Mária was born in Slovakia, in a family where no one had previously decided to leave their country in search of a new home. Thus, she became the first to move abroad, driven by a desire to explore new opportunities. Motivated by an interest in people and their stories, she studied Psychology in her home country, where she went on to specialize with a master’s in organizational and educational psychology. During the final year of her postgraduate studies, she had the opportunity to participate in an Erasmus exchange in Portugal, at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro in Vila Real. Studying in a foreign country and in a language she wasn’t fully familiar with, helped her reflect on the importance of building a social support network when adapting to a new environment. It was there that her passion for therapeutic work was awakened.

During her studies in Slovakia, inspired by her brother, a dedicated social worker, she supported one of UNICEF’s projects, the “Child Safety Line”, where she answered calls from children and adolescents facing a wide range of issues, particularly survivors of bullying.

In the garage-playroom of the NGO Ulita, she worked through play with children and adolescents from an underprivileged neighborhood in Bratislava, which allowed her to gain insight into their lives and reaffirmed her desire to continue training to work with this population. Convinced that childhood and adolescence are stages with great potential for change and healing, she was able to see that play is not only a means of connection but also a safe space where they can receive full attention.

Later, she worked as a psychologist at the NGO Prima, helping people with addictions at risk of social exclusion through a harm reduction approach, where abstinence was not required. Instead, the focus was on improving self-care and fostering the desire to stop using substances. This experience had a profound impact on her, teaching her the devastating effects of marginalization, while the privilege of getting to know people with such complicated life stories allowed her to understand that with very little – simply active listening and respect – we can make a significant positive impact. After completing her Erasmus, she moved to Spain as a volunteer in a therapeutic community through the European Voluntary Service project. There, she once again focused on the rehabilitation and labor reintegration of individuals with drug dependencies and those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

After this project, she decided to stay in Spain and complete a master’s in social psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid. However, she remained convinced that her true calling was clinical psychology, where she could offer more individualized care. Her degree from Slovakia was not recognized in Spain, so she had to restart her psychology studies at UCM and then continue with a master’s in general health psychology at Alfonso X El Sabio University. It was a long journey filled with challenges, during which Mária demonstrated one of her greatest strengths: consistency and the ability to persist in her goals. She remembers these difficult years as a time of significant personal and professional growth. She balanced her studies with jobs in fields unrelated to psychology, all while building a new life in another country and forming deep bonds with people who would become her new family.

During her master’s in general health psychology, she was selected through a rigorous interview process to do her internship at SINEWS, where we immediately fell in love with her and her ability to help our international patients with anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties in adulthood, and more… We couldn’t let her go.

Today, Mária continues her training in integrative therapy, focusing on attachment and trauma, and specializing in EMDR. Her therapeutic method is primarily cognitive-behavioral, based on scientific rigor, but always tailored to the individual needs of each patient. She is convinced that we all have immense potential waiting to be discovered, and that therapy is a powerful tool to achieve this. Through the therapeutic process, a unique bond is created between therapist and patient, a bond capable of healing deep wounds that often influence our way of being without us even realizing it. our emotions more effectively. Understanding our origins and our emotional world helps us make better decisions and manage our emotions more effectively.