Marwan Zbidi, CBT practitioner.
I work with adults, teenagers and young adults experiencing difficulties such as anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, OCD, low self-esteem, life transitions and certain relationship difficulties.
My work is primarily based on cognitive behavioural therapy, with tools drawn from ACT and, when relevant, virtual reality-assisted exposure.
How I work with you
Each person comes to therapy with their own history, relationships, reference points and environment. Understanding this context is part of the work whenever it contributes to the difficulties you are experiencing.
This may include questions related to migration or living between different cultures, experiences of discrimination, identity, self-acceptance, family relationships, or tensions between your own values and the expectations of those around you.
I also pay particular attention to less conventional life paths, professional or personal transitions, questions around self-image, creativity and meaning.
The aim is not to fit your experience into a category, but to understand together what is currently maintaining the difficulty and what may help you regain greater freedom of action.
Training and therapeutic approaches
I trained in CBT psychotherapy at the EFPP in Aix-en-Provence, combining theory and practice, including a placement in the psychiatry department of Sainte-Marguerite Hospital in Marseille.
My training drew in particular on the teaching and clinical work of Rudolf Oppenheimer, Éric Malbos and Imen Jallouli.
CBT structures the work around the links between situations, thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Goals are defined together and reviewed throughout therapy, with attention to changes that can be observed in everyday life.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — ACT
ACT helps you develop a different way of responding to difficult thoughts, emotions and sensations, rather than constantly trying to eliminate or control them.
The work may involve present-moment awareness, stepping back from certain thoughts, clarifying what matters to you and taking concrete actions that are consistent with your values.
These tools are integrated into therapy when they are relevant to the difficulties and goals being addressed.
Virtual reality-assisted exposure
When exposure is part of the therapeutic work, virtual reality can be used as an additional tool within CBT. It is not a therapy on its own.
It is introduced after an initial period of understanding and preparation. Certain situations can then be approached gradually during the session, in a controlled environment whose level of difficulty can be adjusted.
Learn about virtual reality-assisted exposure →A complementary background
My background in architecture and design informs the way I create clear visual materials, represent certain therapeutic processes and make exercises easier to understand and use. Today, this experience complements my therapeutic work, particularly when designing visual resources and certain virtual reality environments.