Theresa Zagers
clinical and intercultural psychologist
counselling. research. projects.
​
welcome; willkommen; welkom; bem-vinda/o.
Hi!
I am a clinical psychologist since 2020 and intercultural psychologist since 2022.
I strongly believe that in all stages of life, a person is not detachable from the broader community and groups around them but that they shape each other in powerful and profound ways. Consequently, my professional work is guided by this conviction. This (digital) space has the purpose to give you a better idea about how my clinical practice looks like and inform about my research and social interests.
Please be very welcome and do not hesitate to contact me for counselling consultations, questions or remarks.
What do I offer?
I offer psychological counselling in German, Dutch and English for people that currently feel like they would need some professional support. I work integrative, meaning that i take into account counselling techniques from various approaches in psychotherapy (mostly systemic but also, e.g., cognitive-behavioral) and with a specific focus on working culturally-sensitive. That is, to find the best evidence-based practices tailored to what works best for you and your specific circumstances.
How would we work together?
We would meet online, however, if you are in Lisbon, we can discuss other meeting forms (such as 'Walk & Talk') once in a while. Walk & Talk means that we would meet in a calm location and have the session while taking a walk, preferably with some nature around. It is a technique that has been scientifically proven to be beneficial for several issues (e.g., burn-out and stress; Van den Berg & Beute, 2021) and simultaneously gives us the opportunity for an in-person meeting.
How to start?
Simply send me an email, call me or use the contact form below and we will organize a first conversation.
The first conversation will be ~40-minutes long, free of charge and online (we can discuss Walk & Talk after) with the purpose to understand your needs, how I can support you and if we are a match. we will also formulate goals that will help us ensure we are using the sessions effectively. After that, each session is about 50 minutes long and we meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on your needs and possibilities.
Who can benefit?
I am here to help you figure things out and work towards improving your mental health. Please reach out if you are searching for support for (feelings of)
- anxiety
- depression
- stress & overwhelm (general, adaptation, acculturation)
- self-knowledge & well-being
- relationship challenges
- irritability and self-criticism
​
If you are not sure whether i am the right address, be welcome to contact me and we will discuss it together.
References
Van den Berg, A. E., & Beute, F. (2021). Walk it off! The effectiveness of walk and talk coaching in nature for individuals with burnout-and stress-related complaints. Journal of environmental psychology, 76, 101641.
What is counselling?
Counselling uses a broad range of culturally-informed and culturally-sensitive practices to help you improve your well-being, prevent and alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase your ability to function better in your life. It has a particular emphasis on prevention and education as well as amelioration, addressing you individually and the systems or contexts in which you function (APA, 2023).
​
What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
Counselling can be performed by psychologists and psychotherapists and tends to be shorter term, goal-oriented, and it addresses concrete, specific life challenges. By contrast, therapy can only be performed by psychotherapists and tends to be longer term, treating more serious mental illnesses (psychology today, 2023). In the first conversation, we will figure out whether or not counselling is suitable for you and your specific situation.
​
​
​
References
https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/counseling (retrieved 07/2023)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/therapy/psychologist-vs-therapist-vs-counselor (retrieved 07/2023)
​
​
​
first conversation
free-of-charge
in-person
Walk & Talk
session
55 euro/session
online counselling
50 euro/session
Ich bin ein Textabschnitt. Klicke hier, um deinen eigenen Text hinzuzufügen und mich zu bearbeiten.
My name is Theresa Zagers
I am a clinical and intercultural psychologist from Germany and Belgium, permanently based in Lisbon, Portugal. I work in the clinical sector as well as in social psychology research. my working languages are English, German and Dutch.
I obtained my MSc in clinical and health psychology at the KU Leuven (2020, cum laude, Belgium) and my MSc in psychology of intercultural relations at iscte-iul (2022, summa cum laude, Portugal), with exchange semester at the University of Oslo (Norway). Besides my private practice, I am currently a phd student researcher in the research group PsyChange (psychology of societal change) at the Centre for Psychological Research and Social Intervention (cis) at iscte - university institute Lisbon, conducting research concerning social inequality and positive intergroup relations, i.e., investigating the relationships between social class, prosocial behavior and (de)humanization.
​
I am a licensed clinical psychologist in the german psychologist association (member no. 61687) and follow a integrative and often systemic approach with intercultural sensitivity. In my private practice, i work under continuous supervision of an experienced psychotherapist and anti-racism trainer.
​I have experience working with individuals struggling with, among others things, depression, anxiety, high inner critics, trauma, in crisis, with substance abuse problems and various personality disorders.
​
For example:
I have worked in the day clinic of the psychiatric department of the hospital of Lier (BE), where I performed group therapy, individual counselling, relaxation training, assessment & organised educative events such as a family evening.
​
​Similarly, I worked in ‘vagga’, a center for mental health care in Antwerp (BE). Here, I had a special focus on working with people with diverse backgrounds, i.e., with people of the Jewish and Muslim community. ​
​
In research, I focus on intergroup relations and social inequality. I am currently obtaining my double degree PhD with KU Leuven (Belgium) and Cis_Iscte (Portugal) with the project 'Turning the tables: cross-class prosocial behavior as a predictor for (re)humanization'. In this project, I investigate rehumanization processes in asymmetric ethnic group relations, with notions of social class, empowerment and equality-based respect in behavioral relationships.
​
Currently, I also work at Cis_Iscte as research as grant-holder research assistant in the KidLe Project (https://kidle-eu.org/), in which we develop an intercultural game as a pedagogic tool for the inclusion of pupils with migrant background in new learning environments.
Additionally, have experience working in the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (DE), where I investigated how threat scenarios, i.e., islamist terror incidents, influence national & european identities through a multi-method approach, i.e., interviews, focus groups & surveys.
​​
​In the context of my first master's thesis, I have conducted research in the field of instructed second language acquisition combined with methods of cognitive psychology (EEG) , i.e., 'The impact of L2 word-focused instruction on meaning acquisition as measured with event-related potentials through a semantic relatedness task. Does the word order matter?' (16/20).
​
In the context of my second master's thesis, i have investigated the relationship between social class, social class identity and features of intergroup relations towards Muslim immigrants from a host population perspective, i.e., 'Feeling, thinking, acting: The role of subjective social class and social class identity on emotions, attitudes and prosocial behavior towards Muslim immigrants in belgium' (19/20).
The social actions I am interested in put into practice what i learn from research - and vice-versa. Hence, I strive to foster positive intergroup relations both within and between majority populations and minority populations.
​
For example:
Within the NGO 'Collective Aid' in Belgrade (Serbia), I supported refugees on-the-move and homeless locals in the WASH project. Here, I organized services for people sleeping rough & developed a toolkit on retraumatization & ptsd for volunteers to use while taking border violence reports.​ https://www.collectiveaidngo.org/.
I am a member of the Lisbon- and Porto-based collective 'Humans before Borders', organizing direct actions advocating and raising awareness for human rights, refugees and asylum seekers protection. For example, in June 2023, we organized a protest in regard to border policies of the EU; and in December 2023, we organized a conference aiming to raise awareness of discrimination of migrants trying to access the health care system in Portugal, as well as strengthening intercultural skills of healthcare professionals. https://www.humansbeforeborders.org/.