About me
Fernando Parada Zelada, Ph.D. — Clinical psychologist graduated from Universidad Central de Chile (2012). I worked eight years in public mental health across primary and secondary care, doing individual psychotherapy, workshops, and group programs.
In 2014, I specialized in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) at the ACT Institute in Madrid, Spain. Since then I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses on ACT and its theoretical foundations. I currently teach in the Relational Mindfulness Master’s program at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (course on ACT and Relational Frame Theory – RFT) and in the ACT diploma at Instituto Ikastola (Santiago, Chile).
In 2018, I began my PhD at Universidad de Chile, researching technology applications in mental health. In my dissertation, I designed a system to help therapists strengthen the therapeutic alliance with their clients. In 2022, I completed my PhD and joined Microsoft as a User Experience Researcher in the Xbox division.
Today, I focus on psychotherapy with adults, where I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people clarify their values and purpose so they can move toward a more meaningful, purpose-driven life. I also continue teaching at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Instituto Ikastola, and I work on consulting projects in User Experience and digital product design. Finally, I run an evidence-based psychotherapy channel on Instagram (8,000+ people) and share content on TikTok (~7,700).
Besides the above, I love playing guitar (🎸), playing video games (🎮), learning new things, and spending time with my wife and our two dogs, Manolo and Frida (🐶🐶).
