GD Psychology

Psychological Counseling for Individuals and Couples

Graziana D'Addabbo

GD Psychology

GD Psychology is a specialized psychological service for individuals and couples. The only way to live a fulfilled and happy life wherever you are is to be and become who you are, what you want, dream. Personal or relational difficulties can sometimes affect our mental and physical health, causing distress, emotional pain and dysfunctioning in important areas of our life. In GD Psychology you will find a qualified psychologist who can help you to identify and better understand your difficulties -problems and to define the best path to address them.

What makes the difference?

I am a fully trained and specialized psychologist and therapist, and also a woman and mother who first-hand lived the challenging experience of moving abroad with a child. The combination of knowledge, technique, work and personal experiences made me able to understand and help my clients struggling with some transient or long-lasting problems. The difference lies in my passion: being a psychologist is not only my job but it is exactly what I like the most: helping people to live a fulfilled life is my mission.

About me

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I am Graziana D’Addabbo, a fully accredited Italian Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist, member of the Italian Institute of Psychologists (Ordine degli Psicologi della Puglia, nr° 1860). All my Italian diplomas were recognized by NUFFIC, The Dutch organization for internationalization in education. After my Master’s Degree in Psychology I continued my studies with a specialized training in Clinical Psychology at the University of Bologna (Italy) and an international master in Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology at VU University in Amsterdam. After more than 10 years of education and training, I have been working for 10 years in different settings (Department of Psychology, University of Bologna; University Hospital of Bologna; schools and private practice) developing important skills of psychological counseling, therapy, assessment, research and organization. Thanks to these skills I was involved in several European research projects as psychologist and responsible investigator for neuropsychological assessment. After moving to Amsterdam, I earned a research master’s in Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology and I had specific training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), an evidence-based approach developed by Sue Johnson. Thanks to my extensive knowledge and experience, I can provide a specialized psychology service, offering psychological counseling and therapy both in Italian and in English for adolescents, young people, adults and couples experiencing a wide range of difficulties. In the “My areas of expertise” page you can find a list of difficulties and problems I may offer help with.

My approach

My training in Clinical Psychology was focused on the application of psychology knowledge to different subjects (persons, family, groups..), according to different approaches (individual, dynamic, systemic, group..) and to the specific developmental phases and personality of the subjects. I was trained to help in different clinical areas such as:

  • individual psychological difficulties
  • personality disorders
  • developmental problems
  • couple and familiar psychological difficulties

Since I worked several years in a Unit of Psychology for children and adolescents in the Hospital of Bologna, I am able to provide expert counseling and support for any developmental problems, working directly with children/adolescents and with their parents. I cannot work with severe psychiatric problems such as psychosis, severe depression with suicidal ideation. Please remember that psychology is not an emergency service for acute mental health emergencies.

How I work

Assessment

A psychological assessment is not a label but a picture of the current situation we can make together in order to highlight your needs, strengths and difficulties and to understand what it is possible to do together. The goal is to understand the nature of your difficulties, what the causes are, what is keeping the problem going on and what can be done to change the situation. Finally, the psychological assessment allows to determine whether psychological therapy may help and what type of intervention/therapist may be most suitable. In the field of psychological assessment, I'm trained to administer major tests for evaluation of cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, executive functions and psychological-emotional aspects.

Intervention

After the assessment we will consider together the best possible options for you among different kind of interventions. You will be informed about everything is important to know in order to achieve our goals. All the interventions delivered are closely tailored to the uniqueness of you. Some examples of interventions I use are person-centred counselling, psychodynamic therapy, couple and family counseling and therapy.

My areas of expertise

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Children/adolescents

Growing is not a linear process: babies, children and adolescents may experience negative phases and emotions. In particular there are delicate transition phases in which they can struggle in adjusting with the new competencies, expectations… Sometimes these phases are transient and do not require any intervention except the comprehension and love of family. Other times the difficulties are a signal of an underlying problem that if not identified risks to take root or recur in other phases or other ways. Children may not have yet the ability to express their emotions and for this reason it can be difficult to interpret some behaviors, difficulties… sometimes they can be scared or worried to harm their parents and may avoid to express their feelings and emotions. I know from my experience how difficult can be for a parent to accept that his child needs psychological help. But I also know how different and helpful can be to talk with a specialist who is neutral because not involved in the family. Assessment and intervention with children and adolescents of course is different and respectful of their developmental age. Parents are always involved and informed. Remember: a psychological help can give your child skills and tools that he will use to overcome not only the current problem but also to prevent future difficulties, and become stronger.

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Parents

Are you struggling with some developmental problems of your child/adolescent? Are these normal problems (simply linked to his/her developmental age) or important signals to be interpreted and solved?

Some examples of developmental problems your child/ adolescent may have and I can help with:

  • Separation fear
  • Sleeping problems
  • Food problems
  • Diapers removal
  • Behavioral problems such as anger, opposition

During the process of growth, experiencing bad phases is absolutely normal and, as parents, to feel confused, frustrated, tired or even desperate is common as well. Sometimes children may present transient difficulties which disappear without any kind of intervention. Other times some developmental difficulties may occur and last. In these cases, it is crucial to understand the problem and to find parental strategies that help to solve it rather than fix it. Sharing in a neutral space without any kind of judgment, worries and thoughts may help your children/adolescents to overcome their difficulties and to find the best way to handle them.

Are you struggling with overwhelming emotions linked to parenting? Becoming parents is an extraordinary experience that changes your life. Becoming parents abroad is double challenging. Being without birth family and friends by your side does not help to share worries, thoughts, feelings which are linked to the exceptional experience of parenting. The different culture can also make parents feel disoriented, and make difficult for them to find answers and help. Sometimes becoming parents is completely different from what has been imagined and you can experience negative feelings that can make you feel bad, guilty… To talk about these feelings is already therapeutic because offers the possibility to detect what is going on and to work on it. Working together you can stop struggling and enjoy parenting. Remember: happy parents make happy children.

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Students

Student life can be enriching but also stressful. Since I worked in a psychological service for university students, I know the problems students may encounter and how can be difficult to study abroad. If you are struggling with anxiety, stress, high expectations, concentration problems… you can contact me.

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Adults

Moving abroad can be exciting and enriching but also stressful. A huge quantity of energies are needed to adjust to the new things, language, culture. Fear, anxiety may turn into bad travel companions making it harder to find a new balance and to build a satisfying life abroad. If you are struggling with negative feelings and you need help to melt them I can help you to understand, face up and move on. Do you have negative feelings, emotions or worries? Depression, low mood, anxiety, stress, obsessions, panic, trauma, relationship & personality difficulties are some common psychological problems that can occur and impact in your daily life. To avoid that these problems become obstacles in your life, it is important to ask for help.

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Couples and families

Are you facing difficulties with your partner? Couple/familiar maladjustment is associated with couple and individual misfunctioning such as higher rates of divorce, worse health and psychological outcomes including depression and post-traumatic-stress. Finally, couple conflict may impact on children psychological development. It is therefore crucial to address marital maladjustment and to repair the broken emotional bonds that can cause individual and familiar suffering. I can provide couple intervention tailored to your problems.

A professional support may be helpful when partners struggle to connect, when the volume of their fights is higher and higher and the possibility of repairing is more and more difficult, when anger or silence are the only way to communicate, and the partners are feeling lonely, even if they are together (that is worse than being alone). I am a therapist with a specific training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) an evidence-based approach developed by Sue Johnson.

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Psychologists and therapists

Supervision of other therapists and consultancy are also available on request.

Fees

Individual

Sessions cost €90 for 50 minutes.

Couple

Sessions €120 for 75 minutes.

Specific rates may be applied for specialist assessment depending on the requirements of the assessment and report writing. All sessions will be invoiced as registered with the KvK. I am an independent practitioner and not connected to any specific health insurance provider. Please check your health insurance provider to determine whether you are entitled for reimbursement.

Contact Information

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GD Psychology
Graziana D'Addabbo
Psychologist and Psychotherapist
Sophialaan 21, 1075 BL, AMSTERDAM
grazianadaddabbo@gmail.com
+31 (0) 623636213
KvK nummer: 75972832