| About Me 

I am David Duarte. I am a therapist. I earned my certification in psychotherapy with a focus on transpersonal psychology at Escuela Española de Desarrollo Transpersonal, which is accredited by the Miguel de Cervantes European University in Madrid.

I have always been a very curious person. I remember as a child asking questions and paying close attention to the stories people told me. I am fascinated to hear peoples’ stories: their inspirations, struggles, fears, gifts, and accomplishments. Their stories teach me something and often inspire me. My innate curiosity has helped me to create meaningful connections throughout my life in every corner of the planet, and in recent years, I have felt inspired and called on to create a space, a safe container to lead people in deep transformational work from anywhere in the world. I was moved and encouraged to listen to my intuition by a group of gifted therapists, psychologists, and friends who courageously took this path and health professionals who have shown me the value and beauty of helping others. By helping others I found out that I am also helping myself. As they wake up, I wake up. As they clean up their stories from the past, I clean up my stories. As they show up for themselves, I also show up for myself.  In my eyes, that is the beauty of therapy.

“Life is like walking into a mirror house. We are constantly finding people that reflect  us.“

It hasn’t been this smooth all the way.

I used to work in highly stressful jobs where an urgent work culture was the order of the day,  keeping me in survival mode for as long as I can remember. I found myself waiting to overperform, “going above and beyond”, endless meetings, ever-present deadlines, the expectation to work overtime, and the expectation of 24-hour availability for clients, events, and parties.  But at what price?  In my case the price was high.

At the peak of my emotional rollercoaster, I was numbed. I couldn’t understand my emotions. I couldn’t sleep properly. I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t quite find a way out of the excruciating pain. I had a robot-like behavior, and I distanced myself from the people who had always stood there for me. I felt lonely and for the most part, lost. And even when I scored achievements at work, when I was told what a great job I had done, I was unable to hold that affirmation because of an underlying sense of incompletion and a desire to do more was ever-present.

Like many of you, I searched for wisdom and guidance on Google, with books, and from YouTube videos, but nothing seemed to work. My concentration was too scattered to absorb these new concepts and actually apply them in my life. I had no mental space for new information. My mind was wracked with anxiety, and without proper guidance, that information only intensified my conflicts and created more confusion.

My family was not a beacon of stability and support, much to the contrary. I grew up in a household whose foundation for communication was fear and shame. My father was absent,  authoritarian, homophobic, and had a dysfunctional sense of masculinity and respect for others. On the other side of the spectrum was my mother, a loving, caring, faithful, talented woman, who struggled with self-esteem. She only wanted the best for her kids. She was a voice of encouragement and an example of integrity and resilience that I remember from my childhood.

I never had a role model of a healthy and mature adult man – a person who can feel emotions without losing control, who can accept his different parts with compassion. Someone who can meet the challenges of modern life and yet be fully present for it. A man who navigates the intersections and paradoxes of love and hate, fear and bravery, discomfort and safety, confrontation and security.