Dr. Grace Brillantes Evangelista
Licensed Psychologist (in the Philippines)
Certified Focusing Professional
Focusing Trainer
Focusing-Oriented Therapy with Specialization in Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts (FOAT®)
Personal Statement:
My practice is mainly influenced by the integrative models in clinical and developmental psychology, focusing-oriented therapy (FOT) and focusing-oriented expressive arts (FOAT®), cognitive-behavioral interventions, narrative-constructivist framework, Filipino local knowledge, and contemplative traditions.
As a clinical psychologist and as an expressive arts practitioner, I listen and guide individuals, groups, and communities. My hope is for my clients to feel that they are safe, listened to, and that they can access their capacity to lead their lives in ways that are meaningful and nourishing for them. By providing them a safe holding space they may be able to welcome and explore more openly their thoughts, feelings, and their life circumstances, which in turn, can guide them in gaining insights and living life forward
Professional memberships with licensing or registering bodies:
Professional memberships with licensing or registering bodies:
NVBT, Nederlandse Vereeniging Vaktherapeutische beroepen
FVB : Federatie Vaktherapeutische Beroepen
TIFI: The International Focusing Institute
St Focusing Nederland
St KinderFocussen
Location(s):
Philippines (Quezon City)
Public Contact Details:
Public methods of contact: gbe.psych@gmail.com;
https://heartshealingspace.com
Languages: English, Filipino
Professional Details:
Grace Brillantes-Evangelista, PhD, RPsy is a Clinical Psychologist, Educator, Researcher-Practitioner, and certified Focusing-OrientedTherapist and Trainer with Specialization in Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts (FOAT®). She is also a Clinical Supervisor, Consultant, and Trainer. She served as Executive Director of the Integrative Lifestyle and Well-being (ILAW) Center and as Chair of the Psychology Department at Miriam College, where she continues to teach and mentor. She was a Faculty Trainer at the Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute (Santa Rosa, California, USA) and served four years as Chair of the Clinical Psychology Division of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP). With over two decades of experience, her work spans education, community-based interventions, and systems development in mental health.
She earned her BA Social Sciences: Behavioral Studies (magna cum laude) at the University of the Philippines - Manila and her MA/PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of the Philippines - Diliman as a Presidential Scholar. Her research, practice, and policy contributions highlight her integration of Focusing, expressive arts, and applied mental health practice.
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Therapeutic services:
Individual, couple, and group psychotherapy (grief, life transitions, low self-esteem and self-worth, identity, career and life directions, thoughts and emotion dysregulation, conflicted relationships, depression, anxiety, physical and sexual abuse, complex trauma and PTSD, Bipolar II)
Areas of special interest or advanced training:
Clinical Psychology; Developmental Psychology, Community Mental Health, Expressive Arts, Workplace Wellbeing
Training:
MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology with minor in Developmental Psychology
Is it okay for clients to contact you?
Yes
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Recent Publications:
(Principal Investigator) Developing Mental Health Protocol Within School Systems: A Participatory Action Research (2021, for publication). Under the grant of DOST-PCHRD and DOH-AHEAD
(Principal Author) School Community Wellbeing and Mental Health Care Protocol Manual (2021, for publication). Under the grant of DOST-PCHRD and DOH-AHEAD
Evaluation of visual arts and poetry as therapeutic interventions with abused adolescents. Arts in Psychotherapy Journal, Vol. 30 February 2013
Visual Arts and Poetry Usage for PTSD: Considerations for Treatment. Comprehensive Guide to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Springer International Publishing. Colin R. Martin, Victor R. Preedy, & Vinood P. Patel (Eds). (2015)