Maria Athanasiou was born and raised in Alexandroupoli, Greece. She is a graduate of the Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She completed a psychiatric specialty at the University Psychiatric Clinic of Alexandroupolis, University General Hospital of Evros. She acquired her specialty title in December 2017.

Μ. Athanasiou also holds a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Social Psychiatry, graduating with a GPA of 8/10. Her thesis subject concerns animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP). She was motivated by the belief that animals have a positive influence on many aspects of life and can have an equally positive influence on psychic disorders. She continues to expand her horizons with ongoing training in the field of animal-assisted therapy at the French Institute of Zootherapy in Lyon, France, under the supervision of François Beiger. She is also a member of the French Syndicate of Zootherapy.

Since 2018, she works as a psychiatrist in her private clinic in Alexandroupoli, treating a wide range of psychiatric disorders, with both a holistic-psychotherapeutic and a psychobiological approach. She takes particular interest in her ongoing training in animal-assisted psychotherapy, where specially trained animals (dogs in particular) are used as mediators in the psychotherapeutic process, which is conducted by a specially certified mental health practitioner with the ultimate goal to cure psychiatric disorders.
Athanasiou’s clinical experience during her specialty practice, as well as her engagement in the field of social psychiatry and its principles, allow her to meet her responsibilities based on the value of the therapeutic continuum and to aid in the effective reintegration of the patient into society. 

Additionally, her MSc in Social Psychiatry enables her to offer full psychosocial support and to apply the basic principles of Social Psychiatry, such as Sectorization, Integrated Care, Accessibility, Continuity of Care (outpatient care), Priority in Primary Care, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Community Treatment,Voluntary Assistance (social activities).

Her engagement with research as well as her ongoing training aims at the patient’s integrated care, a care that combines psychosocial support with the new psycho-biological developments in psychiatry. In particular, along with her participation in various postgraduate seminars, her research interests concern psychotic manifestations and depression associated with Vitamin D levels disorders.