About me
You have carried what you carried for a reason. I take that seriously.
What you might bring
I specialise in identity, attachment, transgenerational patterns, complex PTSD, shame, and anxiety. Many of the people I work with carry things they did not choose: inherited responses to family silences, repeated ruptures, or emotional strategies that once kept them safe but now limit their sense of self. Others come to therapy in the middle of a relocation, a role change, or a cultural shift that has quietly destabilised who they thought they were.
Clients often arrive feeling stuck in relational patterns they cannot explain, ashamed of responses that once protected them, or uncertain who they are outside the roles they have carried for family, work, or migration. Some have done therapy before and want work that goes deeper. Others are beginning for the first time and want to be taken seriously, at a pace that respects what they have already survived.
How I work
My work is grounded in Transactional Analysis, which gives me a precise relational framework for the Parent-Adult-Child patterns that shape how we think, feel, and relate. I pace the work carefully, particularly around trauma, so therapy feels containing rather than overwhelming. You are never pushed further or faster than feels right.
I work online in English and Romanian with clients across Europe and worldwide. I have worked with expats and cross-cultural clients, and I am particularly at home with adults rethinking inherited identities. Sessions are 50 minutes. I offer a free 20 minute introductory call so you can decide whether we are the right fit before committing.
Therapy with me is a space to understand what shaped you, develop self-compassion, and create room to choose differently.
I specialise in
Experience & training
Work experience
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Psychotherapist
Private Practice — Catrinel Ștefan
Nov 2018 – present
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Child Psychotherapist
Seeding Knowledge
Mar 2018 – Jul 2019
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Psychotherapist
Filia Center
Aug 2020
Education & training
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Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology
Universitatea Ecologică din București
2022 – 2024
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Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Studies, University of Bucharest
2006 – 2009
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Certificate of Practice Under Supervision
ARAT — Romanian Association of Transactional Analysis
2015 – 2019
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Certificate of Free Practice
College of Psychologists of Romania
2018 – present
Let’s talk
Book a free 20-minute introductory call, online or in person in Cotroceni, Bucharest.
Book a session