Maria Rousochatzaki
Biography
She was born in Heraklion, Crete, and grew up in Heraklion and Athens. She studied at the Athens School of Philosophy and then went to Boston, where she did a Masters degree in Speech Pathology and Communication Disorders (Boston & Northeastern University). She worked there and conducted research on auditory perception with a scholarship from the Acoustical Society of America. She returned to Heraklion in 1991 and since then has been primarily working there, but also in Athens.
She has evaluated and worked with over 25,000 cases, including children and adults with speech, voice, swallowing, and communication problems. For almost 15 years, she worked as the only speech pathologist in Crete, traveling from one end of the island to the other, educating people about speech, learning, and behavior.
She was a scientific collaborator in the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinic of the University Hospital of Heraklion for 17 years and has been a member of the pioneering cochlear implant team since 1995, with clinical and research work and contributions to publications.
She has written children’s books, focusing on emotional intelligence and the function of storytelling and retelling. The fairy tales titled “In a Few Words”, which were first published in 2006, have also been made into a Google application.
She has taught very many seminars, postgraduate courses, and groups. She has participated in numerous local and national television and radio programs.
In recent years, having pursued further studies, she also engages in life coaching and counseling for individuals and families.
After 32 years of active professional life, she continues to seek more!
Talk Details
Mindfulness – Mindshift – Movement – Meaning of Life – Motivation
“Upgrade your thinking” means elevate your mind, your intellect, in other words, broaden and deepen your intellect (expand+deepen=upgrade).
Learn to see and expand the whole (Gestalt) of a situation while at the same time focusing on the thoughts that are beneficial, useful, and effective for you in the “here and now” where you are.
Learn that when you decide to make a shift (change in direction), do it not randomly but with purpose (Meaning of life), with the weight of knowledge and decision. However, the impulsiveness, which you may occasionally have, is not eliminated but is “channeled” in the service of meaning. In other words, spontaneity is not nonsense or thoughtlessness but can also serve thought, intellect, awareness, so that any change that occurs ultimately does not lack meaning.
Mindshift requires mindfulness, in other words change requires awareness. Awareness, in other words, “Know thyself” and “I learn as I grow.” It is a continuous process because life is a series of changes and challenges that require a series of adaptations. Therefore, there is an emphasis on the need for Mindshift with awareness of who am I, where am I, and where do I want to go. Change and adaptation must be supported by a stable value system that acts as an anchor, not of immobility but of security. Through the process of change and adaptation, our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with others are determined. “We” is the goal. Participation is the objective. The process of our life is dialectical, dynamic. And it requires a core set of values.