Why Roots Therapy?

Academic background
Theoni Karanikolou van Hoogenhuijze is a clinical psychologist who obtained her university degree in Psychology from Panteion University of Athens. Subsequently graduated from Leiden University in The Netherlands with the degree Master of Science in Clinical Psychology, where she became familiar with the therapeutic approach of Cognitive and Behavioural therapy among other subjects such as Eating disorders, Life Coaching and the Psycho-dynamic approach.

Later on, Theoni became a certified MILS coach and through the years has participated in numerous seminars and courses with the subjects of trauma therapy, grief and complex grief. The psychologist has been receiving supervision and has been part of intervision groups with fellow therapists for numerous years, in order to ensure the best results for her clients.

Theoni has worked in two of the biggest children’s hospitals of Athens observing and offering support to children with fatal diseases and their families, as well as screening and assessing mental disorders.

Greek Psychologists’ Network in The Netherlands
Entering the expat community in 2012 and facing the challenges of re-rooting herself, Theoni got together with a group of colleagues and in 2014 the Greek Psychologists Network in The Netherlands was founded. Through this network they provide support to the continuously increasing Greek community in The Netherlands. Organizing psycho-educational seminars with topics such as ‘How to deal with change’, ’Anger’, ‘Fears’, as well as offering counselling and therapy services, are the ways through which the network wishes to enhance self-awareness and self-development to the Greek community. The network supports recreational activities and events of the community, such as the consistency of a book club, visits to museums or concerts to enhance socializing and self-development.

My Style
'I believe in the resources that each person has inside them. I believe that every person who is alive has the right to feel pain, fear, joy and anger and not to be ashamed for that. In a society that creates the notion that everyone needs to be perfect and act perfect continuously, I encourage my clients to embrace their imperfections and love themselves for who they are.

Through an equal therapeutic relationship with my clients, where trust and respect are the foundation, I wish to provide a safe environment and together to explore the needs and therapeutic goals of my clients.

During the first sessions with my clients we collect their history, discuss the therapeutic goals that the person might have, and if both therapist and client, we agree that we want to work together, we proceed further with a schema of sessions.

My clients and fellow therapists describe me as interactive, empathetic, friendly and professional. Using a combination of tools from different approaches in order to create the best approach for my clients, I am mainly interested in the Psycho-dynamic approach where the unconscious or the ‘non spoken’ needs of my clients are kept. The cognitive and behavioural approach offers a great variety of techniques aiming to discover the connection between cognition-emotions-behaviour. I am also very interested in schema therapy which is an integrative approach embodying theories and techniques from previously existed approaches such as the cognitive and behavioural approach, the psycho-dynamic approach, the attachment theory and gestalt theory. The EMDR approach has been a milestone to my development as a therapist and offers a great framework for dealing with trauma’s in the early years.'