network members

Lena Aslanidou, L.S.W., M.P.W
Diploma in Processwork (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker 

Lena is a Social Worker and a Certified Process Worker and she is trained in General Systems Theory and its Applications on Human Sciences at the Athenian Institute of Anthropos. She works in Greece and internationally as a processworker, trainer, group and conflict facilitator and organizational consultant.

After completing her studies in social work she worked as a councilor for families and individuals at the Psychiatric Department of the General Hospital of Athens.

She first came across Arnold Mindell’s work and Process Work in 1990. This was an important moment in her life because, for the first time, she found an organized system of thought, which could be applied to all aspects of human experience, political, psychological and spiritual. The enthusiasm of this discovery lead her to Portland, Oregon, to study Process Work.

Since 1997 she has returned to Greece, where she works in private practice as a counselor and trainer with individuals, couples, families, groups and organizations. Together with colleagues she brought Processwork to Greece, and co-founded Processwork Greece and Processwork Hub.
She has been a member of the facilitation staff of Worldwork Seminars, and teaches Processwork seminars in Greece and abroad.

Her main interest in working with people is in accessing a sense of freedom from which each person can express their wholeness, and the connection of the spiritual dimension to everyday consciousness and life.

Lena loves nature and animals. She loves meditation and enjoys spending time with friends.

Venetia Bouronikou, MA
Diploma in Processwork (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Venetia Bouronikou is a Psychologist and a Certified Processworker. She graduated from the department of Psychology, Aristotele University of Thessaloniki in 1998. Subsequently, she trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, in Group Dynamics and in Processwork (Process Oriented Psychology). She attained her Diploma and Master of Arts in Processwork from the Process Work Institute in Portland, Oregon, USA.

She lives in Athens and works as a psychologist and therapist with individuals and couples, as a group facilitator and trainer since 2000.

She is a scientific associate at “Orlando LGBT+ Mental Health Without Stigma”, a member of the Scientific Committee and instructor in the “Annual Educational Program for Counseling and Psychotherapy with LGBT+ individuals and families”.

She has collaborated with various organizations and NGOs, such as KETHEA-“Diavasi”, ARSIS-Association for the Social Support of Youth, OLKE & General Secretariat for Youth, Processwork Institute and Portland Processwork Clinic, DIOTIMA- Centre for Research on Women’s Issues and the Greek Council for Refugees.

In recent years she has been providing group and individual supervision for professionals and organizations that work with refugees and immigrants in Greece and abroad.

Since September 2019 she is collaborating with ProcessWork Institute India.

Her work is based on her deep trust in the unique expression of the individual, relationship or group life, the wisdom that emerges through following the process, and the transformative and healing power of awareness.

She is interested in bringing awareness in the social context and she is passionate about the interconnectedness of personal and social change.

Venetia has co-authored a Graphic Novel on group facilitation and conflict resolution, based on the Worldwork seminar held in Greece in 2017. The Graphic Novel is titled “Dreaming Into Community. A Guidebook to Worldwork”

She is a member of the International Association of Process Oriented Psychology (IAPOP). Together with colleagues she founded Processwork Greece.

Venetia loves swimming in the sea, walking in the forest and staring at the universe.

Sofia Ilia, MAPW, MSc
Diploma in Process work
Certified Process Worker

Sofia was born in Athens, in 1975. In 1998 she graduated from the Department of Psychology, University of Crete, and in 2001 she completed her graduate studies in Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Essex, U.K.

From 1999-2000 she trained at the Person-Centered Center, in Athens (Carl Roger’s counseling approach). From 2002 to 2005 she trained in the Systems Thinking approach to psychotherapy at the Athenian Institute of Anthropos, in Athens.
From 2003 to 2011 she worked as a counselor and psychotherapist in different agencies in Athens and also in private practice. At the N.G.O. “Praksis” she offered counselling services to immigrants and asylum seekers, and at the National Center for Social Solidarity in Athens, she worked as a therapist with individuals, couples and families.

Sofia was introduced to Process Work in 2005 and was originally fascinated because it was surprising, unexpected, and evoked deep emotions. Process Work for Sofia offers an approach that combines cognitive thinking and dreaming. She loves how it makes space for all experiences, especially those usually marginalized.

Sofia earned her Diploma in Process Work from the Process Work Institute, Oregon, U.S.A., graduating in February 2014. Since 2012 she has been living in Portland, Oregon and since 2014 she has been working as a counselor at the Portland Process Work Clinic, as well as in private practice with clients in Greece and U.S.A. Together with colleagues she co-founded Process Work Greece.

Sofia loves working with people because it strengthens her feeling of connection and oneness. Her goal as a therapist is to accompany people in their path to discovery and acceptance of their full selves.

Sofia loves music, animals, nature, cloud formations in the sky, and everything that can begin a journey.

Vassiliki Katrivanou, MA
Diploma in Processwork (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Vassiliki Katrivanou has a special interest on combining psychology and politics in order to find new pathways for the empowerment of people and groups.

She works in Greece and internationally as a therapist, trainer, conflict facilitator, coach and organizational consultant. She is currently working as the Coordinator of the Social Unit of the Greek Council for Refugees. She also collaborates with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung-Greece facilitating trainings for the empowerment of women who are involved in politics, how to connect with their own vision and create their own way of leadership. Previous to that she was a special counselor of UNICEF, appointed to the Ministry of Education for the education of the refugee children.

She is a certified Processworker (Diploma and Master in Process Work) and holds a BA in International Studies and a Master in Conflict Resolution (Portland State University). She has been trained in Systems Theory and Group Dynamics at the Athenian Institute of Anthropos in Athens. She has also been trained as coach at the Global Coaching Institute, accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

She was a member of the Greek Parliament with SYRIZA, from June 2012 until May 2016 when she resigned. She was also a Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (June 2014-May 2016). Her main focus was on human rights: immigration and refugees, human rights in prisons, mental health, the rights of women and the LGBTQI community. In this context, she had the opportunity to apply tools of process oriented psychology and conflict resolution.

She has been a faculty member of the training programs of the Process Work Institute in Portland, USA, Processwork in Israel and currently of the Process Work Institute in India. She is a faculty member of the Worldwork seminars (training in Conflict Resolution and Community Building), sponsored by the International Association of Process Oriented Psychology.

She has led training workshops in conflict resolution with Palestinians and Israelis and facilitated seminars with Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot women and youth on the Cypriot conflict and on gender issues. She also worked on issues of empowerment and human rights with NGOs in Mexico (Chiapas, Morelos), and in Palestine. In Greece, Vassiliki has been an associate for many years of the Athenian Institute of Anthropos. She worked with teachers and students in primary prevention programs of OKANA (Organization for Drug Prevention) and KETHEA (Center for the Treatment of People with Addictions). She has also cooperated with the Center for Research and Action for Peace, KEDE, and the Foundation of the Hellenic World on trainings in conflict resolution and school violence. She worked on programs for the empowerment of immigrants and immigrant women with Mosaic-KETHEA and Babel. She also led youth workshops on communication and empowerment using art, drama, video and photography.

Vassiliki, in collaboration with Bushra Azzouz, directed the documentary, “The Women of Cyprus” (www.womenofcyprusfilm.com), which portrays how a group of Turkish and Greek Cypriot women handle conflict, explores the hidden histories of the divided island and the women’s will to live together again. The documentary has been screened internationally (Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, U.K., U.S.A, Mexico).

Nancy Papathanasiou, PhD
Masters in Conflict Facilitation & Organizational Change
Certified Process Facilitator

Dr. Nancy Papathanasiou is a Clinical Psychologist, adjunct lecturer in the Department of Psychology (Panteion University of Social Sciences) and in the Department of Social Work (University of West Attica). She is also the Scientific Coordinator for the 11528 LGBT+ Helpline in Greece.

Her research focuses currently on resilience and developmental psychopathology, adaptation and well being of LGBTQI+ individuals, and her clinical interests include sexual, gender, and relationship diversity, and community psychology.

Alexandra Vassiliou, Ph.D.
Diploma in Processwork (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Alexandra Vassiliou has a Ph.D in Social Psychology. She works in Greece and internationally as a processworker, trainer, supervisor, group and conflict facilitator and organizational consultant.Her relationship with psychology started from the Athenian Institute of Anthropos in 1982, where she was trained in Systems Theory and Group Dynamics. At the same time she was attending the Agricultural University of Athens, where she graduated in 1990 with a M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering, specializing in Agricultural Economics.

In 1990, in a seminar in Zurich, Switzerland, she met Arnold Mindell and his associates. She was impressed by the multi-dimensional and multi-leveled approach of Processwork to human experience and the way it combined Jungian Psychology, Quantum Physics and Taoism. She was also inspired by the way Processwork’s view of personal change creates opportunities and awareness for social change. She then decided to go to Portland, Oregon in the United States and study Processwork.

During her stay in the United States, she also pursued a doctoral training program in Social Psychology, with an emphasis on Conflict Resolution, with The Union Institute in Ohio. Her doctoral dissertation was focused on the ‘terrorist’ as a role in human interactions and group dynamics. In 1996 she returned to Greece and began applying Processwork in her work with individuals and groups.

She is a facilitator and trainer of trainers for the Grundkraft programs in Greece, Teachers Empowered and Leaders Empowered.

She has been a member of the facilitation staff of Worldwork Seminars, and teaches Processwork seminars in Greece and abroad. She collaborates with private and public organizations, uyniveristies and NGOs, facilitating trainings in communication, conflict resolution, team dynamics and group process. Since 2016, she collaborates with Greek and international NGOs that operate in the humanitarian sector, offering services to refugees and migrants.

She is also a member of the Art In Perspective network of professionals. In collaboration with Vera Lardi, they have developed a methodology named Theater of Social Dialogue, As a tool for community work and intervention.

She is interested in human experience as it expresses itself through the body, through dreams and through relationships.

Membership in Associations:

• Global Process Institute, USA / G.P.I. (1995- 2014)
• International Association of Process Work,/ I.A.P.O.P. (2006- present)
• American Psychological Association, USA / A.P.A. (1998- 2009)
• National Organisation for Psychotherapy of Greece (2008- present)
• European Association for Psychotherapy / E.A.P. (2008- present)

Lily Vassiliou, Ph.D.
Diploma in Processwork (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Lily is a Social Worker and a Certified Process Worker. She has completed doctoral studies in Psychology, and trained in Processwork, and in Systems Theory, Family Therapy and Group Dynamics. Lily works in Greece and internationally as a processwork trainer, counselor & facilitator.

Together with colleagues she brought Processwork to Greece and co-founded Processwork Greece and Processwork Hub. She is a faculty member of the Processwork Institute in Portland, Oregon, USA, and of Processwork Spain in Barcelona, Spain.

In Processwork Lily found a paradigm that views process, i.e., what is happening, as the Teacher; a paradigm that values all experiences and finds treasures hidden in the most troublesome of them. This worldview fit her feeling about life. Being immersed in it gave her a deeper understanding and appreciation of herself and the world around her. The wide application of this paradigm to the various areas of life, and the various, therefore, aspects remaining to be discovered and learned thrill her curious inquisitive nature.

Among Lily’s interests is Worldwork as a methodology working on diversity issues and building sustainable community. She has helped organize and co-facilitated Open Forums (public dialogues) in Athens around the economic crisis and the social changes entailed, and abroad in the USA on racism, xenophobia, sexism and homophobia, and in Beaston, Leeds, UK on the aftermath of the July 2005 London bombings.

Lily is acutely aware of escalating tensions on the planet and seeks ways to be actively involved in working with them.

Membership in Associations:

• International Association of Process Oriented Psychology / IAPOP (2006 – present)
• National Organisation for Psychotherapy of Greece / ΕΕΨΕ (2009 – present)
• European Association for Psychotherapy / EAP (2009 – present)
• American Psychological Association / APA (2009- present)
• National Association of Social Workers of Greece / ΣΚΛΕ (1986- present)
• Global Process Institute (1998-2014 when it merged with IAPOP)

Ioanna Velali, MA, MAPW
Diploma in Processwork  (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Ioanna is a Processwork Diplomate (Processwork Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA 2016), a Dance/Movement therapist (Roehampton University, London, UK, 2006) and a Psychology graduate (University of Reading, UK, 2001).

She encountered Processwork in 2006 as part of her own therapeutic work.

As a client she appreciated the feeling during her sessions that everything is welcomed. Every feeling, difficulty, thought, confusion had the space to express itself and it was accepted as part of her wholeness. As time went by, she realized that when she opened her heart to all the sides (especially the ones she disliked in herself and in others) things became more light and her relationships were enriched. After this healing experience she decided to study Processwork.

She works in private practice, accompanying people on their personal growth journey, as a supervisor and as an adult educator.

She finds inspiration in the way the approach relates to the human experience: with respect, tenderness and a child-like curiosity. The guiding concept, namely that the difficulties we encounter are potentially creative, is the basis of her work. She has absolute trust in the wisdom of the human experience as it unfolds moment by moment. As a Dance/Movement therapist she follows the intelligence and the rhythms of the body and she consults it continually while she works with people.

In collaboration with her colleagues she co-founded Processwork Greece and co-organized a series of open forums in Athens during the social/economic crisis. In 2017 she was a member of the organizing committee for WorldWork Greece.

She is a member of the Internatonal Associaton of Process Oriented Psychology (IAPOP).

In 2018 she participated in a Permaculture Design course and since then she is committed to the process of making the necessary changes in her life towards a more sustainable existence on planet Earth.

Her awareness on the global tensions and injustices around gender, sexuality, race, class, privilege/power, ecology, health and their intersectionality keeps her on her toes she is always learning and looking for more conscious/inclusive ways of living together.

Gregory Vellios, MAPW
Diploma in Processwork  (Dipl.PW)
Certified Process Worker

Gregory was born in Athens in 1981. He remembers himself in a very younge age, having a passionate curiosity . He was full of questions about the world, relationships, feelings, himself.

At the age of 19, and after a series of car accidents, he started his personal therapy with a process worker. He became the car, in its uncontrolled movement leading to the accident. Encouraged to pay attention to what was happening, moments later he found himself with tears pouring down his face after having glimpsed what actually needed crashing. Processwork fascinated him right there and then.

He studied Hotel management in Athens and worked in the tourism industry from 2000 to 2006. At the same time he attended worldwork in Greece and Australia and kept working on himself in a therapeutic container. His process led him to Portland Oregon in January 2007 to attend the Winter intensive seminar, where the basic concepts of pw are taught and explained.

Dream work, Symptom work, relationships, group work,inner work…  this awareness paradigm gave him space to breathe. Acknowledging marginalized parts of himself and finding meaning in disturbances, he learnt to see the world with his eyes closed and appreciate tiny bits of wholeness.

In September 2007, his formal studies in process oriented-psychology began, when he joined the MAPW Diploma program.  Gregory moved to the USA for the next 4 years. While in Portland, he was part of the Rivers Way Clinic, where he fulfilled his training. He was a part of the staff in Worldwork in Denver and the Winter intensive of 2011. He graduated in the summer of 2011, writing his thesis on internalized criticism, addiction and healing.

Together with  colleagues he co-founded Processwork Greece. He works privately In Athens as an awareness facilitator. He is part of the organizing team of Worldwork 2017 Greece.

His dream is  to use process work with youth, to facilitate the relationship between the youth and their inner critics. So much potential is wasted, so much pain is felt when that inner battle is on.

Gregory loves swimming in the sea under the Warmth of the Sun.