Team

Coordinators

Dara Vassileva

Dara1

Master degree in Developmental Psychology and Bachelor of Psychology at the New Bulgarian University. She has extensive experience within the field of child development and psychodrama; has been a part of various scientific studies of cognition in preschool-aged children; a collaborator in the cognitive development lab at the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria. She is a psychodrama therapist with children and adults under supervision in the Center for Child Development and Psychological Consulting “Cognitiva”, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Dimitar Mutafchiev

Dimitar

Bachelor of psychology at the University of Amsterdam, with a specialization in clinical psychology. Currently a graduate student in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Groningen. He was a junior researcher in the Evidence-Based Trauma Stabilization Project (EBTS– 2017-2019), funded by the Erasmus+ Project of the EU. Child psychodramatist in training and associate collaborator at the Centre for Child Development and Psychological Consulting “Cognitiva” in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Programming Committee

Assoc. Prof. Milena Mutafchieva, PhD

Милена Мутафчиwqeqweqева

PhD of Developmental Psychology, Associate Professor in Cognitive Science and Psychology Department at New Bulgarian University, Sofia. She got her PhD in Developmental Psychology in 2007. She is a child and adolescent psychotherapist. She has been a psychodrama trainer for adults since 2003, and a psychodrama with children trainer since 2020. She has held seminars in Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, etc. Since 2016 she has been a co-leader of several international groups for training in psychodrama with children. She founded Center for Child Development and Psychological Consulting “Cognitiva”, Sofia, Bulgaria. She was a main partner in Evidence Based Trauma Stabilization project (EBTS- 2017-2019), funded by Erasmus+ Programme of EU. From 2015 to 2017 she was the Vice-president of Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organisations (FEPTO).Since 2020 she has been a coordinator of FEPTO Network Group for Psychodrama with Children and Youth.

Stefan Flegelskamp

Stefan

Graduate social worker, child and adolescent psychotherapist, and supervisor. He has been a psychodrama trainer for adults since 2000, and a psychodrama with children trainer since 2010. He has worked for 10 years in the Residential Care Unit for Traumatised children in Urft, Germany and 8 years in Specialised clinic for drug-addicted young adults in Schalkenmehren, Germany. He is head of the Institute of Psychodrama “Szenen”, Cologne, Germany since2011. He has held seminars in Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, etc. Since 2016 he has been a co-leader of several international groups for training in psychodrama with children. He was a main partner in Evidence Based Trauma Stabilization project (EBTS- 2017-2019), funded by Erasmus+ Programme of EU. From 2015 to 2017 he was a member of the Council of Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organisations (FEPTO). Since 2016 he has been a coordinator of FEPTO Network Group for Psychodrama with Children and Youth.

Assist. Prof. Kristina Gotseva-Balgaranova, PhD

Krisi

PhD of Psychology, Assistant Professor in Cognitive Science and Psychology Department at New Bulgarian University, Sofia. She got her PhD in Psychology (Developmental Psychology) in 2018. She is a group and an individual child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapist. She is a psychodrama trainer for adults and, has been a psychodrama with children trainer under supervision since 2020. She is a psychotherapist in the Center for Child Development and Psychological Consulting “Cognitiva”, Sofia, Bulgaria. For many years she is conducting research projects related to child development. She has attended many scientific and psychodrama conferences in Bulgaria and abroad. She was in the research team in the Evidence Based Trauma Stabilization project (EBTS- 2017-2019), funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the EU.

Assist. Prof. Ivo Popivanov, PhD

20221108_000357 (HJ1)

Psychologist with a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Science from the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria, and a PhD in Neuroscience from KU Leuven, Belgium. 

He is also a psychodramatist with qualification as a psychodrama assistant from Institute “Chiron” (2012) and a psychodrama therapist with children from Cognitiva and Szenen Institute (2018). 
He has also specialized in Clinical Neuropsychology at Medical University Sofia (2018). 
Currently, he is an Assistant professor in the “Cognitive Science and Psychology” department of the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria, and a neuropsychologist at the Diagnostic and Consulting Center of the “Alexandrovska” Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

Yiftach Ron, PhD

Yiftach

Yiftach Ron is a senior lecturer. Since 2017 he serves as the head of the MA Program in Psychodrama Therapy at the Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies in the Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv. He holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and teaches at the Kibbutzim College and the Hebrew University. In addition to his clinical work and teaching, his research examines therapeutic processes in situations of acute distress, psychodrama, narratives and life stories in conflicted societies, creative art therapies and narrative approaches to psychotherapy.