Carolina Labanca

I am a Clinical Psychologist, graduated from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), where I was strongly drawn to the phenomenological-existential approach. Its philosophical depth and its understanding of therapy as a space of dialogue resonated with the way I wanted to practice. During my training, I interned at the university hospital with patients in the hematology and orthopedics sectors. Working with individuals in terminal stages introduced me to palliative care, where I supported patients in giving shape to their stories, listening to themselves through words, and finding dignity at the end of life. I also interned in early childhood education settings, creating activities to help children name and move through their emotions. In parallel, I participated in a psychosomatics research group and co-authored an article published in Psicologia Ciência e Profissão. After graduating, I completed a specialization in existential-phenomenological clinical practice at IFEN, in Rio de Janeiro, where I also began working as a psychologist. In 2019, I pursued further training in hermeneutic phenomenological psychology at the Dasein Institute, a program centered on discourse, interpretation, and the role of language in experience. In 2022, I became increasingly interested in psychoanalysis and its contributions to clinical practice, which led me to begin a postgraduate course in Fundamentals of Psychoanalysis, completed in 2023. This training deepened my understanding of dreams, the unconscious, and transference, dimensions I consider essential to the therapeutic process. I have been working with adolescents and adults, both in person and online, since 2018, and in addition to my private practice, I started offering sessions through the Hiwell platform in 2024. My clinical work is grounded in listening, reflection, and a commitment to creating a space where experience can be symbolized, questioned, and reworked, always taking into account the authenticity and singularity of each person’s experience.