Stelios Despotakis is a Person-Centered Counselor - Psychotherapist and has been active in the field since 2014 --- I see psychotherapy as a process of developing the innate potential of the individual, facilitating the unfolding of our uniqueness --- Like all of us, I used to be a child. I went to school and began measuring myself up against the "outside world", in life's joys and sorrows. Originally from Athens Greece, I have spent almost a decade overseas (England, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Southeast Asia), each place a different chapter. My undergraduate degree was in Engineering Mathematics (BEng) at the University of Bristol with study abroad at the University of Western Australia, from where I graduated with First-Class Honours. I then started postgraduate studies in Mathematics Education (PGCE) at the University of Oxford, from which I withdrew for ideological reasons. For a number of years I taught math to adolescents and adults, but what really interested me was education. How can schools better equip young people for the future? After working as a staff member at Demokratische Schule X in Berlin, based on the principles of self-directed learning and collective decision-making, I co-founded "ΕUDEC Greece" (a regional chapter of the European Democratic Education Community). In 2013-2014, in search of my next step at the time, I decided to try a simpler life close to nature. Through Workaway I travelled to the Far East, where I stayed on farms, cultivating crops, building huts, and learning about permaculture, yoga and meditation. Upon my return to Greece, I started a second cycle of studies, this time in Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy, and somehow I found my home. Today, I have a Professional Diploma in Therapeutic Counseling (PGDip 2-year training), the European Certificate of Psychotherapy (ECP 4-year training), and a Master's Level Certificate in treating Depression (PCE-CfD 1-year training) recommended by UK's National Health Service (NHS). In addition, I have had intensive training in Conflict Resolution, Non-Violent Communication and Online Counselling. Since 2015, and over the next five years, in parallel to my private practice, I volunteered my services to "synYparxi", a network of Social Solidarity and Psychological Support providing individual and group counselling to vulnerable populations, before co-operating with Alzheimer Athens where I supported caregivers to people suffering from Dementia via Online Counselling during the Pandemic. Last but not least, I am currently being trained to become a certified Mindfulness Teacher (MBCT - Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) by the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation, in partnership with Oxford University. Through my work, I accompany people on their journey, facilitating their efforts to better understand themselves, cope with stress, heal trauma, improve relationships, overcome feeling stuck, change direction and realise dreams. Why work together? I consider myself sensitive, trustworthy, and open to what I hear. There is, however, no better way to find out if we are a good match than meeting in person.
