Skopje, 20 June 2026 (MIA) - In an era of dynamic everyday life, digital overload and increasing emotional burnout, mental health care is becoming a primary challenge for the people. It is in this context that holistic psychologist from Bulgaria, Yana Koteva, is becoming increasingly present and shared on social media in the region, including here, through her empathetic and extremely practical advice.

Koteva is an applied psychologist with a master's degree from the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. She is a specialist in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), guided by the practical motto "There is a way forward". What makes her practice unique is the combination of behavioral and criminal psychology with holistic nutrition and psychosomatic medicine – an area she is perfecting under the mentorship of Italian experts from the Alquimia Centre of Healing Arts.

With an impressive number of over 15,000 online consultations, rather than using classical media, she is building her strong brand directly in the digital space, bringing psychology closer to people in their most comfortable setting – their own home.

“People often look for complicated concepts for a good life, and the truth is that mental health relies on accessible and entirely simple foundations. Get enough sleep. Dance in the kitchen. Sing in the shower. Take care of an elderly person. Laugh with a child. Water flowers. Feed an animal. But don’t start or end your day on social media,” Koteva tells MIA readers.

You often emphasize that emotions and the physical body are one. How do you specifically connect psychosomatic medicine with the holistic nutrition in your practice? Can a person get out of an emotional crisis if he/she does not change their physical and eating habits?

We really should not separate the psyche and the body. In my practice, I notice every day how unprocessed traumatic experiences from the past gradually turn into insomnia, anxiety, eating disorders or chronic burnout. The biomolecules in our body constantly react to the emotions we experience.

An example of this is the excessive activation of the sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight response). If we remain in a state of high cortisol and adrenaline for too long, that condition becomes chronic and leads to hormonal imbalance, insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction and problems with sex hormones.

In this sense, it is desirable to work both with the invisible threads of emotions and with their measurable bodily manifestations. We cannot claim that a healthy diet or good sleep solves everything, but the soul and body inevitably influence each other and heal together.

Your motto is “There is a way forward” and you prefer short-term therapy aimed at quick solutions. How do you manage to immediately find a solution for the present, without wasting time on long analyses and digging into the traumas of the past?

The past is the foundation and it contains a large part of the answers to all our important questions, but we must not remain prisoners of our own history! I have met many people who have been analyzing for years why they were hurt, but have not taken a single step towards living better.

Therefore, if I had to describe the approach I prefer, I would define it this way: “We respect the past, but work for the future.” Yes, we will certainly look for the reason for the way we feel in the deepest layers of consciousness and in everything that has already been, but along with that we will also look for the first functional opportunity to change our thinking and habits. One short action performed with dedication every day has greater healing power than a hundred good intentions and three self-help books.

You have over 15,000 online consultations behind you. How do you manage to establish true empathy and accurately “read” nonverbal signs in a client who is miles away, through a screen, via Viber or messenger?

After 15,000 consultation meetings, I can confirm that human closeness does not depend on distance. It depends on whether someone really can and wants to help you.

A good psychologist is able to distinguish nuances in tone, pauses between words, hesitation in the voice, elusive sighs, the words that a person chooses and those that he or she leaves out. During online meetings, people relax much more because they are in their own environment and feel more secure, calm and protected.

Fortunately, understanding, support, love for the profession and for people, ethics and empathy are not a matter of physical proximity. They can be found across oceans and kilometers, and they can be missing while we are standing inches from each other.

You help many people who have survived emotional violence. What are the first alarming psychosomatic symptoms that indicate that someone is in a destructive relationship and what does the first, most difficult step towards regaining lost self-confidence look like?

The first signals are usually experienced as anxiety, a feeling of guilt, a fear of saying what you think, clearly stating your needs, as well as the belief that you are walking on thin ice and never know what the reaction of the person on the other side will be.

The most difficult step is the moment when a person must admit to themselves: “This is not a full-value relationship, but a connection based on trauma and addiction.” From there, the return to their own value and dignity begins.

We live in a chaos of stress, fast food and social media. On your Facebook account you often share lists of guidelines, so tell us directly: What are the key mental hygiene habits that a modern person must immediately introduce into everyday life to prevent anxiety and emotional burnout?

People often look for complicated concepts for a good life, but the truth is that mental health is based on accessible and quite simple foundations.

Get enough sleep. Dance in the kitchen. Sing in the shower. Take care of an elderly person. Laugh with a child. Water flowers. Feed an animal. But don't start and end your day on social media. Instead, give yourself those moments and listen to what that part of you that no one sees has to say to you. It's very important to learn to love your own company. And one more thing: don't stay too long in relationships that drain you more than they enrich and inspire you.

Mental hygiene is simple daily care, not an action we take only when we're already burned out.

How, in your view, do the male mind and the female mind function when a conflict arises in a relationship? How can modern partners harmonize their roles without the man losing his masculine energy and the woman losing her feminine energy?

I don’t like extremes and generalizations, because every person is different. But in my practice I often see that when a problem arises, the man observes the big picture and looks for a practical solution, while the woman first needs warmth, someone to listen to her and she needs understanding.

And this is where conflicts begin. One offers a quick way out of the situation, because that is his way to move forward, and the other needs to be heard and seen first, before making a decision and integrating what happened as part of the story.

For me, high-quality relationships are not a battle between male and female energy. A good relationship is a meeting between two mature people who choose to respect each other even when they think and feel differently.

In your emotional posts, you often write about the “inner child” and how not everything is our fault. What are the most common scars that show us that we have lost touch with that child within us and how can we practically “embrace it” to finally allow ourselves pure joy?

We all carry a smiling child inside us, smeared with lemon ice cream on its chin. That child holds the memory of our first fears, dreams, wounds and longings.

When we lose the connection with it, we become too cold and pragmatic. We become workaholics who live, sleep and eat like robots. We stop enjoying the little things: a new day, a cup of hot chocolate, a beautiful sunset. We have a hard time connecting, if we even manage to do so, with the people around us. We feel emptiness and senselessness. The exact opposite of the life that children naturally lead every day!

For me, meeting the inner child is an encounter with our own vulnerability and authenticity. Once we stop fighting with ourselves, the deep and lasting healing begins.

You write that when the “strong man” falls silent and leaves without a scene – that is a definitive decision for salvation. What are the invisible signs that someone who has been a “supporting rock” for all those around them for years is reaching this breaking point? How can these people learn to ask for help before their silence becomes a permanent goodbye?

I don’t worry about people who know how to cry and know how to ask for help on time. These are conscious and courageous people. I worry more about those who smile and say “I’m fine”, while completely falling apart on the inside.

Strong people are used to carrying the entire burden on their backs. They provide support, but rarely allow themselves to ask for it for themselves. And when such a person begins to withdraw, become silent and lose interest in the world around them, it is an alarming sign of emotional and physical exhaustion.

I believe that the greatest strength in this world is not to grit your teeth and walk the path of life all by yourself. The greatest strength is to say "I need help" before it's too late.