Lavinia Bucur
Counsellor
• IFS therapist, brief strategic therapist, IFIO couples therapist, somatic therapy • 10+ years experience working with adults & couples become whole and healthy • Intro video call 30 minutes -> 15€ 📍AMS - for in-person
I specialise in:
About me
There is a YOU-shaped hole in the Universe and I want to help you fill it, become whole, free, more yourself and healthy in this life, without burdens of shame, fear, guilt !
We all have different inner parts (sub-personalities) that appear as consequences (symptoms) of our past experiences, they are all welcome in the work and exploration in our sessions.
Some words that I feel describe me and what I bring with me, how I am in the sessions: personable, humane, gentle, light-hearted, relational, curious, open, sensitive, playful, warm, caring, creative, talkative, effective, relational, evidence-based, science-based, goals-oriented, focused, structured.
- I'm an expat in Amsterdam, from Eastern Europe
- 10 years experience in private practice, working with adults, groups (and couples more recently in the last 2 years) + 2 years voluntary practice work. I have helped 500+ clients, thousands of hours of therapy work.
- I'm a child of divorce - it gave me a big interest in couples, what makes couples leave/stay together, conflict resolution
- interest in neurobiology, holistic perspectives on health and mental health (mind-body), autoimmunity, yoga, exercise, nervous system regulation, working towards longevity, cats, animation, movies
- had a full-time corporate career for over 10 years in parallel
- worked well with the following: PTSD, C-PTSD (childhood developmental trauma), narcissistic abuse, anxiety-related issues (especially panic attacks, social anxiety, obsessions, compulsions, hyperchondria), eating disorders (binge eating, vomiting, anorexia), depression, sexual dysfunctions and disorders (anorgasmia, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, vaginismus, dyspareunia, disturbances in sexual desire), addictions (substances, shopping, social media), relational issues (parent-child, couple, work relationships), burnout, work stress, same-sex relationships, psychedelic integration, cult trauma, couples therapy, ADHD
I speak:
Location:
Media Gallery
Approach
We all have the inner capacity to heal and to hold space for or contain our wounded parts or protective mechanisms that helped us survive suffering.
My approach is to help people uncover that self-healing power, where we're meeting and connecting to ourselves in a profound and meaningful way with curiosity, self-love, clarity, courage, calm. I like to combine finding out together what works for you (tailoring the process to your needs, fears, longings) while also offering what worked for me + what is shown in research that works for your specific issue (evidence-based protocols, assignments that support you between sessions).
Therapy is relational, I think it's important to have a good connection with the therapist you choose. What makes therapy effective? The biggest factors that weigh in that are - resonating with the therapist you work with (you like them, you feel good with them, you feel they get it, you trust they have good intentions) and supporting yourself with changes in between sessions (the small pieces of work that happens in between the sessions).
The frameworks I base my approach on and techniques I use are the following: brief strategic therapy (Arezzo Institute Italy), IFS (Internal Family Systems therapy), Somatic experiencing, emotional releasing, EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation reprocessing), transgenerational systemic psychology, reichian analysis and muscular somatic release
Questions to think about for our first meeting:
- what would you like to see as change and why
- how would you know we got to be effective?
- what is your experience with change in your life;what are your thoughts/beliefs about change
- because therapy is relational - what are your beliefs about relationships, asking for help, getting nurturing
- how do you deal with overwhelm, solution attempts
- family & current context For change to occur we need to get to know the system in which the problem appeared (inner psychological system and outer system - family, social), what is keeping this problem alive currently.
Experience
2018 - present: Psychologist with private practice in Amsterdam (individual therapy adults and couples therapy) 2020 - 2022: Psychotherapist at Amber (EAP / Employee Assistance Program) 2014 - present: Psychotherapist with private practice in Bucharest, Romania (individual therapy, group therapy) 2012 - 2014: Psychotherapist in practice - free group therapy and individual therapy while in training and learning from my teachers
I’ve been working with hundreds of clients and have been quite effective, having consistent long-term interventions and complex cases. Ongoing learning and supervision regularly + doing my own therapy, staying humble with my work. Every day trying to become a better version of myself and be more myself in the world. This is what I want to help people do also, be more themselves in the world, feel more whole
Education
• 2014 - present: Supervision - 650h+ of supervision • 2025 - body psychotherapy (Reichian Analysis & somatic release) • 2025 - Neurofeedback(optimal brain model) - BetterBrains • 2024 - Narcissistic abuse treatment clinician training - Dr. Ramani Durvasula • 2024 - Intimacy from the Inside Out - IFIO (IFS used in couples therapy) • 2022 - Somatic IFS training (with Susan McConnell) • 2022 - EMDR therapy Level 1 • 2022 - Yoga teacher training (Kashish Yoga) • 2021 - IFS Level 2 training (IFS Institute) • 2021 - IFS Level 1 training (IFS Institute) • 2021 - Trauma-informed Stabilisation Treatment (with Janina Fisher) • 2021 - Polyvagal Informed Therapy training (with Deb Dana) • 2021 - Somatic Experiencing training (with Peter Levine, Diane Poole Heller) • 2021 - Yin Yoga teacher training (Equal Yoga) • 2019 - IFS training (with Frank Anderson) • 2015 - Movement meditation facilitator (body-focused therapy, dynamic meditation for emotional release)
• 2012 - 2014 - Brief Solution-Focused Therapy - 200 hours of training + 30 hours of individual therapy • 2012 - 2014 - Brief Strategic Therapy (Arezzo Institute Italy) - 320 hours training + 200 hours personal development + 30 hours individual therapy (Giorgio Nardone)
• 2012 - 2014 - Master's Degree in Experiential Psychotherapy for individuals, couples, family and children, University of Bucharest - 650 hours of training + 300 hours personal development • 2009 - 2012 - Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, University of Bucharest
Services
Individual Session
Couple Session online
In-person individual session
In-person Couple session
Insurances
