About me
Carolina Bernardes
I'm a clinical psychologist and relational psychoanalytic psychotherapist. I'm interested in how our personal histories, emotional experiences and relationships shape the way we feel and live.
Background
I hold a Master's degree in Psychology with a focus on Interactive Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy — training that gave me a solid grounding in how thoughts, emotions and behaviour are woven together.
Over time I felt the need to look at that experience more broadly, paying attention to each person's history and to the relationships in which they have grown. That interest led me to Relational Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, in which I am completing my specialisation.
- Training
- Master's in Psychology — Interactive Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
- Specialisation
- Relational Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (in completion)
- Sessions
- In person in Lisbon and online
How I work
My starting point is that psychological well-being develops within relationships: with ourselves, with others and with the world around us. The difficulties someone brings to therapy can rarely be understood apart from their history, their context and the people close to them.
In sessions, I aim to build a space of trust with you, where it's possible to talk without hurry. Together we can make sense of what you feel, notice patterns that repeat, and find different ways of relating to yourself and to others. The therapeutic relationship itself is part of this work: it's also within it that many things can be lived, thought about and changed.
More about relational psychotherapyWhat guides my work
Curiosity
Every person is unique. I want to understand your experience as you live it, rather than fit it into ready-made categories.
Respect
For your pace, your history and your choices. Therapy moves at a rhythm that makes sense to you.
Collaboration
Understanding is built between two people. I don't arrive with ready answers; we look for them together.
No judgement
A space where anything can be said and thought about, including what is hard to admit.
Beyond the consulting room
Art, music and culture have always been, for me, ways of thinking about human experience. That interest gave rise to Relacionário, an independent creative and educational project bringing together psychology, relational psychoanalysis, art and music. It is separate from my clinical practice, and aims to make psychological knowledge more accessible.
Whenever it feels like the right moment, I'm here to talk.
You're welcome to write to me with questions or to enquire about sessions. No commitment, at your own pace.
Get in touch