Teresa Vázquez Amado
Collegiate G-1011. Psychologist and researcher. Founder of the Sofros Method:
Ours is a preventive, therapeutic and enjoyable methodology for the emotional and psychological well-being that makes use of scientifically-based 21st century technology for twenty-first century people.
Psychology is the cornerstone of our project, which is also based on our continued work on relaxation techniques and body exploration following the guidelines of the Sophrological school. This embodies a simple and surprising western aesthetics. To complement all this, we make use of a careful selection of tools, services and products at the service of psychology and human welfare. All our technological support and therapies meet rigorous quality and effectiveness criteria and are based on scientific tests. Our selection of products and techniques is based on a view consistent with the vocational school and with cognitive behavioural theories of mental learning processes, emotional and adaptive behaviour and health, and make use of positive reinforcement as a principle of intervention.
We respect and uphold the principles of professional ethics and the code of ethics as specified in the
Galician and Spanish Psychology Associations.
The Sofros Method and the Sofros Space
From the beginning, our research process was based on two parallel axes. The first is the study of the evolution of the psychological health of individuals, based on the experience gathered over the years in daily consultation. The second axis is our research into the evolution of space-related health through water and comfort (spas, wellbeing centres and resorts…).
Our starting point is our thorough research. This is the result of the psychologist-patient relationship for over twenty-three years, a life and professional project developed little by little, day by day, in which the main objective is to upkeep psychological and emotional health and to promote healthy behaviours and attitudes which, without doubt, avoid a high percentage of psychological disorders, psychosomatic disorders and (an increasing) consumption of anxiolytic drugs and antidepressants. Our project is not intended to replace a psychotherapeutic process, and indeed the existence of a
Sofros spaceshould, among other aims, help to pull down the (still existing) wall of fear or denial in relation to our emotions and our minds. This should be done in a pleasant and intimate way which represents a step forward in the pursuit of wellness, both as a preventive tool and as a support to psychological therapy where required. This equals quality of life.
Sofros since 2005. We are pioneers.
Ours is a new concept of space for mental (psychological and emotional) well-being –
Sofros Space. Its name is a tribute to the Sophrologic discipline (which is, in turn, embedded in our methodology). This is the result of thorough scientific research. Its dynamism and flexibility and its complementary nature in relation to other schools (in this case, complementing in theory and practice the
cognitive-behavioural school), together with its methodology and its scientifically tried and tested supports enhance its scope.
Our proposals and their related programmes belong to the field of prevention, information and training for the psychological well-being as part of a life project for all human beings.
Prevention must be based on routine habits and, whenever possible, on pleasure and on positive reinforcement. Taking care and empowering the brain should be part of an ongoing process and should not be associated with situations of crisis or distress only. Healthy and therapeutic recreation with a clear focus on the mind and the emotions is essential. And in order to enjoy this type of leisure it is necessary to create a specifically designed area. This should, in turn, convey from its simple and relaxing aesthetics, new sensations and feelings, a new attitude.
We seek to turn this concept of space and services into an interface between the professional consultation and the day to day. The project ethos is best illustrated with the idea of bringing psychological well-being to everyday life in the most pleasant of ways.
We take pride in our position as a mediating space between everyday life and the psychology consultation. As pioneers and leaders in the field, one of our major goals is to make our project available and accessible to most without losing our high professional standards.
It is important to provide new access routes and to expand existing ones in the field of wellbeing. It is essential to gradually incorporate the "mental zone" to those areas that people usually relate to wellbeing and recreational leisure. Pampering and comforting our mind can be a new way to promote our mental wellbeing or simply to indulge in personal care. That is the goal of the
Mind Spa, an area in which we keep researching and experimenting to improve and incorporate new services and programmes.
In addition to providing the opportunity to mentally relax and to receive sensory stimulation, it is also important to provide specific guidelines so that the individual can learn to be actively engaged in the process. This is one of the principles that permeates the
Sofros project. In this way, attaining psychological and emotional wellbeing will be the result of an individual effort, thus creating greater autonomy and a deeper knowledge of the self and an enhanced self-esteem. This is the basis of the
Training Room, a new fitness concept that enables us to act on our brains and emotions in a tangible manner through our physiology in a reinforcing and playful way.
Moreover, the project’s second line of research (on health-related spaces in which water and wellbeing take centre stage) clearly indicates the increasing importance given to the mental zone in recent years in the offers related to health tourism and healthy recreation. However, in this sector there is still no such a space. What is required is a specifically designed environment for the care and empowerment of the mind with a psychological background and expertise. This should also reflect a scientific, Western and advanced approach in which prevention and play take centre stage. This space should be clearly different from the wide range of schools, therapies and services related to wellbeing and recreational leisure which are distinctively Eastern in approach and concept and which represent up to now the most mind-orientated or spiritual trend.
We respect and admire the different schools and the professional practitioners who work to high ethical and scientific standards with whom we share a common goal – opening and expanding new routes in the quest for wellbeing and quality of life.
We feel this is the right time to incorporate into the concept of wellbeing a space which focuses on taking care and empowering the mind. With this in mind, we also feel a specialisation in the different fields related to human health and wellbeing is essential. We believe working with the mind and positive emotions in this way will leave a lasting and deeper mark on the individual than that left by any body treatment no matter how high its standards are. Therefore, in order to attain true and lasting wellbeing the complementing of the two areas is vital. Undoubtedly, the presence of both these areas in a space designed for the wellbeing of people will provide them with the choice of choosing the option that best suits their needs. Without a doubt, this coexistence will enhance current supply.
The promotion and opening of new avenues in the quest for wellbeing and quality of life from different perspectives is turning into an unstoppable trend. A multidisciplinary and co-operative approach is becoming increasingly necessary as is also, for the psychology practitioner, the need to expand our areas of professional practice.
As psychology practitioners we have a lot to contribute and reaching increasingly bigger numbers of individuals and groups would be an important achievement.
We believe that interventions should not be limited to a pathological approach. Hence our initiative to take a step further in the quest for wellness – first, from a clearly preventive and proactive perspective and second, as support to psychological therapy where required.
All of these considerations, together with our ongoing research in the field of emotional and psychological well-being result in the development of therapeutic and ludic protocols designed to alleviate and treat the most frequent emotional imbalances, and to create a ‘psycho-space’ which special design, related services and programmes are specifically geared to the promotion of well-being for big numbers of people.
After four years developing, fine-tuning and implementing our project from our laboratory in Vigo, we have recently relocated it to our new facilities in a special natural area where the scope of services offered has also been expanded. This signals the beginning of a new methodology for the promotion of mental and emotional health with a special emphasis on what is pleasant and simple. Ours is a novel and pioneering methodology.
Everything in the Sofros Space, in each and every one of its areas (from its unique Western aesthetics, its relaxing and therapeutic setting in which decorative items and their location together with the selection of colours, lighting, evocative scents, emotionally-laden images, sounds, use of water and state-of-the-art technological support to the ongoing training in their use), is specifically designed with the concept of ‘psychology at the service of the individual’ in mind..
Slow Down, a specific corporate identity (including an exclusive line of products to cater for the five senses) and a personalised attention turn ours into a quality, credible project.
The
Sofros project has been possible due to the combined efforts of a team of professionals from different fields (psychology, welfare, occupational therapy, new technologies, image and sound, interior design, graphic design, communication, law, work relations).
Sofros is a reality and in this project, the brain takes centre stage every day. This is a new model for the psychological and emotional wellbeing.
Sofros is meant to be a complementary space to any private, public, institutional, professional or business initiative which shares our business philosophy and mission statement and wishes to incorporate the
Sofros method to their wellbeing offer.
The ‘Sofrology’ neologism derives from the Greek ‘SOS’, the contraction of the word ‘saos’ which broad meaning is ‘balance, harmony and serenity’; from ‘PHREN’, which means ‘mind’ and from ‘LOGOS’, which denotes ‘treaty’, ‘study’ and also ‘spoken word’, which reasoned use is so engrained in all interventions of the Sofrology professional. This neologism derives from the conjunction of the semantic meaning of ‘SOS-PHREN-LOGOS’ which phonetically translates into ‘SO-FRO-LOGY’.
