Professor Hubert J. M. Hermans is a Dutch psychologist renowned for developing Dialogical Self Theory (DST), which bridges psychology with social and cultural influences. Earning his Ph.D. from Radboud University Nijmegen, he initially focused on motivation and self-concept, later pioneering DST in the 1990s. Inspired by William James and Mikhail Bakhtin, he proposed that the self is not singular but consists of multiple “I-positions” that engage in internal dialogues. His Self-Confrontation Method (SCM) has been widely used in psychotherapy and personal development. Hermans’ work has had a profound impact on counseling, intercultural studies, and narrative psychology, shaping modern understandings of identity in an increasingly globalized world. He has published numerous books and scientific articles, including “The Dialogical Self in Psychotherapy and Handbook of Dialogical Self Theory”, which remain foundational texts in psychology. His work continues to influence modern discussions and research on identity, motivation, and personal development in an increasingly interconnected world.

Philia Issari is Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Her writing work includes articles in international and Greek scientific journals and chapters in collective volumes. Her scientific interests are focused on issues of identity, dialogicity, and the embodied dimension of the self, ethnic identity, cultural experience, multicultural counseling, health counseling, adolescent and student well-being, school bullying, and qualitative research methodology with an emphasis on narrative analysis.

Georgia Gkantona is Assist. Professor of Counseling Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the University of Ioannina. She has extensive professional experience in psychological counseling with different social groups (refugees, long-term unemployed, victims of gender-based violence), individual, family and group psychotherapy and clinical supervision of mental health professionals. She has been trained in Systemic Psychotherapy and is a member of the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA). She is also a member of the International Society for Dialogical Science (ISDS), as in recent years her psychotherapeutic approach has been significantly informed by H. Hermans’ Dialogical Self Theory. Her research interests focus on the study of the individual’s internal dialogical activity and the development of dialogical techniques and methods of counseling and psychotherapy.

Vladimir Džinović (1977) is a Doctor of Psychology and a licensed constructivist psychotherapist. He is a senior research associate at the Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade. In his research practice, he applies constructivist psychology, dialogical self theory and social constructionism in the research of identity, mental health and professional development. He is a leading national expert in qualitative research, especially in the methodology of personal constructs and the analysis of the multivoiced self, within which he developed an innovative approach called the Methodology of the agonistic self (MAS-M). He has 22 years of continuous therapeutic experience. In his psychotherapy work, he combines the therapy of personal constructs with dialogic, narrative and psychodramatic approaches.

PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology

Adjunct Lecturer, University of Ioannina, Department of Psychology

O Ηλίας Γκότσης είναι κοινωνιολόγος,  οικογενειακός-συστημικός θεραπευτής και επόπτης ,   συγγραφέας.

Έχει εκπαιδευθεί (1996-2010) στην οικογενειακή θεραπεία, στις αφηγηματικές πρακτικές, στην Καταξιωτική Συστημική Διερεύνηση και στην συστημική αναπαράσταση. Έχει ασχοληθεί ιδιαίτερα με την αναστοχαστικότητα και τη διαλογική και πολυφωνική προσέγγιση και έχει παρουσιάσει εφαρμογές από το πεδίο σε συνέδρια και επιστημονικές συναντήσεις. Έχει συγγράψει και δημοσιεύσει σειρά άρθρων για την πολυφωνική προσέγγιση και την Καταξιωτική Συστημική Διερεύνηση. Υπήρξε επιστημονικός υπεύθυνος στο Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης ΟΚΑΝΑ, έχει διατελέσει επόπτης και εκπαιδευτής επαγγελματιών στο πεδίο της οικογενειακής θεραπείας, της εποπτείας, των εκφραστικών μέσων και της Καταξιωτικής Συστημικής Διερεύνησης.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια είναι  επιστημονικά υπεύθυνος στις ΣΥΝΗΧΗΣΕΙΣ- ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΣΥΣΤΗΜΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΤΑΞΙΩΤΙΚΗΣ ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΣΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΨΥΧΟΘΕΡΑΠΕΊΑΣ (ΚΕ.ΣΥ.ΚΕ.ΨΥ.), στο οποίο παρέχει ατομική, ομαδική και οικογενειακή ψυχοθεραπεία καθώς και εποπτεία και εκπαίδευση σε επαγγελματίες ψυχικής υγείας.

Είναι συγγραφέας πολλών βιβλίων (Μια Μικρή Άγνωστη Λύπη, Η γραμματική των Αποθεμάτων, Ονειροτοπία, Κρίση νοήματα και μετασχηματισμοί:   Διάλογοι για το νόημα, την (ψυχο)θεραπεία και τη ζωή.)

Psychologist-Psychotherapist & Family Therapist

Maria Viou is a psychologist and systemic psychotherapist based in Athens, Greece, with a diverse academic background. Her research interests focus on qualitative methods, dialogical and narrative approaches, and the psychotherapy process. She has published numerous articles in these areas. In her private practice since 2014, Maria offers counseling and psychotherapy services, including individual, group, couples, and family sessions, as well as distance sessions. She also conducts stress management programs and seminars on various psychological topics. Maria is an active member of several professional organizations, including the European Association of Counselling, and the Hellenic Association for Systemic Therapy.

MSc. Psychologist-Psychotherapist & Family Therapist

Eugenia Rozou is a psychologist based in Athens, Greece, offering a range of services including individual psychotherapy for adults and children, couples counseling, family therapy and she organises training seminars for therapists on LGBT issues. Her practice addresses various issues such as anxiety, depression, emotional disorders, and interpersonal difficulties. In addition to her clinical work, Eugenia has contributed to psychological research, notably co-authoring a study titled “Voices of Hope and Despair: A Narrative-Dialogical Inquiry into the Diaries, Letters, and Suicide Notes of Virginia Woolf,” published in the Journal of Constructivist Psychology in 2019. This research reflects her interest in narrative and dialogical approaches within psychology.

Karina Therese G. Fernandez, finished her M.A. in Human Development from Boston College, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Ateneo De Manila University. Currently, she is Professor and Chair of the Ateneo de Manila Psychology Department. She was formerly Executive Director of the Ateneo Bulatao Center for Psychological Services and co-chair of the clinical division of the Psychological Association of the Philippines.

As a teacher, she teaches both at the undergraduate and graduate level and has contributed to local and international psychology journals. Her research interests are in the area of mindfulness, narrative therapy, clinical case studies, depression, and anxiety. As a therapist, her areas of specialization are in anxiety disorders and depression, motivation and stress, working mainly with adolescents and young adults. As a trainor and workshop facilitator, she has worked with multinational companies, government, NGOs, mental health service professionals, universities and schools, parents, and students. She is certified in Mindfulness facilitation, Trauma, and Narrative Therapy interventions.

Psychologist – Psychotherapist, Dialogic
Supervisor and Trainer

Christina Lagogianni is a Greek psychologist and psychotherapist, certified by the European Certificate of Psychotherapy (ECP). She has been trained in Narrative Therapy, Systemic Therapy and Open Dialogue. She has worked in various settings in Greece and in the UK, with individuals that have unusual experiences, with vulnerable social groups, and in schools. Since 2016, she has been working with young people, couples and families at the Institute of Systemic Therapy in Thessaloniki. Since 2021, she has been collaborating with organizations in Greece, Italy and Ireland as a dialogic supervisor and trainer. Her research interests focus on the therapist’s experience during therapy as well as the cultivation of dialogical spaces among different professions and across services. Christina is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an academic partner of the Laboratory of Applied Psychology. She has also contributed to research on co-therapy in Open Dialogue, exploring how therapists’ individual presences influence co-therapy relationships.