Susana Costa Ramalho

Susana Costa Ramalho serves as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal (FCH-UCP), where she has taught since 2017 and currently acts as Coordinator of the Institute of Family Sciences. As a researcher at the Católica Research Centre for Psychological, Family and Social Wellbeing, she leads the "Invisible Pillars of the Family" project and contributes to CUIDAR, a university research and extension initiative focused on child protection.

Dr. Costa Ramalho earned her PhD in Educational Psychology through a joint program between the University of Lisbon and the University of Coimbra. Her 2013 research visit to NLA University College Bergen in Norway expanded her international scholarly perspective. She maintains dual professional identity as both academic researcher and clinical practitioner, holding specialist certifications in Clinical and Health Psychology and Community Psychology from the Portuguese Psychologists Order.

Her research program centers on relational dynamics within families and couples, with particular emphasis on well-being promotion across the lifespan. She has developed multiple assessment instruments including the "4Ever Family Questionnaire" and scales measuring romantic love myths and couple generativity. Her scholarly work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications, addressing both clinical interventions and community-based approaches to strengthen family systems.

Dr. Costa Ramalho teaches across multiple programs including the Undergraduate Psychology Program, Master in Psychology of Wellbeing and Health Promotion, and Advanced Program in Family Reception, Orientation, and Referral. Her course portfolio spans family development, clinical interventions with adults, psychopathology, and mental health across the lifespan, reflecting her integrative approach to psychological science and practice.

As Coordinator of the Institute of Family Sciences, she oversees research initiatives examining family dynamics from multiple perspectives. Her leadership in the "Invisible Pillars of the Family" project represents a significant contribution to understanding foundational family experiences. Her clinical expertise in Cognitive-Behavioral and Emotion-Focused Psychotherapy informs both her teaching and research, creating a synergistic relationship between academic and applied work.