Associate Psychologist

Education: MS Clinical Psychology, De La Salle University Manila

Ria’s clinical practice is centered on psychological assessments of individuals of all ages. She has undergone training in Play Therapy as well, and has handled several cases of child and adolescent psychotherapy. She likewise conducts teacher training workshops and gives parenting talks in various schools and organizations and has created and  co-developed several modules for teacher training programs.

Besides her clinical practice, Ria, better known as Teacher Ria, is a part-time lecturer at the Psychology Department of De La Salle University and is the consultant of Playschool International. She was a preschool teacher for almost 12 years and throughout her many years of teaching, where she handled classes for children of ages 7 months to 5 years, she always held dear her  core advocacies in teaching, which are developing a love for reading, building a child’s literacy skills, and fostering a child’s self-esteem by embracing different learning styles in her classrooms. In both her preschool and college classrooms, Teacher Ria believes strongly in the value of play and having fun as an essential element in the learning process.

Her present research interests center on social networking and cyber psychology. In her spare time she is a freelance writer and maintains several blogs, including  www.theaccidentalteacher.com  and  www.yapatoots.com. Some of her articles can be found at the Health and Wellness channel of The Philippine Online Chronicles.