Dra. Fernanda de Sousa Vieira

I do not see psychological suffering as a collection of isolated symptoms. The questions that bring someone to therapy usually carry the marks of their history, their work, the place where they live, the families they come from, the relationships they weave, and the world they inhabit.

A period of insomnia, a sudden loss of energy, the sense that life has become narrow or absurd – none of this can be understood without looking at the concrete fabric of everyday life.

In the consulting room, we work with what is happening inside and outside at the same time.

Culture, work rhythms, migration, economic pressures, the territories we move through and those we leave behind participate in how we name what hurts and what feels possible. Therapy, for me, is a space where these layers can be spoken, questioned, and slowly reorganized, without haste and without reducing experience to a diagnosis alone.

Because lives are not linear, my clinical work is also not guided by a single theory. Over the years, I have assembled a set of references that speak to each other rather than compete. I often imagine the work as having a toolbox open on the table: sometimes we need concepts that help us listen to early family stories, at other times tools that illuminate how work and money shape desire, or lenses that make visible the effects of migration and territory on one’s sense of self.

Another image that orients me is that of a slowly turning kaleidoscope. The same life event can take on different meanings depending on the angle from which it is seen. In session, we turn this kaleidoscope together, testing new combinations of memories, expectations, social conditions, and embodied feelings. The aim is not to find a definitive interpretation, but to make space for other ways of narrating one’s own life, in a language that feels truthful and livable.

My academic path was born from this same concern

I completed my PhD in Mental Health and Development at the University of São Paulo (USP), part of it was taken in the University of Perugia, Italy, where I examined the meanings people construct around drug use and suffering through life history narratives. This work deepened my sense that the stories we tell about our experiences are never neutral: they are woven from context, public discourse, and the textures of lived experience itself.

This research continues to shape my clinical listening today. When someone speaks about burnout, career transition, caring for others, moving countries, or feeling out of place in their own life, I hear not only an individual struggle but also the echoes of broader collective arrangements. My role is to help trace these threads in a way that does not erase singularity, but rather supports the person in composing a life that feels more coherent and less lonely.

At the moment, my practice is dedicated to adults going through significant transitions: changes in work or vocation, moves between countries or cities, rearrangements in family and relational life, moments when previous coordinates no longer suffice. If you are curious about how I think through these themes, you can read some of my reflections on the blog in the Articles section, watch conversations and short talks on my YouTube channel Coragem Pessoal, or find additional information on platforms such as Doctoralia and Therapy Route.