Psychologist and Relationship Counselor with almost 20 years of experience in supporting men and women through adulthood challenges. In love with my work and with psychology's infinity.
There is no right or wrong, no "normal". Curious since birth. Searching for patterns, exploring alternative scenarios. Redefining cliches, removing stereotypes and unnecessary agonies. With kindness and realistic positivity. Aiming to bring back love and honest decisions in relationships. Believing in the power of connections and deep, meaningful relationships.
Who am I?
- "I am a highly responsible person with a strong sense of fairness."
- "I love theories, concepts, patterns. people come to me when they want someone to explain why things are playing out the way they are."
- "I believe in the transforming power of forgiveness: not only forgiving others, but mainly forgiving ourselves and accepting the parts of our self and our history that we least like"
- "I ask "why?" a lot. I guess it can get annoying sometimes, but I can't help it. I'm the kind of person who hates assumptions. I need to get to the bottom of why things are the way they are."
- "I love bringing order to things. my strength is the structure I bring to others. The foundation, the grid, the framework within which to create."
What keeps me going?
- "It is always inspiring to see people going through such a hard time in their life, but still sum up their strength not only to help themselves out of this phase, but also to support others."
- "I would like my clients to see me as their trusted counselor, the person who is here to listen with kindness, empathy and all her attention to what they are going through, and help them out of the storm."
- "My calming and peaceful approach is something that my clients find relieving. they don’t have to prove anything, they don’t have to stress about anything when they are with me. There is no right and wrong and we both try to take away this burden of “being normal”. And that is by itself something quite motivating."
- My main approach is Schema Therapy in combination with CBT - Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness. Moreover, depending on the needs of the client, I use tools and techniques from DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) and Transactional Analysis.
- The focus of my approach is to bring the balance in my clients between their mind and their emotions; between their thinking and their feeling.
- I have been working as a councelor/therapist since 2005, organizing groups but also working with clients in personal sessions.
- The main and most common issues I have tried to deal together with my clients have been: anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout, perfectionism, relationship issues, divorce, infertility, grief, panic attacks, self-development.
- I have organised seminars and workshops about psychology for counselors and psychologists, but also for individuals.
- I have been organising and facilitating Divorce Support Groups in Leiden and in the Hague for men and women that have gone through a divorce and they need emotional support since 2016.
- I have been invited by Universities, international organisations and NGO's to present and facilitate workshops in Burnout, Anxiety and healthy Workplace Relationships.
- I have been coaching women executives in building a Strong Self, Bringing others Along and Leaving a Legacy.
- I have been a lecturer in seminars and workshops concerning Career Counselling, Stress Management, Parenting, Self-Awareness.
- I have been invited as a speaker to various conferences and presentations, talking about leadership, empowerment and relationships.
- I keep expanding my horizons by participating in workshops, conferences, seminars, since what I do needs constant further education and self-development.
- My studies are in the Psychology field. I completed a Master course in Counseling and Career Guidance and a 2nd Master course in Psychology.
- I have been trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Schema Therapy and Group Schema Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Grief Counseling.
- I have attended numerous workshops, namely in "Transactional Analysis". Compassion Focused Therapy", "Introduction in Playtherapy", "Training on DSM-IV", "Chairwork", etc.
In compliance with our legal requirement to provide a formal channel for concerns, we kindly invite you to submit any dissatisfaction regarding our services first by email at info@antiloneliness.com, so we can try to resolve the issue directly. If this does not lead to a satisfactory outcome, you may then submit a formal complaint using the NIP complaint form and follow the steps outlined in that document.
"Vassia and I met through serendipitous circumstances that ended up changing, and probably saving, my life.
She is always punctual, extremely well informed regarding research and developments, quickly sets the tone and mood for sessions, is highly professional and speaks impeccable English. She has an uncanny ability to "read" clients and knowing what you need, will on occasion recommend books and homework, but all without being intrusive or pushy.
She is well versed in, among other topics, expat strifes and challenges and clearly, and genuinely, empathises. She has always remained culturally and religiously sensitive, and respectful and works with high levels of integrity and patience.
Others in my life, including care providers or service providers, have commented progressively over the years that I seem happier, more confident and lighter. One even said that she cannot think it is the same person she met a year ago, I fully credit Vassia and her skillset.
I've progressed from constant anxiety with, at minimum, weekly panic attacks, to going months without attacks and at default, lower levels of anxiety. She's also had a huge hand in putting my bulemic behaviours in recovery and also safely, and softly, guided me out of burnout.
She knows how to lay a foundation for you to help yourself out of dark rabbit holes in future, so she doesn't position herself as a long-term crutch.
I've rediscovered my own voice and backbone, thanks to her xray vision into mental health."
T.O. -female, 34 y.o.
