English-speaking therapist in PatrasWhere Art of Mind began.

Patras is one of Greece's largest cities and a university city at heart, and that shapes who gets in touch. A good many of the people who contact us in English are linked to the university, whether as exchange or international students, doctoral researchers or visiting academics, while others work for companies in and around the port, have settled here with a Greek partner, or have moved to the area for a quieter life by the sea.

The concerns they bring vary, but some are typical of a city like this one.

Studying away from home. Arriving in a new country for a semester or a degree is exciting, and it can also be lonely and disorienting, particularly once the first weeks of orientation events are over. Exam pressure, money worries and the challenge of studying in a second language can lead to anxiety, panic attacks or a loss of confidence that is hard to admit to friends who seem to be coping fine.

Academic life. Researchers and lecturers often juggle teaching, publishing and funding applications with very little separation between work and the rest of life, which can slide into burnout or chronic self-doubt.

Building a life with a Greek partner. Moving to Patras for love can mean joining a close family network, learning a new language and setting aside a career, all at the same time. Many couples find it useful to talk about how they are adjusting, either through relationship counselling on your own or through couples therapy together.

Feeling like an outsider. Patras is warm and sociable, but much of its social life runs through long-standing friendships and family ties, and newcomers can take time to find their place. Our page on therapy for expats looks at this in more detail.

Our English-language sessions take place online by video on Google Meet. For many people in Patras this turns out to be the more practical choice: there is no need to cross the city or find parking, it is easier to keep a regular weekly time around lectures, shifts or childcare, and if you leave Patras at the end of your studies or your contract, you can carry on with the same therapist wherever you go next. For students in particular, that continuity can make a real difference, because the end of a semester often coincides with exactly the kind of transition people want support with.

Research suggests that meeting online need not reduce the benefit of therapy. A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials found that treatment delivered by video was comparable with in-person treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress across effectiveness, satisfaction and drop-out (Shaker et al., 2023), and that the therapeutic relationship, one of the most important factors in good therapy, is linked to outcomes just as strongly online as in person (Flückiger et al., 2018).

Sessions last 45 minutes and usually start weekly. The first session is a structured, unhurried conversation in which your therapist asks what brings you, about your history and about what you would like to change, and together you agree an initial plan. Our therapists work in an integrative, evidence-informed way, adapting established methods to the person and drawing on cognitive-behavioural techniques where they help. If you also need medical care, for example an assessment for medication, we work alongside doctors and psychiatrists with your agreement.

We see adults, couples and teenagers aged 12 and over; for a teenager, a parent or guardian contacts us first. You can read about each service on our services page.