My therapeutic work is for adults experiencing anxiety, emotional strain, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, difficulty expressing needs, or difficulty setting personal boundaries. It is also for people going through important life transitions, as well as those who are functioning reasonably well but would like to understand themselves more deeply and make fuller use of their strengths.
Psychologist · Psychotherapist · Athens & online
IRINA MRVOLJAK–THEODOROPOULOU
PhD in Psychology | Psychologist – Psychotherapist
Psychological Support & Psychotherapy
grounded in scientific evidence and respect for the individual
I provide psychotherapy and psychological support for adults, both in person in Athens and online. My work is grounded in contemporary scientific knowledge, professional ethics, and a therapeutic relationship in which each person can feel heard, understood, and actively involved in shaping the course of therapy.
Therapy is not limited to understanding difficulties. Within a stable and collaborative process, we explore what is weighing on you, identify patterns that affect your daily life, and work towards changes that are realistic, meaningful, and suited to your own pace.
Online & In-person sessions in Ilioupoli, Athens
Approach
MY APPROACH
I see psychotherapy as a shared process of understanding and change. In our sessions, we look not only at what is difficult, but also at how thoughts, emotions, bodily reactions, and relationships interact and shape your experience of everyday life.
My role is to provide a stable, safe, and evidence-based framework; to help you organize and make sense of what you are experiencing; and to suggest appropriate ways of exploring it, including practical tools when these may be useful. Your role is not to arrive with all the answers, but to participate as much as you can and at a pace that feels manageable. We agree on the goals and direction of therapy together and review them as the work develops.
The process is structured without being rigid. It is adapted to your needs, resources, and current stage of life. At some points, you may need more space for understanding and emotional support; at others, we may place greater emphasis on practicing new ways of responding.
My approach brings together scientific knowledge, clinical experience, and ongoing professional development. The aim is for understanding to gradually support greater freedom of choice, more helpful ways of responding, and changes that have genuine meaning in your life.
- Evidence-informed
- Individualized
- Structured
- Culturally sensitive
Profile
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
I am a psychologist and licensed psychotherapist with a PhD in Social Psychology from the Department of Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and professional training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
My professional work includes clinical practice and academic teaching at the Department of Psychology of NKUA at undergraduate level, as well as teaching in postgraduate programmes at other universities.
Clinical practice, teaching, and scientific research complement one another in my work. They help me connect theoretical knowledge with the real needs of the person in front of me and explain complex psychological processes in a clear, accessible, and therapeutically useful way.
My experience across different academic and cultural settings further supports an individualized approach that respects each person’s history, values, and life circumstances.
Who I work with
WHO I WORK WITH
The reason for seeking therapy may be a specific current difficulty, a more general sense that something does not feel as you would like it to, or more complex and long-standing concerns. These may include persistent anxiety, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, depressive symptoms, traumatic experiences, or recurring patterns of thinking, behavior, and relationships that significantly affect daily life.
You do not need to know from the beginning exactly how to describe what is happening. The early phase of therapy can help clarify your needs gradually and establish a shared direction for our work.
Services
SERVICES
Services are organized in three areas. Each process begins with understanding the person’s request, context and goals.
01INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY & THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT
Standard Session
A session lasts 50 minutes and may be your first appointment or part of an ongoing course of therapy. At the beginning, we get to know each other, explore what has brought you, and agree on the main goals and way of working. As therapy continues, we review progress together, adapt the work to your needs, and make room both for understanding and for changes that can be introduced gradually into everyday life.
Individual Psychotherapy for Adults
Individual psychotherapy offers a consistent space in which you can speak about what is difficult without needing to have it already organised or fully explained. Through our collaboration, we connect experiences, thoughts, emotions, and reactions, identify recurring patterns, and gradually develop new ways of understanding, choosing, and responding.
Psychoeducation & Therapeutic Support
Psychoeducation is included when it can help you understand more clearly what is happening in your body, thoughts, emotions, or behaviour. Information is not offered as detached theory; it is connected to your own experience and, where useful, accompanied by practical ways of applying it in daily life.
02AREAS OF FOCUSED SUPPORT
Managing Anxiety and Mood Difficulties
Together, we explore what triggers and maintains anxiety or changes in mood, and how these affect the body, thoughts, relationships, and everyday functioning. The work is adapted to your capacity, with the aim of gradually developing more helpful ways of coping and greater emotional stability.
Processing Traumatic Experiences
Difficult or traumatic experiences are approached with care, safety, and respect for your pace. You do not need to speak about more than you are able to tolerate. We first strengthen a sense of stability and, when possible, gradually work through how the past continues to affect the present.
Managing Obsessive Thoughts and Compulsive Behaviors
Therapy helps make sense of the cycle of intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and compulsive responses. Through shared planning and gradual steps, the aim is to reduce the need for compulsions and increase freedom of choice in everyday life.
Managing Panic Attacks and Phobic Reactions
We explore how bodily sensations are interpreted, what intensifies fear, and how avoidance maintains panic or phobic reactions. Therapy combines understanding, practice, and carefully planned steps, with the aim of gradually restoring a sense of safety and greater freedom in daily life.
Support for Depressive Symptoms
Support is offered to people experiencing low mood, loss of interest, fatigue, hopelessness, or a sense of disconnection from themselves and their lives. Therapy does not require you to become active immediately. It begins where you are, allowing space for understanding and relief, and moves at your pace towards small possibilities for reconnection, functioning, and meaning.
Enhancing Self-Awareness and Personal Insight
Self-awareness is not only about analysing the past. Therapy can help you understand more clearly what you need, what influences you, and how you want to respond in your choices and relationships. Greater clarity can become a basis for more conscious decisions and a life that is more closely aligned with your values.
Developing Assertiveness and Personal Boundaries
This work is for people who find it difficult to express their needs, emotions, and opinions, say “no,” or set and maintain healthy boundaries without experiencing guilt or inner conflict. Through understanding, practice, and feedback, greater clarity, confidence, and more equal ways of relating can gradually develop.
03COUNSELLING & SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS
Brief Counselling Support
Brief counselling focuses on a specific concern and is organized around clear goals agreed together. It offers space to understand the situation, consider available options, and identify practical steps within a limited timeframe.
Counselling for Interpersonal and Family Relationships
In sessions, we examine difficulties in relationships, recurring patterns of communication, expectations, and boundaries. The aim is to understand more clearly what happens between people and to develop choices that support more stable and satisfying relationships.
Couples Counselling / Couples Therapy
Work with couples focuses on how partners communicate, become distant, enter conflict, or try to reconnect. My role is to help both partners feel heard, understand the dynamics of the relationship, and try different ways of communicating, cooperating, and rebuilding emotional connection.
Counselling During Life Transitions
Major changes, even when they are wanted, can bring anxiety, sadness, or uncertainty. During separation, loss, relocation, career change, or an important personal decision, counselling offers space to process emotions, clarify needs, and adjust to a new reality.
Counselling for Professional and Academic Functioning
Counselling can help when concentration, procrastination, performance pressure, or organizational difficulties affect work or study. Together, we identify the factors that interfere with functioning and develop practical ways to organize tasks, manage stress, and work towards goals.
Intercultural Counselling
This service is for people living or working across different cultural contexts who may be navigating questions of identity, adjustment, language, or belonging. Therapy takes into account both personal history and cultural experiences that shape how a person understands themselves and their relationships.
Sessions
SESSION INFORMATION
50 minutes
By appointment
In Athens or online
No obligation to continue
Sessions last 50 minutes and take place by prior appointment.
The first session is an opportunity to meet and begin exploring what has brought you to therapy. There is time to discuss what you would like to change or make more manageable, and for me to explain how I work. You can decide whether to continue without pressure, based on whether the therapeutic setting and our way of working feel suitable for you.
No special preparation is required. You can come as you are and begin with whatever feels most present or important at that time.
For online sessions, it is helpful to be in a quiet and private space and to check your internet connection, camera, and audio in advance.
I AM HERE FOR YOU
A gradual process, shaped with care
Therapy is a collaboration that develops gradually. You do not need to have all the answers from the beginning or move faster than you are able to.
My role is to listen carefully, help you make sense of what you are experiencing, maintain a clear direction in our work, and suggest approaches that can support change. Together, we decide on the goals, pace, and next steps, with respect for your needs and individuality.
THERAPY SPACE
A calm and private setting in Athens
The office has been carefully designed to provide a calm, welcoming, and comfortable environment where clients can feel at ease while knowing that their privacy and confidentiality are fully respected.
Research
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
A selection of peer-reviewed publications and academic contributions.
Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., & Aggeli, K. (2026). The relationship between assertiveness, trait anxiety, and early maladaptive schemas. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Advance online publication.
DOI ↗Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I. (2026). Perceived childhood relationships and their associations with assertiveness, trait anxiety, and early maladaptive schemas. Family Relations, 1–19.
DOI ↗Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., Gari, A., & Mylonas, K. (2020). Υoung adults’ assertiveness in relation to parental acceptance-rejection in Greece and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sage. Psychological Reports, 0(0), 1-26.
DOI ↗Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., Γκαρή, Αικ., & Μυλωνάς, Κ. (2019). Παρουσία του πατέρα στην οικογένεια και αντιλαμβανόμενη γονική αποδοχή-απόρριψη (Father Presence in the Family and Perceived Parental Acceptance–Rejection). Ψυχολογία, 24(1), 123-137
Gari, A., Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., & Nikolopoulou, V. (2023). Greek teachers’ beliefs as correlated with students’ self-efficacy during a nomination procedure of students with high potential. In V. Chiou, V., L. Gunis, O. Holz, O. N. Ertȕrk, J. Ratkowska-Pasikowska, & F. Shelton, (Eds.), Voices from the classroom (pp. 120-129). Waxmann Publishing Co.
Dagla, M., Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., Daglas, V., et al. (2025). Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale. Cureus 17(6): e86979.
DOI ↗Dagla, M., Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., Daglas, V., Antoniou, E., Rigoutsou, E., Papatrechas, A., Dagla, C., Tsolaridou, E., & Karagianni, D. (2025). The Development and Psychometric Validation of the Fainareti Screening Tool for Perinatal Mental Health in Greek Pregnant Women. Clinics and practice, 15(2), 37.
DOI ↗Orovou, E., Mrvoljak-Theodoropoulou, I., & Antoniou, E. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) in Greek women after cesarean section. PLOS ONE, 16(8): e0255689.
DOI ↗
Contact
Request an initial consultation
For further information or to schedule an initial session, you can contact me by email or phone. Sessions are available in person in Athens or online.
AddressAgorakritou 12
163 41 Ilioupoli
Athens, Greece
163 41 Ilioupoli
Athens, Greece
Office phone+30 210 996 5569
Mobile+30 690 980 1167
Location on map
Send a confidential enquiry
Please share only the information needed to arrange contact. Do not include sensitive health information in this form.