Published: October 2026

Keywords:
Kia Thanopoulou, grief, loss, working through, story, narrative, intrapsychic reality, relational reality, psychoanalysis, systemic therapy, accompaniment, pain, stage of the family life cycle, family resources, intergenerational trauma, a child’s suicide, the voice of death, the voice of loss, the voice of life, a sense of futility, resistance, personal reflection, the here-and-now, containment, vulnerability, meaning-making, respect and irreverence, social constructions, social norms, community support, habits, culture, Peter Rober, Mikhail Bakhtin, Michael White, Gianfranco Cecchin, Roland Barthes, Yannis Ritsos.

Kia Thanopoulou

Kia Thanopoulou is a psychologist, systemic psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer.

She holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Athens (1985–1989) and an MSc from the University of Warwick in England. She trained in Systemic Psychotherapy and Diagnosis at the Laboratory for the Study of Human Relations. She holds the European professional qualifications EuroPsy and ECP (European Certificate for Psychotherapy).

She is a member of the Association of Greek Psychologists (ΣΕΨ), ΕΕΣΣΚΕΨΟ, the European Family Therapy Association (EFTA) and the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP). She also serves on the editorial board of the academic journal Systemic Thinking and Psychotherapy.

She works in private practice and at the Family Therapy Unit of the Attica Multipurpose Mental Health Unit (formerly the Psychiatric Hospital of Attica / Dafni). There, she works as a therapist, supervisor and trainer, and is also the scientific lead for the postgraduate training programme in the systemic approach for mental health professionals.

She taught on the postgraduate programme in Clinical Psychology at the University of Athens (2006–2010). She also collaborated with ΣΚΕΨΥ for many years (1998–2014), training new psychotherapists. In addition, she has participated in professional development programmes run by the Pedagogical Institute and in psychosocial support initiatives, including the 10306 helpline.

She is the author of The Psychological Pathways of Grief (Pedio Publications) and co-editor of Memories and Reflections: Stories of Systemic Psychotherapy (Korontzis Publications, 2018).

Abstract

Kia Thanopoulou discusses her first book with passion, thoughtfulness and sensitivity, exploring the psychological, relational, social and psychotherapeutic pathways of grief.

We warmly thank Kia Thanopoulou for joining an online discussion with Metalogos editorial team members Fany Triantafillou, Dimitris Mouzas and Maria-Stavroula Voulgari, together with collaborators Eirini Kipritsi and Nefeli Kyriazopoulou.

The video was edited by Fany Triantafillou. The English translation was prepared jointly by Fany Triantafillou and the author, and the subtitles were produced by Eirini Kipritsi.