Dr. Vassiliki Simoglou

**Services Offered**

Individual therapy (15+), couples therapy, perinatal and infertility counseling
Available in-person and online
Currently accepting new clients
Languages Spoken: English, French, and Greek.

My therapeutic approach:

Major life events, relationship challenges, marital conflict, family transitions, childbirth, work issues, health concerns, loss, relocations…, throughout our lives we stumble across challenges that make life journey difficult, but also worth living. When you feel that you can no longer cope with hardship as you used to be able to, it’s maybe time you sought counseling and therapy. The way I approach therapy is psychodynamic: I believe that there is more to a problem than meets the eye; what you are currently going through is actually the tip of an iceberg. In our work together, we will explore and help you navigate through your current situation, but we will also focus on the rest of the iceberg, the part of it that seems unaccessible. This way we will be able to identify and work through the underlying causes of what brought you into therapy. I often relate to my work as “opening up a closet”, where everything you had ever experienced was tossed inside, and because it was shut, you thought you couldn’t be affected by it anymore. Therapy will consist of opening up the closet, looking inside, understanding, and mainly, tidying up. As tasking as it may be to "open up the closet", you can know that you will not be alone; I will be with you all the way - with a promise: that at the end of this exploration awaits self-knowledge, which is the only sustainable pathway for self-acceptance, healing and the ability to change and move on, peacefully and creatively.

My areas of expertise include:

Depression, grief and loss,
Family and couple dynamics, separation and divorce,
Infertility counseling, psychological support during IVF,
Pregnancy and post-partum challenges, perinatal loss,
Transition into motherhood and fatherhood, attachment difficulties,
Management of psychosomatic symptoms, health concerns,
Social withdrawal, isolation,
Work-related issues,
Adjustment to life-changing events,
Expatriation,
Stress, anxiety and phobias.

My qualifications:

I am a Greek national and I moved to Dubai in 2015, after having lived in France for eight years and in the UK for one year. I completed all my studies in Psychology in France: I hold a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Strasbourg and a PhD in Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology from Sorbonne Paris Cité - Paris Diderot University in Paris. I also hold another Master’s degree in Psychoanalytic Studies from the University of Essex in the UK.

I am a licensed psychologist in Greece and the European territory, and in Dubai by the Community Development Authority (License number: CDA-PL-0001064). I have been working as a therapist in private practice for more than fourteen years. I am a Professional Member of the Panhellenic Psychological Association and as such, I adhere to the standards, guidelines and ethical principles set out by it. I am firmly committed to providing you with the best possible care, in a professional and confidential environment.

“Participating in the pregnancy support group hosted by Thrive was one of the best choices I’ve made in the last few months. Dr. Sarah and Dr. Vassiliki were both so empathetic, warm, and understanding and I could feel that even through a screen (which I wasn’t expecting at all). What I appreciated most is that both Drs guided the conversation in a meaningful way, made it easy to speak comfortably, and only offered words of comfort... I would do it again in a heartbeat!””

— 38 week pregnant woman who participated in the pregnancy support group