RITA SILVEIRA MACHADO

Convinced of the path she wanted to take in the Human Sciences, she graduated in Clinical Psychology in 1990 from ISPA.

She has always worked in a hospital setting (in the Paediatrics department of the IPO in Lisbon for three years, and in the Psychiatry and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents department of the Santa Maria Hospital since 1994), accompanying children and families in circumstances of serious illness and families going through bereavement.

The importance of the family in the processes of development and help became unquestionable, leading her to do a Masters in Sexology and then to train in Family Therapy at the Portuguese Society of Family Therapy.

Aware of the multiplicity of more challenging and complex situations, she sought out other training courses to help her provide more differentiated and targeted care to those seeking help. In 2002, she completed the 1st Touchpoints Training Course and, in 2004, she obtained the ‘Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS)’ Diploma from Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital, which opened the door to embracing a different model of intervention where the values of a collaborative therapeutic attitude with respect for diversity and individual choices prevail.

She recently completed the Gottman Method for Couples Therapy in London and the Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) with trainers Kyriaki Polychroni and Giulia Altera.