Athenian Gestalt is co-founded and co-facilitated by Maria-Christina Smyrnaiou, Integrative Counsellor, and Parvy Palmou, PhD, Gestalt Psychotherapist, who work together as co-owners and co-creators of the practice.

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As mental health professionals with extensive experience, we are committed to strengthening queer representation within psychotherapy and to advancing therapeutic approaches that affirm gender diversity, expansive sexualities, and diverse forms of embodiment. Our work is grounded in affirmative, non-pathologizing, theoretically informed practice, integrating principles from Gestalt Person Center Therapy and Focusing. ​At the same time, our practice is not limited to LGBTQI+ communities. We support the full spectrum of mental health experiences, including themes of relationships, trauma, neurodiversity, boundaries, emotional development, and existential concerns. We meet each person within the unique field of their life, with respect, knowledge, and presence.

 

At Athenian Gestalt, we bring together clinical expertise, community-based knowledge, and international experience to create a space that is safe, inclusive, accessible, and deeply oriented toward authentic therapeutic connection.