Maria Filip – “When we are suffering we need to remember love.”
Maria Filip – “When we are suffering we need to remember love.”
The first word that comes to mind when I think of how to describe Maria is professionalism. Maria is a psychotherapist, personal development counsellor and trainer. She enjoys working with people, loves to talk, support and help and firmly believes that this is her calling on earth. Patients describe her as open, engaging, understanding, empathetic and intelligent and a great helper of inner knowing.
She has been working in the field since 2018 and opened her practice 1 year ago. She got her psychology degree right after high school. She always knew she would become a psychologist and work in psycho-oncology. She chose this path because she knew she could do it, that it suited her, that “it’s what she could be” (an extremely important verb for her).
Immediately after college she worked in human resources, mostly in healthcare. Then she became a mother and began to want to know more about the development of herself and her children and her family in general. Personal history played a large role in her decision to become a psychotherapist specializing in psycho-oncology, as her mother had died of leukemia and she herself was repeatedly suspected of an oncological diagnosis. So, after her children were old enough, she took the path of therapy. She started coaching modules, then professional development and psychotherapy training. She is now pursuing a specialisation in psycho-oncology.
“I had nothing clear, but not once did I feel the pain of an oncology diagnosis. Not once did I see the suffering and feel the fear. For me it was a suspicion, for others it’s a certainty, and the moment Carmen called me, I said YES.”
Maria says that one of the reasons she chose this specialisation is that “when you hear the word cancer, hope disappears. And when hope disappears, energy drops and the fight gets harder.” Asked about how she works with patients, Maria says, “As a therapist on this journey, I support, I’m there no matter how challenging the journey gets, how hard, how many obstacles, how many joys or sorrows. Because there is pain, and when we are in pain we need to remember love.” However, no one should be forced into therapy, as Maria says the shock of this diagnosis is so great that sometimes you just want to stop talking about it.
“I’m often asked what I’m doing during therapy: I’m present. When the body is in pain, you need acceptance, psycho-emotional support, so that depression and anxiety don’t kick in full force. I am part of a team: SUS INIMA – Beneficiary – his/her family – and I feel honored to be able to accompany them.”