About Me

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Hello, I’m Angela — an international psychologist based in the Netherlands, offering therapy for young adults and adults both in-person in the serene Sweelinckplein area of The Hague, and online for those further away.​

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I was born in 1980, in São Paulo, Brazil — during the final years of the military dictatorship. I grew up in a city marked by political repression, economic instability, and collective uncertainty. From a young age, I witnessed how external systems — politics, financial crises, and social injustice — could shape the inner lives of individuals and families. That early awareness became a thread running through my life, eventually guiding me to the work I do today: helping people navigate not only their internal world but also the complex realities that surround them.

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Even as a child, silence shaped me. It taught me to listen closely — not only to what was said, but to what was left unsaid. Observation became my first language: watching people’s gestures, their energy, their presence. This attentiveness eventually evolved into the way I now practice — grounded and deeply attuned to the nuances of the human experience.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the mystery of the human experience —

what drives us,

what shapes us,

what limits us,

what helps us grow.

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Over the past 20 years, as a psychologist, I’ve worked across diverse settings: human resources, physical rehabilitation in hospital environments, and clinical practice. Through it all, one truth has remained: the real transformation begins beneath the surface.

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As a psychologist, I offer a safe space where you can slow down and gently turn inward — a place where deeper truths can emerge. I’m especially drawn to the quiet, often tangled places inside us:

where thoughts, feelings, memories, longings, and contradictions meet.

Many of the people I work with come to therapy not just to address symptoms, but to understand what lies underneath — even if they don’t yet have the words for it.

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My approach is integrative, psychosomatic, and trauma-informed — shaped not only by psychology training, but also by lifelong influences: literature, music, poetry, photography, art and nature. These are all languages of the soul — ways we make sense of what it means to be human. In our work together, I listen not only to what is said, but to what is felt, silenced, or waiting in the shadows — dreams, defenses, slips, and patterns that reveal deeper layers of emotional truth.

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I’ve also learned to pay close attention to how the body speaks — its tensions, stillness, movements, and silences. The body holds stories that the mind may not yet know how to tell. As Bessel van der Kolk writes, “the body keeps the score” — trauma is not just remembered in words, but carried in the nervous system, in patterns of protection, dissociation, or hypervigilance.

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Inspired by Gabor Maté’s work, I also see how emotional pain can settle into the body over time — often through years of quiet adaptation and self-abandonment. The very responses that once kept us safe can later become sources of distress. But the body is not only a container for pain — it is also the beginning of healing. Through an embodied, compassionate process, we begin to restore safety, presence, and connection from the inside out. In this way, the body becomes a bridge — returning us home.

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I also hold a strong awareness of the cultural, political, and historical contexts in which each of us lives. I believe that healing doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens in relationship. I aim to meet each person not as a diagnosis, but as a whole being: layered, complex, and worthy of care.

In therapy, I do not offer quick fixes or surface-level strategies. I offer presence, curiosity, and a commitment to a meaningful long term process.

 

This work can be challenging — but it is also powerful, grounding, and deeply transformative. Together, we listen: to the spoken and the unspoken, the longings and fears, the contradictions and hopes. And through that, space begins to open for something new to emerge.

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My practice is fully independent, without reliance on government subsidies, which allows me to uphold the highest standards of ethics, autonomy and respect for your well-being, ensuring that every decision is made with your best interests at heart.

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My Background

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I hold a Psychology degree from São Paulo, Brazil (2005), officially recognized in the Netherlands.

Additional qualifications in the most recent years, include:

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• Currently engaged in a refresher course in psychopathology at NEEPHO, set to finish in November 2025

• Narrative Exposure Therapy at NET

• Western Medicine (Medische Basiskennis) – Con Amore, Netherlands

• EMDR – EMDR Centre London

• Stress Management – Prof. Stephen Palmer, Centre for Stress Management, London

• MBCT – Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

• Ayurveda – International Ayurveda Medical Association (Spain / Netherlands)​

 

I am a member of:

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• CAT – Collectief Alternatieve Therapeuten (BO nr.: 83142022-08-01)

• International Integrative Psychotherapy Association

• European Society for Trauma and Dissociation

• Psychosomatics monthly seminars at Institut Ipso Pierre-Marty - Centre d'enseignement à la psychosomatique, Paris

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I work in both Portuguese and English, and I’m passionate about helping people reconnect with themselves from a place of compassion, clarity, and care.

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Whether you’re navigating persistent symptoms or simply longing to feel more grounded and whole — you are welcome here.

In a safe and confidential space, I offer deep listening, empathy, and presence to support your healing and growth.

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Let’s begin the journey inward — gently, together.

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You are welcome.