Cosmin Popa

Dr. Popa is a psychologist and Associate Professor at George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania, including the UMCH Medical Campus from Hamburg, Germany, as well as the coordinator of a counselling department that provides integrated psychological support services for the university’s students. He is also a CBT supervisor, trainer and president of the Association of Cognitive Therapy and Clinical Psychology (APCPC), which organizes continuous training programs for psychologists and medical professionals. His clinical practice and research are focused especially on personality disorders, together with generalized anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychotic disorders, as a result of over 15 years of clinical experience he accumulated in the field of psychiatry, within both outpatient and inpatient settings. In his psychotherapeutic practice, he uses a collaborative and highly personalized approach for achieving clients’ specific objectives, integrating multiple intervention techniques based on standard CBT, along with strategies from Schema Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.  

Strengths that are especially valued within the field of psychotherapy include an increased interpersonal effectiveness and good communication skills that facilitate a successful working alliance. As important qualities that encourage clients’ engagement, authenticity and empathy could be mentioned, a genuine understanding and interest for the client’s concerns being observed. The therapeutic style is based mostly on guided discovery, as personal opinions are not imposed to clients in a paternalistic way, but rather a lot of open-ended questions are used, inviting the client to explore, elaborate, and reflect on the various life challenges the person faces. Also, the structured approach enables a proper time management that maximizes the benefits in terms of achieving client’s objectives and addressing the problem list on the agenda.