within Reach - Psychology within Reach

Psychology within Reach

offers psychological support in English and Spanish, especially aimed at expats and intercultural couples in transition through different parts of the world.

My path to you

I was born into a humble family, made up of a man from Córdoba and a woman from Jaén whose life paths crossed in Seville, where my older sister, my little brother and I were born. My upbringing and the place that I had in my family led me to feel identified with the role of caregiver / mediator and little by little my vocation was defining itself in that direction, while my personal experiences cleared the way for me.

Studying a master’s degree in Psychology had not been my first choice, especially because of the poor career prospects in my region, but I started it with the hope of showing that statistics speak of probabilities and not certainties. It also helped that I considered myself prepared to live outside my land if the circumstances were favorable for it.

I found this career to be a wonderful and terrifying world, inasmuch as it is necessary to first delve into one’s own demons before even pretending to know how to help others. As a curiosity, I will say that this need to carry out deep personal work has been and continues to be one of the greatest gifts of this profession. The people with whom I have been meeting in this process is the second great gift, including colleagues and patients.

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At the University of Seville, the basis of my training was aimed at the clinical practice of psychology and I focused on narrative approaches such as Constructivism. At the end of my degree, though, I initially chose the path that seemed safest to my independence and I did a master’s in human resources management. This decision, in effect, provided me with a job immediately and continuously, until I found the courage to choose my own, less practical vocation: working independently as a Healthcare Psychologist.

My inclination towards humanistic and integrative psychotherapeutic approaches ultimately led me to the Center for Therapy and Psychology in Madrid. This institution’s theoretical approach, aligned with that of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy, provided me with a solution to my desire for a broader understanding of human suffering and my vocation as a therapist.

Over the years, I have continued to expand my therapeutic knowledge by training at the Center for Somatic Studies in New York, at RINO Amsterdam and at the School of Psychopathology in Turin, to mention a few of the institutions that have inspired me the most.

I currently live between Spain and the Netherlands, with my husband and our dog. And, at this moment in my life, I have embarked on a new adventure, as I am pursuing a PhD in Clinical and Health Psychology at my alma mater, the University of Seville. Through this program, I am investigating how Gestalt therapy helps in coping with migratory grief. A process that I know firsthand.

My approach

My therapeutic approach is based on the integration of narrative therapy and Gestalt therapy from a field perspective. I started my journey as a healthcare psychologist by mainly studying CBT at the University, where I learned how to help patients identify and modify their dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors. However, I felt that CBT was not enough to address the complexity and uniqueness of each patient’s situation and experience. That’s why I decided to explore other modalities, such as Gestalt therapy, which focuses on the holistic and relational aspects of human existence. Gestalt therapy from a field perspective emphasizes the importance of understanding the patient in relation to their environment (including me), their history, and their potential. It also invites both the patient and me to be aware of our sensations, emotions, and needs in the present moment, and to experiment with (co-create) new ways of being and relating.

In every therapeutic relationship, I attentively listen to each life story while maintaining a flexible attitude, aiming to find the most fitting response for every unique situation. This approach translates into therapeutic processes that leverage mindfulness tools, others that incorporate journaling or self-reflection forms, and many that simply rely on the dynamic field formed between my patient and me during each session. Many research studies have made it evident that, regardless of the specific resources employed, the therapeutic bond forged through shared presence during sessions is paramount in addressing the suffering of the individual before me. This understanding has led to my decision not to take notes, allowing me to be fully present and enabling the singularity of the lived and shared moment to drive the restorative process.

My continuing education includes Somatic Developmental Psychotherapy, Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Narrative Exposure Therapy, among others. Yet, training aside, one of the elements that is always part of any process that involves me is my own path. My background includes everything from the fact of being a heterosexual white Andalusian woman from humble origins to the experience outside my country and being part of an intercultural couple with no children but furry members. All of it comes with me in every session as your own reality comes with you and my commitment is to co-construct with you the bridge between us using all that is at our reach.

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My experience as an expat has also included the difficulty of knowing how to ask for and receive the necessary support. In a foreign country, as in an intercultural relationship, you find yourself with a different philosophy of care and a way of communicating and relating that can be very different from those with which you grew up. And even when you have the privilege of meeting wonderful people who enrich you, you also feel the shadow of a possible goodbye when it comes to other expats who may be passing through.

My philosophy of contact is based on mutual respect and equality. My practice is open to everyone, regardless of origin, religion or sexual orientation. And as part of my effort to bring support closer, I work in English and Spanish, so as to alleviate the language barrier that makes it more difficult to receive psychological support when you are far from your place of origin.

Psychology within Reach provides the time and space for you and I to explore our ”here and now” and the support for the next step, wherever it may take us.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

I invite you to get to know me and decide if I could be a good companion on the road.

First contact

Before we meet

Practical information before you start your therapeutic process so we can establish the boundaries of our relationship.

Read it here

Here-and-now

The bridge between the different forms of human suffering we face and the therapeutic support to alleviate it.

Get to know them

Our next

Once your need for support has been addressed, you can decide which setting seems most appropriate for you to begin your journey to feeling better.

More about it

Psychology within Reach
Vuurvlindersingel, 403
3544 DB Utrecht
Netherlands

Phone +31 30 636 8981 info@psychologywithinreach.com
Mon.-Fri.– 9 am – 7:30 pm