Maria Alves

I’m an existential psychotherapist.

I work with people who may be struggling with mental health difficulties, as well as those who simply feel that everyday life has become difficult to navigate. You don’t need to have a diagnosis or a specific problem to seek therapy. Sometimes, the desire to understand yourself better, make sense of what you are experiencing, or find a different way of being in the world is reason enough.

Therapy can be a journey towards greater self-awareness, self-understanding and emotional regulation. Together, we can explore your experiences, relationships and choices, and begin to understand what may help you feel more at ease with yourself and with the life you are living.

I can sit with hard, uncomfortable truths, so they no longer feel like yours to bear alone. With warmth and compassion, we can explore them together, make sense of what you are going through, and gently loosen the hold these experiences may have on you — so they don’t have to determine the patterns of your future.

My approach is grounded in existential psychotherapy. I completed four years of training with the Portuguese Society of Existential Psychotherapy (SPPE), where I learned to accompany people not only through mental health difficulties, but also through the many questions, transitions and challenges that life can bring.

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I trained and worked as a psychiatric and mental health nurse. For nine years, I worked with individuals and groups experiencing different forms of mental health difficulties and mental illness. I have also worked within a recovery-oriented and psychosocial rehabilitation framework.

My work is guided by each person’s unique experience — their emotions, perceptions, relationships, values and way of making sense of the world. I don’t see therapy as a process of fitting someone into a predefined model, but as a space where we can become curious about who you are, what you are going through, and what kind of life you want to build.

If you feel that something in your life needs to be understood, changed, or simply given space, we can begin there.