About us

Hellenic Institute of Psychology and Health

The Hellenic Institute of Psychology and Health ( IPSY) is a non-profit organization which aims at the promotion of knowledge and research in the areas of clinical and health psychology. The Institute offers post graduate training seminars in these areas, publishes relevant books, organizes workshops and conferences and provides psychological services to individuals requesting counseling.

In the past, members of the Advisory Board of the Institute included Professor Stan Maes (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Professor  Marie Johnston (University of St. Andrews, UK), former presidents of the European Health Psychology Society and C.David Jenkins ( USA), former President of the American Psychosomatic Society.

The Institute offers professional training in psychotherapy. The program consists of modules offered between  October and May and workshops offered  throughout the year. Role-playing, work in small groups, experiential exercises and presentation of actual cases are the main methods used in the seminars.

Founding Members

Tanya Anagnostopoulou is a clinical psychologist specializing in the area of health. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, after having completed her internship at the Mental Health Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Lahey Clinic, Boston  and specialized in the areas of consultation-liaison and chronic pain management. Dr. Anagnostopoulou has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Crete ( 1991-93) and the Department of Psychology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( 1993-2000). She contributed to the graduate program at the University of Thessaloniki teaching in the undergraduate and graduate clinical program.Her research interests in the area of health led her to conduct research programs at Papanikolaou Hospital, AHEPA Hospital and Theageneio Cancer Hospital and to supervise patient support groups for the Cancer Society of Northern Greece & Thrace, the Hellenic Society for Multiple Sclerosis and the Society of Cerebral Palsy of Northern Greece.
She has been the National Delegate of Greece in the European Health Psychology Society ( 1992-2003), and a member of the American Psychosomatic Society and International Association for the Study of Pain. She has edited and published several books and has translated and adjusted in the greek language well-known psychometric scales in the areas of clinical and health psychology. She is currently teaching at the graduate program of the Hellenic Institute of Psychology and Health and is an active psychotherapist and clinical supervisor.

Anastasia Kitsantas is Professor and Coordinator of the Educational Psychology program at George Mason University. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Development, Learning and Instruction in 1996 from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New. She has taught at James Madison University in the School of Psychology, and at Florida State University in the department of Educational Research. Before entering the professorate, she taught both elementary and high school students in New York. Her research interests focus on social cognitive processes, and self-regulated learning in academic, sports, and health related settings. Her publications include works on the development of academic and athletic self-regulation, self-regulated strategies, self-efficacy, asthma, weight management, and peak performance. She has published in The Journal of Educational Psychology, The Journal of Experimental Education, Contemporary Educational Psychology, The Journal of Sport Applied Psychology, The Journal of International Sport Psychology, The International Journal of Psychology and Health, Educational Technology, Research and Development, The Journal of Environmental Health, The Journal of Asthma, the Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, and the Encyclopedia of Psychology. She has been an active participant in many international student and scholarly groups. She is the faculty program director of the study abroad program in Greece offered by the Center of Global Education at George Mason University.