “perfectly” organised workshop! Thank you all for your brave decision to join us this evening. We together realized that “trying to be perfect” comes with a great cost for our lives and our relationships as well. We succeeded in exploring the roots of perfection and the importance of dealing with perfectionism resembles more to a habit than to just an “aha” moment. And we promised to meet again for a follow-up and see how we did with feeling good enough and enjoying our not-so-perfect life. Curious.. Open Day: House warming for our new office in the Hague! (10/10/2018) It was a pleasure to see all these familiar faces! We will be sharing our office with some exceptional professionals is the Psychology field: Jet Sichterman ~ Expat Child Psychologist Ekaterina Evdokimova ~PsyCompass Marie Hobbs ~ Attention2Being Thank you very much for visiting us in our new office in the Hague and of course many thanks to Jet, the organizer of the event!  Workshop: Defeating the Narcissist, moving on stronger.
Thank you all for eagerly participating in our first workshop of this year! All of you made a good start of stepping out of the toxic patterns and protecting yourselves. During our meeting, we learned some useful tools that will help you spot people with narcissistic characteristics as well as ways of setting boundaries in your relationships with them. Lastly, we shared many useful experiences which made everyone realize how important it is to keep making changes in order to improve our way of living. Keep up the good work!  Workshop: "Find your Inner Peace" in the Hague (19/07/2018)
This meeting was a daring one. A discussion evening for those who dared to talk about the topic we all try to avoid: Life, Death and their Meaning. We tried to view life and death from a cultural, philosophical, or social perspective. How is our culture viewing death? How do we learn to communicate our grief within our family? How our lives changes after we experience the loss of a significant person? How easy is it to talk about it and/or to seek for support? Why nobody ever taught us some coping skills to deal with death and loss? Thank you all for daring and being present in this conversation! "It's a matter of life or death": Open Discussion evening (12/7/2018): This meeting was a daring one. A discussion evening for those who dared to talk about the topic we all try to avoid: Life, Death and their Meaning. We tried to view life and death from a cultural, philosophical, or social perspective. How is our culture viewing death? How do we learn to communicate our grief within our family? How our lives changes after we experience the loss of a significant person? How easy is it to talk about it and/or to seek for support? Why nobody ever taught us some coping skills to deal with death and loss? Thank you all for daring and being present in this conversation!  Workshop on Narcissism (23/06/2018):
Thank you for joining our workshop last Saturday! That was a fruitful meeting about Narcissism. Looking forward to the next one. Stay tuned! #antiloneliness #support #narcissism #mentalhealth https://www.antiloneliness.com/workshops.html "You are not alone": Open Discussion evening (14/06/2018): On June 14th, a group of expats from the Hague and the surrounding area gathered to discuss how we feel about Loneliness. In this monthly meeting we explored how we can feel less lonely and more connected with others, how we can break the vicious circle of loneliness, and if there is a part of loneliness that "is ok".  Workshop on Projective Cards in Athens (26/5/18):
Honoured to be invited by therapist Maria Liakakou in order to give a workshop on the projective cards, The River and the Roads, as part of a 2-day training. We enjoyed it a lot, and the same did our participants, who also bought a set of cards each in order to use them in their own practice. Exploring different ways of self-expression and healing is always exciting and we are glad we can spread the magic!  Lifelong learning continues: EFT Externship. (21/04/2018): Talking about relationships and emotions is not the easiest thing in the world. But Sue Johnson has made it more accessible to everyone. Dr. Sue Johnson is the developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy, and I was glad to participate in one of her trainings in Madrid last April. More ready now to support couples in their communication and expression!  AntiLoneliness in Leiden's newspaper!
(12/4/2018) So excited to be for the first time in a newspaper! And this time in Leiden's (my lovely city) daily newspaper. Me and the journalist Wilfred Simons talked about loneliness (of course), about depression, about therapy, about the Dutch and the Greek cultures, about social media, and also about Odysseus and his journey to Ithaca! If you bump into Leidsch Dagblad, give it a read (if your Dutch is good) . Or visit me in my office for a cup of tea and some newspaper-reading!  AntiLoneliness at Haarlemmermeer's Expat Fair (17/3/18)
For the first time, AntiLoneliness participated in the Haarlemmermeer Expat Fair and we were so excited to meet other business owners from that area. Moreover, Vassia Sarantopoulou, our psychologist, presented a short workshop on Self-Sabotage and we were happy to talk with visitors of our stand! Thank you for organising this beautiful event, and for inviting us to it! Divorce Support Groups getting creative! (14/3/2018) After the first successful social gathering for the members of the Divorce Support Groups in Leiden and the Hague, we decided to organise another one, but this time more artistic. We all gathered in the Hague and together with the help of the team of Paintbar, we pick up the brushes and started creating. In the beginning it was scary, but in the end, as everyone admitted, there was something healing in the whole process. Until next time then!  AntiLoneliness welcomes Master interns for the first time! (13/03/2018) 13 years ago I was starting my internship for my 1st Master in Psychology in Athens. 13 years later I am opening the AntiLoneliness' doors for the first time for students to do their internship in Clinical Psychology from Leiden University and from Utrecht University. I cannot express how unbelievable and mind-blowing that feels for me. Thank you ladies for joining AntiLoneliness! I hope I will give you the most I can. #antiloneliness #myteamrocks (#im_getting_old)  Feel At Home Fair (the Hague)
(04/02/2018) So happy to be participating to the Hague biggest expat fair "Feel at Home Fair" (the picture says it all). I'm always excited to meet and talk to people and answer all possible questions on our counseling services and workshops. Until next time...  The AntiLoneliness Book Club is Here!
We love books and we made it part of our mission: to bring together people who love books and to help them connect with each other. Each month, one topic, two books, one poll. The topic can be about relationships, grief, loneliness, expat life, etc. Participation in the poll is necessary as we need to choose only one book for each month. This year has a (book) plan!  We were so happy to spend a Christmas evening with the people that have supported each other throughout the year. Divorce is a hard time, but the members of the group know what it means to be grateful that somebody is here to listen to you and understand you. 2017 ended with some big smiles and hugs; that's promising for 2018, right?
 Today (21/11/17) was the last day of the "End Procrastination, Welcome Success" workshop. All participants set new goals, more concrete and more meaningful for their lives. And at the end of the workshop, they signed their own "I Will" manifesto to keep themselves motivated.
What a beautiful and inspiring journey we went together for 6 weeks! Until next time ;-)  Participating for the 3rd time at the IamExpat Fair in the Hague and I think I am already addicted to it. The preparation, the anticipation, your own stand, the last details with the organisers, the thousands of visitors and the short (or long) talks with some of them, the exhibitors at the next stand, the positive vibe, the "borrel" after the fair is over.
Until next year, AntiLoneliness has plenty of time to catch up with all the people we met and talked. Thank you all for such a wonderful event!  Thursday evening, as usual, there is a networking event at the Women's Business Initiative International (www.wbii.nl). This time, I was invited to speak about Loneliness within the business world, and especially about "The Lonely Entrepreneur". We talked about how to overcome feelings of isolation as an entrepreneur, how to build deep quality connections and network with like-minded people. Loneliness is not about a lack of social skills or being an introvert or a shy person. It's about missing the value in your relationships and feeling disconnected from them.
Me and the guests enjoyed the evening a lot! Looking forward to another talk like this!  In collaboration with BLOOM - House of Health in the Hague, we were invited to organise and facilitate a workshop in Relationships and help individuals to recognise and to replace toxic patterns with healthy communication within their relationships.
Looking forward to the next one!  Adjusting to the needs of the practice for more space due to all the workshops, supports groups and meetings we have, we moved to a bigger space. And we love it: the view, the colours, the space.
You are more than welcome to visit us and ask your questions on our services!  We were honoured to be invited by Puur 'n' Kuur in Bussum, and give a presentation on how to "Detox your Relationships".
We enjoyed it so much and so were the participants who "bombarded" us with many interesting questions after the end of the presentation. Until next time!  The other day I was waiting in the line and I couldn't help overhearing a man explaining to his friend how desperate he is because he cannot find a job for already six months now, here in the Netherlands. His girlfriend is working and he is all day long at home in front of a screen looking for a job. He feels enormous stress and the possibility of him going back to his home country is getting bigger and bigger every day and is making him lose his sleep. I wish I could jump into the conversation and talk with him about this challenge, but that would tell that I was overhearing (oops!).
However, after that, I decided that: The Anti-Loneliness Project offers pro-bono counseling sessions to individuals who are currently out of job & special discounts to students. If you know anyone who would benefit of this offer, do not hesitate to bring them in contact with us at +31649527633 or info@antiloneliness.com. We were excited that our workshop in Procrastination on 20/6/2017 was SOLD OUT and that all the participants found it very interesting. Thanks to Dagmar Hopf (www.sevenbirds.eu), who prepared the material and made an amazing presentation! A new workgroup is about to start, "End Procrastination, Welcome Success" which aims in dealing with procrastination, time management, anxiety and productivity. If you are interested, sign up here or send an email at info@antiloneliness.com. Moreover, you can also check our next workshops here. Kind regards, Vassia Sarantopoulou The Anti-Loneliness Project  The Manifesto of "Loneliness". :-)
Thank you, Andy, for giving me this opportunity to talk about my Project and about Loneliness and how expat life puts extra weight on it. (Andy, by the way, has recently initiated a Podcast website called "Here in Holland" and at the website you can listen to many many interviews from interesting people around Holland and also how expats experience Dutch life). Enjoy the interview, and please share your thoughts on the comment area.  It seems like a new, overwhelmingly obsessive trend; all we hear or read about is "How to be happy", "10 ways to be happy", "How to avoid people that are not happy", etc. But what is actually implied is "Try to be happy, because everyone else is happy, except you, and, actually: What's wrong with you?".
As an expat, you might struggle with things like loneliness and happiness. After all, you’re far away from your home country and family. Here are a few tips to help regain your inner peace! Read more HERE
 While it may seem counter-intuitive due to the nice weather and being able to be outdoors, some people can suffer from an increased sense of loneliness during the summer, especially if you’re an expat far away from your home country and family.
Sometimes in the summer there is an unexpected wave of loneliness that can punch us in the face. It makes us feel awkward, a little bit embarrassed and maybe even a little bit scared of what will come next. Read more here  It was my honor to speak at the Women Economic Forum at 28th January in the Hague about Leadership and Empowerment. Specifically, I joined a panel together with three other professionals, Isabelle Goyon, Lisel Brunson and Theresa Randleman, and we discussed about how women can stop self-sabotaging their career, how they can stand up when life puts them down and how they can overcome feelings of loneliness when they are at leadership positions. Wonderful experience, amazing people to meet!
 For me working with a drama-therapist is always something nice to expect since I know that at some point somebody will have to act/ play/ sing/ scream/ have fun, as part of the self-expression approach.
Joana and me experimented for the first time with facilitating a workshop on Anger Management ("Explain your Anger, don't Express it"). The result was really rewarding (for us but also for the participants)! 4 hours of talking over the causes of Anger, the feelings that mostly relate to it, the cognitive background of it and how our behavior can shift to another approach, from aggressive or passive to assertive. Letting it out felt so relieving for our participants! It was nice to hear from them that they would like to have more workshop time to work on their Anger and they are looking forward to the advanced workshop on Anger in order to learn more about dealing with this so powerful emotion and transforming it into a constructive behavioral pattern. Till next time, Have a nice and peaceful day! Vassia Sarantopoulou Counselor-Psychologist The Anti-Loneliness Project |
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