Country: Croatia
Email: mirta.vranko@gmail.com
Tel: +385 98 841 067

Mirta Vranko was born in Zagreb, where she also obtained a master’s degree in social pedagogy at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, the University of Zagreb. She has been employed as a social pedagogue at University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče since her internship at the University Psychiatric Hospital. She is the head of the Department of Social Pedagogy at the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče and works at the Department of Psychotherapy. She is PhD holder from 2021 at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences with the topic of her doctoral dissertation “Contribution of factors of individual resilience, perceived social support and strategies for coping with stress in explaining the social functionality of people with depression.” In 2018, she earned the title of European-certified reality therapy psychotherapist.

In addition to thirteen years of clinical practice, she also practices psychotherapy in private practice. In both cases, she deals with individual and group psychotherapy. Her professional interests are psychotherapy for anxious and depressed people, strengthening personal potential, working with young people in late adolescence, and strengthening the potential of high-risk people for the development of psychopathology and adult children of mentally ill parents.

In addition to reality therapy, she has knowledge and skills in other psychotherapeutic approaches (group analysis, creative and expressive therapies).

She completed a three-year university program at the Sophia Institute of Culture (Italy) in intercultural pedagogy, of which she was a scholarship holder from 2004 to 2006. From 2007 to 2008, she participated in the postgraduate specialist study at The Faculty of Teacher Education University of Zagreb. She was the winner of the Zonta Young Woman in Public Affairs regional award in 2003 for the involvement of young women in society and doubled the European Society for Preventive Science for young researcher scholarships (2016, 2018).

She has actively participated in several scientific and professional congresses, workshops, and symposia in the country and abroad. She is the author and co-author of several scientific and professional papers and a regular guest lecturer in the course “Domestic Violence” and “Group approach in social pedagogical interventions”. Over several years she was in the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation and psychotherapy propaedeutic programme mentoring students.

She is a member of The European Association of Psychotherapy (EAP), the European Association for Research in Prevention (EUSPR), the International Association for Social Pedagogy (SPA), the Croatian Association for Reality Therapy (HURT) and the European Institute for Reality Therapy (EIRT). Volunteers in NGOs.