Marina da Rosa Vilani 

ABA Tutor / Registered Behavior Technician

Olá!! I grew up in a damp and drizzly suburban city where everyone’s daily life was dominated by the endless consumption of tea—no, it’s not Manchester—but rather Caxias do Sul, a city in Southern Brazil close to the Chilean and Argentinian border! It turns out South Brazil and the UK share almost identical climates.

During my childhood in Brazil, I lived in three different places: Cuiabá (close to the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland), Brasília (the capital of Brasil) and finally, Caxias do Sul (the city of the Italian immigrants in the south that hosts a grape festival every two years).

After growing up in different cities and experiencing all sorts of culture, my family was not at all surprised when I decided I wanted to move to London once I finished my undergraduate degree in Psychology. I was hungry for a new culture, and the UK seemed perfect to keep studying what I love (the human mind and its development) in a professional paradigm.

Before coming to the UK, I lived in Portugal for almost two years and completed a specialisation in Neuropsychology and Neurorehabilitation. When I finally came to London, I did a master’s degree in Psychoanalytic Studies with the aim to explore how to research in that field; I also finished my RBT training and started to work with children with learning disabilities at a school setting and through ABA within home environments.

I am a music lover and I really enjoy new adventures so, in my free time, I am either adventuring in the kitchen—trying new recipes and making weirdly flavoured mixtures—or exploring the outdoors. You will always find me tuned in to a completely random playlist with all the genres you can imagine!