Maria-Io Akalestou

A first appointment works somewhere between a meet-and-greet and an initial assessment: We can talk about what brings you here. I will be asking as many questions as I need, to make sure I am the right person for you. If my therapeutic approach is evidenced for the kind of issues or complaints you bring to counselling or therapy and you also feel that I can be of help to you, I will recommend either further evaluation, or counselling or psychotherapy (individual, couples' or family). If I recommend counselling or psychotherapy we will agree on the basis of our future work together, i.e. the frequence of our sessions, an estimate of counselling or therapy duration and my fee. If further evaluation is recommended, I will explain my rationale and all relevant details (timescale, expected benefits, cost). Otherwise, I will refer you to a colleague or service that I consider to be more appropriate.

Individual counselling and psychotherapy sessions have a duration of 50', whereas couples' therapy and family therapy sessions last 70'. 

We will discuss my fee at the end on our first meeting. The practice is private, which means I do not take public sector insurance. If you have out-of-network therapy benefits from your private insurance, please consult with your agent beforehand and please inform me as well.

Some low cost session slots are available to self-funded undergraduate students and persons under financial strain, usually early in the afternoon. 

If you are late to a session, I regret not being able to give you extra time, as the delay would pass on to the sessions booked next.

If you cancel a session less than 48 hours before our scheduled slot, or don't show up for your session, you will be charged a full cancellation fee to compensate for the time reserved for our session, with the exception of an emergency (i.e. unforeseen personal health or safety issue, or equally urgent matter). If I have to cancel a session on my part, I will make sure to let you know as early as possible, and re-book your appointment at the earlier convenience.

If you are an adult interested in booking an appointment, you will need to contact me in person. You can contact me in person if you are an adolescent, too, but you need to have a parent's or guardian's permission to see me, and they need to accompany you on your first appointment.

I work with minors under the age of 13 either in assessment/psychometric evaluation, or in family therapy. This means that I do not offer individual counselling or psychotherapy sessions to anyone under the age of 13. However, I do counsel parents of toddlers and children, with an aim of assisting them to better understand and help their children, even if the family does not qualify for, or does not wish to begin family therapy.

For persons under 18 whose parents are divorced and parental responsibility is shared, I need to have written and signed permission from both parents in order to see their child.

All the information derived from counselling, psychotherapy and psychometric assessment is strictly confidential, and the legal framework that protects your own, or your child's personal data is in full effect.

In extremely rare circumstances, I am legally bound to selectively break confidentiality, if I consider it to be of utmost importance in order to protect your life or physical integrity, or that of another person. In that case, I reserve the right to contact your next of kin, and/or the authorities, as per the provisions of the Psychologists' Code of Conduct (Greek Government Gazette 2344, issue Β, 18-6-2019).

Counselling and individual, couples' and family therapy do not constitute urgent psychological/psychiatric care. If there is a need for immediate care, you need to address a psychiatrist or child psychiatrist of your choice, or the casualty department of a hospital with an on-call psychiatry or child psychiatry department. If you need help urgently, you can call the Emergency Medical Services on 166, or the Telephone Line for Emergency Social Assistance of the National Centre of Social Allegiance, on 197.

Psychometric assessment (i.e. psychological testing) services are only available to persons whose native language is Greek, due to restrictions applying in the use of psychometric tools.

Psychometric assessment may follow a psychiatric or child psychiatric referral. Nevertheless, as psychologists, we can and often do make use of psychometric tools available to us without the need of a referral from a medical doctor, as the use of testing helps clarify presenting problems, plan and evaluate psychological interventions.

The length of a psychometric assessment may vary according to the referral, and hence to the psychometric battery (array) is use.

The cost of psychometric assessment is agreed upon beforehand, and is typically higher that that of typical therapy sessions. This not only reflects longer examination times, but also the thorough analysis of the findings and the composition and authoring of reports, on behalf of the psychologist.

It's important to be on time for your appointment, on the day of your/your child's assessment, as we can't curtail the examination process. Quality of night sleep and diet might might affect your/your child's assessment results, so a good night's sleep and breakfast are highly recommended!

Assessment results are made available in priority to the psychiatrist or child psychiatrist who has referred you or your child, if a referral has been made. Whether you have been referred by a medical doctor or not, we can still discuss the findings together, but do so taking into account (1) restrictions placed by the professional code of conduct of psychologists, around the dissemination of psychometric evaluation results to non-professionals, and (2) issues of confidentiality of information derived from testing.

When a child or an adolescent is referred for psychometric evaluation, I expect to be contacted by the minor's parent or guardian to book the appointment. Same as in counselling and psychotherapy, when minors whose parents are divorced and custody is shared are referred for assessment, written and signed permission from both parents needs to be provided in order to see the child.

All counselling, psychotherapy and assessment-derived information is strictly confidential, in line with the legal framework that protects your or/and your child's personal data.

In rare circumstances, I am legally bound to selectively break confidentiality, if I consider it to be of utmost importance to protect your or your child's life and/or physical integrity, or that of a third person. In that case, I reserve the right to contact your next of kin, and/or the authorities.

Those two terms are often used interchangeably in English. When it comes to counselling and psychotherapy as practiced in Greece, counselling mostly refers to short- to mid-term psychological interventions (i.e. ones that require fewer sessions than psychotherapy), that tend to be focused on specific issues. The mental health professional might position themselves in a more instructional/guiding manner in counselling, at least to some extent. Mental health practitioners who work in counselling come from a variety of professional backgrounds and usually (but not necessarily) have relevant qualifications and/or experience, but no particular professional limitations apply.

Psychotherapy is thought of as a mid- to long-term psychological intervention, during which the therapist's positioning tends to be non-instructive, non-guiding. This is thought to promote the person's own prioritization and understanding of the issues they bring to therapy, and aims at fostering agency, in order for the person to make their own decisions and craft change in their lives. Psychotherapists are mental health practitioners (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, mental health nurses) who have successfully completed a postgraduate psychotherapeutic training scheme with a minimum duration of 4 years part-time/2 years full-time.

You will have to climb down a few steps when accessing the office building from the 3, Kosma Aitolou entrance. There are quite a few steps more, when accessed from 4, Fragkokklisias street. There is an elevator operating from ground floor level, with a manually-operated door. Ample space is available in the office rooms and toilet, but unfortunately no equipment (handlebars etc.) is available for persons with mobility limitations and/or wheelchair users, at this time.