My experiences shaped the way I nowadays consider therapy. I consider that the psychodynamic approach allows to explore one’s past, understand personal traumas and rethink past experiences it is needed to be at peace with your present self. However, I also believe a cognitive approach is sometimes essential to work on current thought schemes and to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on the person behavior and emotions. So, I decided to integrate both approaches in my practice and use hypnotherapy and sexology as complementary tools.
Originally from France, I studied a double Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Business from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Mostly focused on the neuropsychology and biopsychology side of depression and traumas, I had the opportunity to work in a project helping Second World War survivors (Shoah survivors). This experience confronted me the fear to trust, and exposed me to the expression of traumas and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I also became a volunteer therapist in a center for people with schizophrenia.
Then, I studied a Master of Arts in Psychology at l’Université Laval and also began a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology there. My research work there was, in a nutshell, on callous unemotional traits in children and its relation with reject and victimization at school. After a year studying my doctorate I decided to leave Canada and my current studies to create the MISTAG project.
This choice came from my realization of the importance of cultural differences and the impact of stigmatization in therapy. With this choice came a lot of new experiences and fulfilling meetings with people from all around the world. As for example, I had the opportunity to volunteer as a therapist in the Sainte Catherine psychiatry center in the Republic of Benin. I am convinced that to change the view we nowadays have on mental illnesses and on the people experiencing it, will completely change the way therapy is seen and done. I think that in our globalized world, every therapist will have people coming to them that might be from the other side of the world. When this happens, we need to know not only the person’s experience with his/her “diagnosis” but also, how it is seen and considered in his/her culture and community to offer the most adaptive treatment we can.
As for today, I am living in Barcelona where I am finishing a Master in Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Behavior Therapy and another one in Sexology and Couples Therapy. Aside I finish a formation in Hypnotherapy in France. I work on MISTAG and use the knowledge I’ve learnt from these experiences to give classes and talks on the mental illness stigma around the world and on cultural differences regarding the consideration of psychology and illnesses.