Philia Issari is Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at the University of Sorbonne (Paris V) in France and postgraduate studies in the USA, where he received a Master of Arts in Classics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and at New York University (NYU) Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. She then received her Ph.D in Counseling Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
She has worked as a Research Fellow (1995-1998) at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and at the Integrated, Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP), National Institute of Health (NIH) of the USA. She has been a scientific associate in research programs at NYU and UCLA Universities, and has worked as a therapist in Mental Health and Counseling centers abroad. In Greece, she has participated in European and inter-university training and supervision programs for teachers and counselors in counseling theory and practice, multicultural, narrative and professional counseling, and counseling with a gender perspective - SOS hotline - counseling centers of the General Secretariat for Gender Equality to prevent/combat violence.
Since 2007, she has been teaching at the Department of Psychology of NKUA, courses in counseling psychology and qualitative research approaches in psychology and counseling/clinical practice. She also teaches and supervises theses in Master's Degree Programs in Counseling Psychology, Educational Counseling, Health & Work, Special Education Counseling, Counseling & Vocational Guidance, School Psychology and Clinical Psychology at the University of Athens and the University of Thessaly. She has taught as a Lecturer at the University of Crete, and was a Guest Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, Department of Psychology, MSc/PsycD in Psychotherapy and Counseling & BSc Integrative Counselling, (January-February, 2013), London.
Her writing work includes articles in international and Greek scientific journals and chapters in collective volumes. Her scientific interests are focused on issues of identity, dialogicity, and the embodied dimension of the self [e. g., Issari, P. (2011). Greek American ethnic identity, cultural experience and the 'embodied language' of dance: Implications for counseling. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 33(4), 252- 265], multicultural counseling [e. g., Issari, P. (2006). Valuing diversity in schools: Learning from multicultural counseling for teachers in the Greek educational system. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 28 (1), 71-78], in health counseling, adolescent and student well-being, school bullying, crisis, and qualitative research methodology with an emphasis on narrative analysis [e. g., Issari, P., & Karayianni, Th. (2013). Greek mothers' narratives of the construct of parental involvement. The European Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2(1), 17-32]. He edited K. Gergen's book, Therapeutic Realities (2006), published by Pedio.
She has participated with oral presentations in international and Greek conferences, is a member of international and Greek scientific societies, and an extraordinary reviewer in English and Greek scientific journals. She participates as a scientific collaborator in the Grundtvig Phototherapy Europe in Prisons (PIP) program, which is implemented in six European countries, with the aim of implementing and evaluating phototherapy techniques in the context of prisoner counseling.
