ABOUT CLARA

I am a clinical psychologist with 15 years’ experience with the expat community and INGOs in France, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Clara Barilani is an expat psychologist based in Lisbon, Portugal

I am now based in Lisbon, Portugal, where I meet clients in my private practice and also online.

As a long-term expat, I am aware of the struggles of starting a new life abroad without a familiar safety network. It requires significant effort and constant mental adjustments to adapt to new social norms and different cultural environments and languages.

This is why I choose to work in expat counselling services.

I am specialised in intercultural and cross-cultural dynamics, both for people living and working in new cultures and for multicultural couples and families.

In Laos, I worked in an international clinic in the capital city of Vientiane, with foreign and local patients and couples on personal and expat-related issues.

I also worked with expats and local staff in INGOs, providing technical support and training on psychosocial and protection projects.

As a psychologist, my most important objective is to provide a secure space for people to comfortably share their thoughts, concerns and personal issues. I am here to listen without judgement and help people make sense of their situation.

I focus on strengthening my clients’ existing resources to help them manage their present and future challenges. I support people to plan for small, achievable objectives that can generate a chain reaction of positive change.

In my psychology studies in France, I specialised in Systemic Therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisations and Reprocessing). Systemic Therapy focuses on the relationship between people and their environmentals. I use these approaches to consider the specific and unique demands and needs of my clients.

Far from home and need someone who understands?

contact clara

My counselling approaches

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitizations and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment originally “designed” by Shapiro in 1989 to alleviate the distress associated with Traumatic memories.

It enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

For more information visit What is EMDR?

Systemic Therapy

The focus of the Systemic Therapy is on the individual and on his/her relational environment. It is about the connection between people and the world, self and others (family, couple, group, community….).

Systemic Therapy is based on Attachment Theories to understand how the primary emotional bond between and infant and its primary caregiver affected the behaviour and emotional development of the adult.

It is most commonly associated with family therapy, as it locates the problem in the working of the system rather than of the individual, to enable healthy and durable changes within these relationships.