Daniel Sousa

Daniel Sousa serves as Professor of Health and Clinical Psychology and Director of Clinica ISPA at ISPA - University Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, holding these positions continuously since February 2012. His academic leadership bridges clinical practice and research within the university's mental health infrastructure.

Education:

• Ph.D. from Wales University, London, GB

His research pioneers existential-phenomenological approaches to psychotherapy, with core investigations into therapist persuasiveness, significant therapeutic events, and the mechanics of the working alliance. He systematically examines how self-awareness and verbalization catalyze meaning-making in clients, while developing innovative scales like the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) instrument to quantify therapeutic effectiveness. His methodology emphasizes descriptive phenomenological exploration of client experiences within existential frameworks.

Analysis of his 2022-2025 publications reveals three converging trends: rigorous testing of deliberate practice models against traditional training methods, adaptation of existential therapy to digital environments including online presence challenges, and cross-cultural validation of therapeutic factors like persuasiveness in anxiety treatment. His work consistently integrates qualitative depth with quantitative validation across Portuguese and international contexts.

Sousa actively shapes the field through leadership roles as Founder Member of the Portuguese Society for Existential Psychotherapy (since 2006) and editorial contributions to the European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy. As Director of Clinica ISPA, he oversees a university-based clinic that functions as both a service provider and training ground for emerging clinicians, embedding his research directly into clinical supervision and practice.