NB! From next week you will be able to read this column on our dedicated site. Enjoy the first episode!
Welcome! Before I reveal to you more about what this journey called “Mental health” involves, I invite you to get to know the person behind it.
My name is Flavia Cardaș, I am a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist in Denmark and Romania, I have a PhD in Psychology and I work in private practice at a clinic in Copenhagen, with persons of all ages and with couples. I moved from Romania in August 2019, out of the desire to be closer to my partner and to try something new. I thought it was better to regret something I did rather than something I didn’t do. In Romania, I worked as a school psychologist and as a university assistant at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, at the University of Bucharest. I considered myself a fulfilled professional and I felt that I was progressing. Moving to Denmark came with many major changes in my life, such as: a new country, a new culture, a new language, a new climate, a new living space, new people, new friends, new habits, a new place to live, a new job. Each change involves the loss of what was familiar and the more complex the changes, the more the losses are commensurate.
When we suffer a loss, whether material, relational, professional or otherwise, many feelings and states arise, just as when we consciously decide to make a change for the better, or when the change occurs without us deciding it – such as: war, pandemic, forced relocation (refuge), etc. That is why it is important to learn how we function as human beings and what we can do to support ourselves or others as we go through new, difficult, overwhelming experiences.
The word “psychology” comes from Greek and it means “study of the soul” (psyche – soul and logos – study), and as a psychologist, I invite you on a journey of the self, during which you will learn, among other things: what are emotions, how we can recognize them and how we can regulate them; when it is necessary to ask for specialized support; what are the steps and possibilities to use psychological services in Denmark; what a psychotherapeutic path entails; the experience of moving to a new country and the process of adaptation; change in couple and family relationship once we immigrate; the development and importance of cultural intelligence; the psycho-emotional impact of immigration on the child’s development, etc.
I want this trip to be a meaningful and useful one for you, the readers, so I invite you to send me topics you are interested in and any questions you might have, and I will choose in each edition a topic and a question which I will answer. Like psychotherapy, this column is a collaborative journey, so you are welcome to write to me your feedback, thoughts, emotions or opinions on the articles I will write, and I will take them into account in order to continue improving the content. I look forward to this journey together!
