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Interview with Katerina Athanasiou: “The Search and Achievement of Personal Happiness through the Narrative of the Family ‘Business’ Framework”
Katerina Athanasiou, a Systemic-Family Therapist specializing in Human Systems, both in the family and interpersonal domain as well as in the broader business field, presents the new steps of the Systemic Therapy and Counseling Center based in Athens. She speaks to PsychologyNow.gr about the search and achievement of personal happiness through the narrative of the family “business” framework.
From your biography, one can clearly see your multifaceted and long-term involvement in the field of psychology. Could you tell us a bit about your education and your stance as a psychotherapist, as well as the combination of approaches you apply?
I started my career by studying Business Administration at all academic levels and worked in both multinational and Greek advertising companies. This gave me a solid, insider’s perspective on work systems and the economic landscape, which I see as a cornerstone of society. On the other hand, societies always move forward, even if many people like to talk about “backward steps.”
This is impossible. Referring to the well-known phrase of Heraclitus “Everything flows,” which holds true through the ages, we understand that things can never be the same as yesterday, not even the previous second. The state of continuous change is natural and expected. After all, there is no stillness in nature, but a constant movement, flow, and consequently change.
In my professional journey, I encountered an innovative international educational program aimed at developing skills in young children (ages 3-10). In 2004, I introduced the FasTracKids program to Greece and founded Starkids, a business focused on empowerment and skill development programs for children (2004-2016).
Your involvement in psychology is truly impressive, and it seems to have a rich and fascinating background. The transition from business and education to psychotherapy appears to have had a positive impact on your approach.
The Center for Systemic Therapy and Counseling (K.E.S.Y.T.H.E.S.), with its multifaceted action, is an excellent resource for skill development and mental health in Greece. It is noteworthy that the center offers a 4-year specialized training program in Systemic Therapy and has expanded to Athens, while also having a strong online presence that helps overcome geographic limitations.
The experienced team of K.E.S.Y.T.H.E.S., combined with your guidance and the administrative responsibility you take on, appears to be creating a fertile ground for the continued development and application of therapeutic approaches.
The center’s expansion in Athens and its collaboration with the Impact Hub Athens demonstrate your commitment to strengthening systemic thinking and therapeutic approaches in new contexts, such as Wellbeing and the modern needs of the business world. It is also remarkable that you see the pandemic not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity.
In March, the new cycle of ONLINE training in Family Systemic Therapy begins for prospective mental health specialists from various fields of the humanities. Our meetings will later take place one weekend per month in Athens and Ioannina, respectively.
We are open to applications from new professionals interested in learning more, but also in sharing their knowledge through the network of people and actions of the KESYTHES. After all, we plan to start new collaborations for one-year programs and online trainings that will provide the necessary certifications.
I notice from your personal website that, in addition to individual psychotherapy, you are also involved in the field of Counseling for Businesses and employees. Tell us more about this framework. What difficulties do you encounter?
Family therapy is directly related to businesses and how they are organized. In Europe, and specifically in Mediterranean countries, the family plays an important role in all aspects of social and economic life.
Particularly in Greece, where 80% of small and medium-sized businesses are family-run, you can imagine the involvement and correlation between business systems and family systems.
Their difficulties mainly involve succession issues, hierarchy, boundary setting between family relationships and work relationships, alliances and conflicts, subsystems and supersystems that are formed to meet conflicting needs. These are issues that the systemic approach provides us with very strong tools to both recognize and manage them.
So, how is the Systemic approach utilized in the Workplace and Business environment?
We carry ourselves everywhere. Therefore, what we first learn from our family largely follows us into other areas of our lives. This does not mean that it cannot change, or that we cannot learn to function differently.
A premise which is often confirmed by individuals seeking support from me in a work context is that, in the workplace or in the team someone works with, they tend to take the same position, and thus role, they had in their family system. Subsequently, they seem to adapt better to work systems that resemble or have common elements with the structure of their family of origin.
For example, someone who grew up with an authoritarian parent may find it easier to accept an authoritarian boss, even if they disagree with them, and display greater resilience to the demands of such a leadership role. The management plays the role of the parents. Colleagues at the same level take on the role of siblings, while supervisors and subordinates take the role of close relatives or reference figures in our family system.
Thus, it is not uncommon, for instance, for someone who had the role of the mediator in their family as a child to take on the same role in their current work team. They are the ones who help things run smoothly, reduce tensions, and divert attention from risks, etc. This is how we work with people who come for systemic therapy in the workplace. Of course, it depends on the specific needs of each client.
Another area where employees seek support is in developing communication skills (Soft Skills). Their need to communicate positively and decisively with others, to resolve conflicts, manage stress and time, and find a balance between their professional role and personal life.
Especially senior executives, who feel they have sacrificed a lot at the expense of their personal lives, without always receiving the recognition they expect. This fills them with sadness, anxiety, additional stress, and at times leads to depression or burnout.
They seek ways to balance their lives and lay healthier foundations so that they not only survive but thrive in life.
From your experience, do you perceive changes in the requests that people have over the years when they come to you? How are these real changes incorporated and realized through your work as a therapist?
The search for meaning in people’s complex lives is a theme that comes up again and again as a request in therapy.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and I suffer because I don’t have it,” one of my clients aptly stated as the request for our session.
In this way, many find themselves trapped in relationships they don’t want but can’t understand why, in jobs that don’t fulfill them, in superficial friendships, and in other difficult situations that burden their mental health.
For things to flow toward where we want to go, it requires work with ourselves and an effort to connect, or as we say, to harmonize our inside with our outside. The alignment of thoughts, emotions, and deeper desires is a key task we undertake in psychotherapy.
In the coming years, the world will not be threatened by the coronavirus, but by depression, which, except in cases of organic damage, is largely the result of our disconnection from those around us, but especially from our deeper self-needs.
In non-urban areas, people have a deep sense of community and care for one another, something that has been lost in the materialistic culture of modern life. People work like machines, and we end up being parts of a great machine.
In reality, though, we cannot forget this basic need and live disconnected from one another. We are who we are through others, as humanity. This does not mean that we cannot stand as complete, autonomous entities.
I would say that more and more, the search for “happiness” and connection as a deeper meaning in life is a request for many people. However, at this point, it may be important to tell you that “Happiness” is a very misunderstood concept. Many seek it, few know what truly brings it to them. They confuse it with eudaimonia, pleasure, or success. These are important concepts too, but not necessarily synonymous.
Many also come to manage their stress, regain lost energy, well-being, and balance between their professional and personal life.
Here I should mention that the official definition of “Well-being” according to the WHO is not only the absence of pain but the full utilization of the individual’s potential, talents, and abilities. Only then can you say that you are truly healthy, happy, and feel like a productive person. If you live for the sake of others, you are doomed to live an unhappy life.
For this reason, I believe that psychotherapy can help open up the horizon of human life and shed light on the blind spots we all inevitably carry. Finally, it helps in releasing dysfunctional aspects of the past and bringing forward new ways of being and connecting as an original, creative, and happy being.
So what does it take to be healthy both internally and in interpersonal relationships?
We must accept that we need to constantly change, adapt, and co-create our reality in the direction we wish to go in order to feel happy and healthy. We are not responsible for what happens around us, but we have 100% responsibility for how we react or, better yet, how we respond to whatever happens to us.
At the same time, focusing on the here and now allows us to live in the present reality, instead of thinking “what if…” which essentially puts us in a state we either lived in the past or might experience in the (uncertain) future.
In the workplace, new skills are required to be flexible, adaptable, and functional in more and more roles. Emotional intelligence, open communication, clear messaging, mindfulness, and a focus on the present are some of these.
As for family…
New family forms are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life. There has been a significant rise in couples who decide to live together without marriage (with or without a cohabitation contract), with or without children, extended families (from previous marriages) with good relationships, divorced parents with shared custody of children, single-parent families, same-sex marriages, and many other new forms of relationships. All of these roles require learning open communication and a new, open way of thinking (Open Mindset).
So, how is this applied in a psychotherapist’s office and in the business world?
The use of many techniques and models from Systemic Therapy, such as narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy, dialogical self-approach, communication skills development, and the observation of perception positions, are some of the tools we use.
Furthermore, more transcendental concepts such as positive thinking, meditation, and neuro-linguistic programming help activate the subconscious and open new horizons, fostering a more positive life attitude (Positive Mindset). In reality, we teach people to become aware of their choices and align them with their body and mind. We help them make conscious choices and change outdated knowledge, beliefs, and patterns that are no longer functional.
Στο χώρο των επιχειρήσεων, ευέλικτοι οργανισμοί και επιχειρήσεις, απαιτούν ευέλικτα μυαλά εργαζομένων. Υγιείς οργανισμοί αποτελούνται από υγιή στελέχη. Το wellbeing των εργαζόμενων, έρχεται και αντανακλά το wellbeing της επιχείρησης. Όσο πιο γρήγορα το κατανοήσουν και επενδύσουν σε αυτό οι σύγχρονοι επιχειρηματίες, τόσο πιο γρήγορα θα περάσουν την επιχείρηση τους στο επόμενο στάδιο επιτυχίας και εξέλιξης.
Γρήγορη προσαρμοστικότητα, ευελιξία στον τρόπο σκέψης, άριστες δεξιότητες επικοινωνίας, ανθεκτικότητα, αλλά και συνεργασία, ανοιχτό τρόπο σκέψης με άξονα το κοινό καλό, είναι μερικές από τις δεξιότητες που καλούνται να αναπτύξουν οι σύγχρονοι εργαζόμενοι και επιχειρηματίες. Δυστυχώς βέβαια όλα αυτά δεν τα διδάσκουν σε κανένα πανεπιστήμιο ή σχολή.
Είναι γνώσεις που κανείς εσωτερικεύει μέσα από την προσωπική του εμπλοκή και εμπειρία με αυτούς τους χώρους. Επειδή οι επιχειρήσεις δεν βασίζονται στην τύχη τους, αλλά την δημιουργούν από μόνες τους, η επένδυση στην εκπαίδευση και υποστήριξη των εργαζόμενων τους είναι για εμένα μονόδρομος.
With all the things you mentioned you are involved in, have you personally managed to balance your personal and professional life?
Personally, I follow a more holistic model of life (Integrative Model of Life), where my work and personal roles alternate throughout my day in a way that works depending on the current demands. For example, now with the quarantine, where I mostly work from home, I use a break to prepare a homemade meal for my daughter, or put a load of laundry, or do some exercise, or go for a walk with a friend.
I have the ability to adjust my schedule based on my needs, and this creates a sense of freedom in time, which I personally need and greatly appreciate. Of course, at times I struggle, as we all do, especially now with the ongoing lockdowns, but I try to always find creative ways to handle the issues that arise in my life.
You know, I believe we must also remain open to the randomness and unpredictability of life. It has its beauty, even when it challenges us. Otherwise, how would our lives have meaning and variety?
Where can someone find you?
You’ll find me in the “big village,” as I call it, on the internet. I don’t love geographic dependency. However, I often move between my office in central Athens, Maroussi, and the beautiful city of Ioannina. And wherever the road may take me in the future (I like to always leave a window open for fresh air…)!!
Through Kesythes, we often organize seminars and personal development groups for mental health professionals, other workers, and private individuals, both online and in person.
With my team of collaborators, we also offer companies inspirational talks and specialized training programs, based on the needs of their workforce and senior management.
On my website, you will also find a wide range of online psychological and counseling support services, which can also be offered in person to those who desire it, when conditions allow.
Some of our unique services include:
- Online Psychometric Tests for individuals and company staff groups.
- Best of Me 5 / 10: Communication and soft skills development sessions.
- Ready to Fly: Interview preparation and career change coaching.
- Online Systemic Counseling for Executives and Entrepreneurs (Executive Business Counseling).
- Online Employees Support Programs, employee empowerment and support programs.
- Webinars for individuals and mental health professionals.
- Wellness Retreats: A combination of wellness programs and human resources training.
Occasionally, we organize community actions for groups in need. We are open to new collaborators and those interested in learning more about our actions and the services we offer.
Contact phone numbers: 215 215 1946, Kesythes@gmail.com, drkatherineathanasiou@gmail.com
www.drkatherineathanasiou.com, www.kesythes.gr
Thank you very much for this lovely interview!
The interview was given to Psychology Now.