"Healing & Resilience Journey with a Trauma- and Stress-Informed Psychologist"
Life is a journey — rich with joy, connection, and meaning.
But it also brings moments of stress, uncertainty, and pain. These challenges may come through conflict, work overload, heartbreak, or unexpected loss.
Some experiences go deeper: assault, accidents, childhood neglect, war, or emotional abuse. Trauma leaves marks — often hidden — in our bodies and nervous systems.
If you're navigating trauma, chronic stress, or emotional overwhelm, know this: you are not alone.
I’m Lorena Aguirre, a certified psychologist, trauma- and stress-informed, trained in Somatic Experiencing, TRE, and Emotion-Focused Therapy. I help people reconnect with their bodies, heal emotional wounds, and reclaim their power — in Madrid and online.
We don’t fix trauma by talking it away. We heal by grounding, by feeling, and by rising. Like a phoenix, you can rise from the ashes — not just once, but as many times as needed.
Seeking support is not weakness. It’s the beginning of returning to yourself.
About
My mission since I was a little child has been to protect the vulnerable, be it animals or persons. I always searched for a common place where both can coexist, develop, and live in peace.
My training in social psychology and humanistic psychotherapy has been my framework of knowledge to develop my professional skills in Africa. They fed my passion for biodiversity, conservation, and human well-being.
Psychology
In-Person and Online Sessions
I am a humanistic and integrative psychologist and psychotherapist.
I offer in-person sessions in Madrid, where we can meet face-to-face. And if you have a busy schedule, online sessions (e-Psychology) are just as effective and easily adapt to your daily routine.
Asking for help is a sign of strength, and your journey starts here.
As a humanistic psychologist, my work focuses on your innate capacity for growth and healing.
This approach emphasizes empathy, self-awareness, and personal responsibility throughout your own process.
Whether you are going through chronic stress, anxiety, depression, unresolved trauma —whether from childhood or adulthood—, grief and losses, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life, my trauma-informed approach offers you a safe and supportive space to process your experiences and learn self-regulation.
Through resilience-based strategies, we will build practical tools to help you navigate life’s complexities, strengthening your emotional balance and coping skills.
I integrate techniques from Somatic Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Positive Psychology, Energy Psychology, and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), always adapting to your unique needs.
This broad and integrative approach will help you regulate your mind, emotions, and body, opening a real path toward your well-being.
Resilience Trainings
"Discover in resilience the strength to understand and overcome any adversity and build a tomorrow filled with hope and fortitude"
With over a decade of experience, I am pleased to introduce myself as a passionate expert in training on modern techniques for trauma treatment and the development of psychological resilience.
My personal brand is centered around fostering resilience in conflictive work or life environments, including humanitarian personnel, law enforcement groups, medical staff, communities in conflict zones, and highly demanding workplaces.
I offer training services to both humanitarian and business organizations interested in enhancing the productivity, well-being of their personnel.
My resilience training equips you with the tools to enhance self-awareness and self-esteem, efficiently manage your emotions and bodily responses, cultivate positive social connections, foster a flexible mindset for tackling challenges, problem-solving, and goal-setting, and, most importantly, nurture an optimistic outlook.
The training includes a deep understanding of the psychoneurobiology of stress and trauma, along with techniques for implementing holistic healing routines that address the mind, emotions, and physical body to promote alignment and well-being.
One of my most innovative resilience programs started in 2018 for the brave park rangers who protect our natural spaces in the midst of poaching and the presence of armed groups that illegally control natural resources: Strong Balanced Rangers. This program has proven to be very effective for both team leaders and team members.
Join me on this journey of learning and growth to improve your resilience and the one of your team or community, Together we will forge a kinder, more equitable, productive, and happier place to live and work..
Consulting
“Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community"
(World Health Organization, 2020)
It is a pleasure to introduce myself, Lorena Aguirre Cadarso, as a specialized consultant in mental health and psychosocial support in international humanitarian and development projects.
In today's interconnected world, addressing mental health and well-being is crucial to achieving sustainable development goals.
Individuals and communities affected by crises, conflicts, epidemics, or challenging circumstances often bear hidden scars that hinder progress.
Humanitarian and international cooperation projects must be sensitive to the individual and collective traumas of the communities they work with, as they impact productivity, social cohesion, and overall progress.
Use my expertise to make a significant difference in your international cooperation and humanitarian aid initiatives.
Let's create a future together!"
"MY DESIRE IS TO COLLABORATE WITH DEDICATED ORGANIZATIONS DRIVEN TO IGNITE A TRANSFORMATION TOWARDS UNIVERSAL WELL-BEING IN SOCIETIES, RISING STRONGER THAN EVER LIKE THE PHOENIX."
“I wrote this book to honour the invisible threads that unite us —humans, animals, the Earth, and our shared traumas. It’s a tribute to love, to resilience, and to the possibility of healing together. These pages carry the echoes of my daughter’s questions, the strength of Congolese communities, and the wisdom of the chimpanzees who taught me that sometimes, presence is the best therapy.”
— Lorena Aguirre Cadarso
Professional Bio
Lorena Aguirre Cadarso is a psychotherapist specialized in trauma recovery and resilience building. From 2007 to 2021, she served as Country Director for the NGO Coopera in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she contributed to the creation of the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Center (CRPL) and to several sustainable human development projects.
In Lwiro, she witnessed firsthand the emotional wounds caused by the conflict that has torn the country apart. This experience led her to launch initiatives that integrate human, animal, and environmental approaches in the communities surrounding Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
In March 2021, she founded the Mutima Africa psychosocial support center, which provides care for individuals affected by war trauma and survivors of violence. She is the co-protagonist of the documentary Mama, directed by Pablo de la Chica, which won a Goya Award in 2022.
Currently, she continues collaborating on humanitarian aid and development projects as a board member of Coopera Congo, while running her own online psychotherapy practice (www.laguirrecadarso.com).
Mutima Africa Project
Why Mutima Psychosocial Center Came to Life?
COOPERA CONGO and Lorena Aguirre Cadarso, have worked with child soldiers, minor victims of sexual violence, women victims of domestic and gender violence, and men devastated for not having been able to save their families during attacks by armed men, for having been kidnapped, for lost their limbs due to machete or bullet wounds ...
The aftermath of war leaves deep and silent suffering, but there is a beauty that emerges from the darkness, people, warm and smiling Congolese people. People who dance to the sound of their voice, and shout peace with hope and pride.
All trauma survivors but especially a woman inspired MUTIMA AFRICA. This woman is MAMA Zawadi, which story was told in the doc short, "MAMA", directed by Pablo de la Chica. She taught us that if you have the right support, your life can shine again. That if you find safety and love, you will recover.
This is why we construct a center where trauma survivors can find safety, professional support, and LOVE.
MUTIMA AFRICA is a temple for life that gives support to overcome trauma and construct resilience. At Mutima, people learn about trauma and self-application tools to reach their full potential as human beings, at all levels, mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual.
Mission
To create a more equitable, conscious, and peaceful society, through collaboration with Congolese communities, civil society, and governmental organizations, integrating mental health services in primary care and in the areas with the highest rate of violence, being accessible to all:
children, youth, adults, and the elderly.
Vision
To train mental health professionals in modern psychotherapy and psychiatric treatments, giving a quality support to trauma survivors
while researching on mental health topics and informing the community on mental disorders to avoid stigma and discrimination.
Project
Thanks to the COOPERA EUSKADI and the support of the Basque Government, which believed in the vision and mission of the COOPERA CONGO team, led by Lorena Aguirre Cadarso, it was possible to build the first MUTIMA Psychosocial Center in the South Kivu Province. The Mutima Psychosocial Center is a service of the Pediatric Hospital of Lwiro, managed by the prestigious Center for Research in Natural Sciences (CRSN / Lwiro).
