Sylwia Latacz — Licensed Psychologist & Psychotherapist in Lisbon
Living as an expat in Lisbon offers unique opportunities, but it also brings specific challenges — cultural adjustment, professional pressure, and the sense of isolation. As an English-speaking psychologist, I provide a professional, evidence-based space to help you navigate these transitions and achieve emotional stability.
Sylwia Latacz · Psychologist & Psychotherapist · OPP No. 31224
What Does a Psychologist in Lisbon Actually Do?
Navigating the mental health system in a new country can be confusing — especially when the terminology doesn't map neatly onto what you knew back home. Here is a plain guide to the three professional titles you will encounter in Portugal:
A psychologist holds a university degree in psychology and is trained in psychological assessment, diagnostic formulation, and counselling. In Portugal, practising psychologists must be registered with the OPP — Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses.
The core of psychological work is understanding why you think, feel, and behave as you do — identifying patterns, their origins, and how they sustain current difficulties. This is not simply advice; it is a systematic, evidence-based process of building self-knowledge and developing new coping strategies.
I am OPP registered — No. 31224. You can verify any psychologist's licence directly on the OPP website before booking.
Psychotherapy is a postgraduate specialisation. A psychotherapist has completed several years of advanced clinical training in a specific therapeutic modality — such as ISTDP, EFT, or Integrative Psychotherapy — beyond their initial degree in psychology, medicine, or another relevant field (exact entry requirements vary by country and regulatory body).
Where psychology often focuses on assessment and psychoeducation, psychotherapy works at a deeper level: with emotional structures formed in early experience, relational patterns, trauma, and the unconscious processes that drive present-day suffering.
A psychologist can — and many do — go on to complete an additional four-year postgraduate psychotherapy programme. This combination is clinically significant: it means the therapist can both assess and formulate a case with psychological precision and work at the depth that psychotherapy makes possible. Not all psychotherapists are psychologists, and not all psychologists are psychotherapists — a practitioner who holds both qualifications offers something that neither title alone implies.
I have completed eight years of postgraduate psychotherapy training across two programmes — Integrative Psychotherapy and Process-Oriented Psychotherapy — and work under regular clinical supervision.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (MD) who has specialised in mental health. Their primary focus is the biological and neurological dimension of psychiatric conditions — diagnosing disorders and prescribing medication where indicated.
Psychiatrists do not typically provide ongoing talk therapy; their role is assessment, medication management, and co-ordination with therapists for complex cases such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ADHD.
If medication may be relevant to your situation, I can advise on referral to a psychiatrist and continue psychological work alongside their treatment.
Sylwia Latacz — Licensed Psychologist in Lisbon (OPP No. 31224)
I hold a Master of Science in Psychology from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (2014) — one of the oldest and most respected universities in Central Europe. My studies gave me a rigorous grounding in clinical psychology, psychodiagnostics, and research methodology.
Between 2013 and 2014, I conducted research on the psychological aspects of the migration process at the Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University. This academic work informs my clinical understanding of expat experience in ways that go beyond lived intuition.
I gained foundational clinical experience during my internship at a psychiatric hospital, working with complex mental health presentations including psychosis, severe depression, and personality disorders. This early exposure to the full clinical spectrum shaped a disciplined, non-pathologising approach to human suffering.
I have completed two postgraduate psychotherapy programmes totalling eight years of clinical training: a four-year training in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Institute of Health Psychology in Warsaw, and an earlier four-year training in Process-Oriented Psychotherapy at the Institute of Processwork in Warsaw (2018–2022). I work under regular clinical supervision — a professional standard I maintain because rigorous clinical work requires an outside perspective throughout one's career.
I am a member of the Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses (OPP), the statutory body that regulates psychology practice in Portugal. Registration requires verified academic qualifications and adherence to a code of professional ethics.
I work clinically in English, Polish, and Portuguese. For expats, conducting therapy in your first language — or in the language you think and dream in — is not a luxury; it is often what makes the work possible.
The Psychology of the Expat Experience
The challenges of living abroad are not simply logistical. For many people, relocation triggers a genuine psychological reorganisation — of identity, belonging, and self-understanding. My academic research on migration (Jagiellonian University, 2013–2014) and my clinical work with expats have given me a detailed picture of what this involves:
Identity Disruption
We construct our sense of self partly through our environment — through language, familiar social cues, professional status, and the roles others project onto us. Moving abroad strips many of these anchors away simultaneously. The result is often a disorienting feeling of not quite knowing who you are in this new context — not a crisis, but a genuine developmental challenge that benefits from a reflective space to process.
Ambiguous Loss
Expat grief is rarely acknowledged publicly, because the move was often chosen and frequently admired by those left behind. But leaving means losing access to a language, a social network, family proximity, and a version of yourself that existed in that context. Psychologist Pauline Boss calls this "ambiguous loss" — grief without the social permission to grieve. Naming it is often the first therapeutic step.
Anxiety in a Foreign Environment
Navigating bureaucracy, healthcare, and professional environments in a second language is cognitively and emotionally taxing in ways that are easy to underestimate. When this chronic low-level stress accumulates, it can manifest as anxiety, panic attacks, or somatic symptoms that seem disconnected from their source. Understanding the context helps dissolve the symptom.
Relationship Strain
Couples who relocate together often find that one partner adapts faster, or that the move surfaces pre-existing tensions previously managed by busyness and routine. Partners who relocated for someone else's career may carry unexpressed resentment. These dynamics are common, workable, and often respond well to couples therapy — particularly when addressed early.
Career Pressure and Professional Re-Anchoring
Many expats arrive with significant professional expectations — from their employer, their partner, or themselves. The gap between how one functioned "back home" and the practical constraints of building a new professional context can trigger self-doubt, perfectionism, and burnout. These present clinically as low mood, motivation difficulties, and a sense of fraudulence.
The "Expat Blues" That Won't Lift
There is a common cultural narrative that the adjustment curve resolves itself with time. For many people it does. For others, a low mood, social withdrawal, and a sense of going through the motions persist well beyond the initial adjustment phase — and benefit from professional support rather than waiting it out. If this sounds familiar, you can read more on my blog.
What to Expect from Your First Session with a Psychologist
The first session is different from ongoing therapy — it is an assessment and a meeting, in both directions. Here is how I structure it:
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1You describe what brings you
I begin by listening — without interruption or premature interpretation. Your account of the problem, in your own words and in your own sequence, is itself diagnostic information. I am interested in what is happening, when it started, and what you have already tried.
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2I ask clarifying questions
Depending on what emerges, I may ask about your history, your relationships, your physical health, and previous mental health support. This is not a questionnaire — it is a clinical conversation aimed at building an initial formulation of your situation.
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3We discuss what I observe
By the end of the first session, I will share my initial clinical impressions — what patterns I notice, what I think may be worth exploring, and which therapeutic approach seems most suited to your presentation. This is offered as a working hypothesis, not a verdict.
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4You decide whether to continue
There is no obligation beyond the first session. The therapeutic relationship is the primary instrument of change in any approach — if the fit is not right, I will say so honestly. If helpful, I can suggest alternatives or other professionals in Lisbon.
How We Work Together
Psychological support at this practice takes three forms, depending on what you need. All are delivered in English, and all are available online for clients outside Lisbon.
One-to-One Psychological Work
For people dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, identity questions, or the accumulated weight of expat life. Evidence-based, depth-oriented, and adapted to your clinical needs.
Individual therapy →EFT Couples & Relationship Counselling
Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples navigating conflict, disconnection, or the particular strain that relocation places on partnerships. Available in-person or online.
Couples therapy →Therapy Without Borders
For clients in Portugal outside Lisbon, or anywhere in the world. The same clinical depth as in-person work, through a secure video platform that requires no additional software.
Online therapy →Frequently Asked Questions
From the Blog
When the Adjustment Curve Doesn't Curve
Why some expats find the "blues" persist long past the expected settling-in period — and what that signals clinically.
Symptoms of Anxiety — A Checklist
A practical guide to recognising anxiety symptoms in yourself, including physical manifestations that are easily attributed to other causes.
Why Couples Struggle After Relocation
Relocation surfaces pre-existing dynamics and creates new ones. Understanding the mechanism makes intervention possible.
In-Person Sessions in Avenidas Novas, Lisbon
The practice is located at Rua Pinheiro Chagas 32, in the Avenidas Novas neighbourhood — a quiet, central area of Lisbon easily accessible by metro (Picoas or Marquês de Pombal), bus, and car. The office is discreet and private.
For clients who prefer in-person sessions, I offer appointments during the week. For those outside Lisbon — or who prefer to work from home — all sessions are also available online via secure video. Many clients begin online and transition to in-person once in Lisbon; others maintain an online format throughout. Both are clinically equivalent for the work we do.
Ready to take the next step?
If you would like to explore whether psychological support might help, reach out. The first step is a conversation.
Contact Me to Book a Consultation