My name is Marina Michalatou and I am a psychologist and narrative psychotherapist.
I was born and raised on the island of Kefalonia. My studies in Psychology took me to Crete, where I volunteered to support people in a psychiatric clinic and completed my postgraduate specialization in Clinical Interventions in Addictions. As part of this postgraduate training I worked therapeutically at the Adolescent Unit of the Greek Organization Against Drugs (O.KA.NA.) in Athens, supporting adolescents and young adults with addiction problems and their families.
Later, for a period of time I provided services in a weekend respite care home for people with intellectual disabilities and autism, in the context of encouraging their independent living. In recent years, my work as a psychologist in the context of the refugee crisis took me to refugee shelters in Grevena, Ilia and Ritsona. There I gained experience in terms of cultural sensitivity, promoting social justice and human rights, trauma, abuse, crisis management, social, racial and gender inequalities, and the power of individuals, families and communities to continue living and recovering after great loss and adversity.
Currently, I work privately as a psychotherapist with the team of MindBloom. The way I work therapeutically with people is through the lens of Narrative Therapy, which I was trained in at the Institute of Narrative Therapy and Community Practice in Thessaloniki. My approach is particularly influenced by feminist ideas. My hope and goal is that through building collaborative therapeutic relationships with individuals seeking my services and through conversations that externalize the problem, we can bring to the surface and enrich overlooked stories about their lives, their knowledges and skills, their values, their connection to other people, their identity and the world in which they live, which may have the power to change their relationship to the problems they face.
🗹Psychological Assessments to migrants and asylum seekers 🗹Individual, family and group psychotherapeutic interventions 🗹Referral pathways procedures for SGBV cases, child protection cases, PWSN, psychiatric cases 🗹Interdisciplinary practices and activities, in collaboration with Protection Specialists, Educators, Community Support and Engagement Specialists, etc. 🗹Digital file records, bi-weekly and monthly reports
Educational Centre for People with Disabilities in Piraeus (PekAmeA), Athens – Educator & Caregiver for Adults with intellectual disability and autism[ 11/2019 – 02/2020 ]
Semi- Independent Living Skills Program “NEFELI”
🗹Encouragement of individuals’ emotional expression, self-esteem, and enhancement of communication skills 🗹Training individuals in everyday life skills (eg. cooking, clothing, shopping, personal hygiene) 🗹Accompanying individuals in entertainment and educational activities 🗹Daily reporting
Greek Organization Against Drugs (OKANA) – Unit for Adolescents and Young Adults “Atrapos”, Athens – Psychologist (Trainee)[09/2017 – 07/2018 ]
🗹First contact process with families 🗹Individual psychotherapy with adolescent substance users 🗹Group therapy with parents 🗹Administration and scoring of the Treatment Demand Indicator Protocol (TDI)
Psychiatric Clinic of General Hospital of Rethymno –Volunteer in Psychiatric Treatment[ 10/2015 – 08/2017 ]
🗹Participation in the interdisciplinary therapeutic approach of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers 🗹Communication and psychological support to inpatients and outpatients 🗹Coordination of artistic group of occupational therapy with inpatients
