João G. Pereira is a psychologist and psychotherapist. He has a PhD in Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy from Middlesex University and the Metanoia Institute in London. He is a full member of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists with a specialist degree and advanced specialty.
With basic training in forensic psychology, he later turned to clinical and counseling psychology. He did postgraduate training in cognitive and constructivist psychotherapy models at the Mensalus Institute in Barcelona and later trained as a psychotherapist in the UK, where he worked for several years.
With extensive experience in the field of drug addiction, he has worked with young people and children at risk in non-governmental organizations in Cambridge and Norwich, and with adults in substitution treatment in state clinics in London. From 2007 to 2013 he gained experience in the British National Health Service (NHS) where he developed his PhD project on Mentalization Based Treatment.
He has worked with severe mental health disorders in multi-disciplinary teams and it was at this stage that he undertook specialist training at the Anna Freud Centre and University College London. He is a psychotherapist accredited by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), accredited by the British Psychoanalytic Council as an MBT Therapist and holds the European Certificate in Psychotherapy from the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP). He was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Évora for two years and has also taught at the University of East London (UEL), Middlesex University and the Metanoia Institute in London, with whom he still collaborates as a supervisor and lecturer on PhD and Masters courses.
In Portugal, he has collaborated as a Post-Doc Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy (IFILNOVA) of the New University of Lisbon and in various projects linked to Mental Health. He is a trainer on the theoretical and technical training course of the Portuguese Society of Groupanalysis and Group Analytical Psychotherapy and a member of the IPHA Group (International Practice Based Research Network for Personalizing Health Assessment). He founded the Democratic Therapeutic Communities model in Portugal with the “Casa de Alba” project and is currently President of INDTC-RP, the International Network of Democratic Therepeutic Communities and Relational Practice. He introduced the Open Dialogue system to Portugal with the first pilot project funded by the Directorate-General for Health and the first training course. His work has been published in scientific journals and presented at national and international conferences. He is co-editor and author of the book “Schizophrenia and Common Sense” published by Springer-Nature and the book “The Neurobiology-Psychotherapy-Pharmacology Intervention Triangle” published by Vernon Press. In 2024 he published the book “Psiquiatria Lenta” with the Taiga Publishing.
He has been in private practice since 2006.
Tatiana Gil Ferreira is a Clinical Psychologist / Psychotherapist at Casa de Alba. She has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA) in Lisbon. Full member of the Portuguese Psychologists’ Association. Member of the Portuguese Society for Existential Psychotherapy (SPPE) for specialty training in Phenomenological-Existential Psychotherapy. Extracurricular course in Clinical Neuropsychology (ISPA) and training in Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, Psychosomatics, Mental Illness and Risk Behavior. Professional experience in the field of drug addiction (outpatient; therapeutic community – Lisbon). She has carried out clinical work in educational institutions and collaborated with Child and Youth Protection Commissions (CPCJ). Carried out clinical practice in conjunction with a private clinic in a social housing estate in Lisbon. She worked as a clinical psychologist at a foundation in a social housing estate in Cascais. She has also worked in Community Psychology, Crisis Intervention and collaborated on projects to develop Parenting Skills and Relational/Social Skills. She has worked in private practice. As part of her research, she collaborated in a study on Brief Psychotherapy carried out by the ISPA Center for Research in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, the Jerónimo Usera Foundation (AJU) and the Portuguese Society for Existential Psychotherapy (SPPE).
