Meet
ISIDRO M.
CASCALES
A certified psychologist helping people understand complex problems of the mind with clarity, respect and creative thinking.
A more careful way to look at what is happening
My story
This company is possible thanks to the contribution of experts in different fields — regulations, technology and wellbeing — who make sure everything works. Still, I am the only one privy to any information shared during a session.
In case you want to know more about the person you can have working for you, this is a brief account of my trajectory: from a shy kid in a small village to an engineer with a PhD in psychology, running a business.
I was born in a sunny region near the Mediterranean Sea, where people are social and tourists go to relax and enjoy life. It could have been the easiest place to interact with others, but I struggled around people. It felt like everyone but me knew how the world worked.
Luckily, there was somebody in my family with whom I could share my concerns while eating an orange in the long summer afternoons. One day in spring, that person left this world. My age was a single digit then, and for years to come I spent a lot of time in my head, trying to understand by myself and finish the job we had started together.
Later, I looked for the wisest people who ever lived — and their books. I did courses, joined groups and met extraordinary human beings. I also saw certainty in the words of masters, and then the opposite certainty in the words of other masters. After years of search, I found myself without a map, a compass or a destination. So I tried, stumbled, kept trying, and life became the only teacher left.
I learnt agronomic engineering because that would be useful. Then I specialized in biology and genetics and became a scientist. One day I realized that I would live with regret if I didn’t become a psychologist, so I took all my savings and started again in a new university from the beginning.
Then I became a cognitive neuroscientist, went to conferences, and the academic world became a second home.
Little by little, one concern started to weigh on me. We know so much compared to any other time in history, but the world still looks nothing like a paradise. Is our knowledge really helping that much? Should I do something more than philosophize with my time?
So I studied another master’s degree, became a certified psychologist and started my private practice. I had the education, the supervised practice and the recipe: diagnose, search for the best evidence-based treatment, apply the treatment, check the results.
There was just one problem: perhaps enhanced by being the elder brother in my family, I felt compelled to look after everyone who trusted me, not only what duty demanded.
I used to stay up late preparing for the next day, sometimes reading a whole book just for a single session. Everything I suggested to a person, I also tried to do myself, so as not to feel hypocritical during a session. I walked side by side with my patients, even if they didn’t know.
I learnt everything I could about psychology: from professional organizations to children, from loneliness to couples therapy, from specific phobias to general anxiety of unknown source, from mindfulness to psychological assistance in emergencies. I met fellow humans of different age, race, gender, religious and political views, social status and past choices. After thousands of hours in the therapist’s chair, there is a lot of suffering in your head, but also the experience of several lifetimes.
One day, the job started to feel easier. I began to see not just patterns in people’s behaviour, but also how the apparent randomness and inconsistencies seemed to make sense. I kept caring about people like the first day, taking nothing for granted, and people seemed to appreciate that.
From Practice to Purpose
Usually, the first two or three sessions are dedicated to evaluating the person. I had to follow protocol, but I also realized that by the end of the first session I could often have an accurate idea of the root of the problem and how to solve it effectively, as time would prove again and again. If the job was to prevent unnecessary suffering, I believed things could be done faster.
I also started to see patterns in society that did not spell a bright future for our species. And if you thrive inside the Titanic, you are not really thriving. Then new regulations came along that encouraged professionals to disclose the name and address of their clients for taxing purposes. I was not comfortable with the idea of handing a list of users of a mental health service to a public system, especially in a time when hacking seems like a matter of time.
Eventually, I saw value in the things I had learnt, and the possibility that others might appreciate them. Maybe it was time to leave the comfort of people’s worst nightmares and, instead of spending my time in other people’s minds, let other people into mine.
I wondered what the ideal version of my work would look like today. The answer was a digital counselling service that abides the law while protecting people’s intimacy to the full extent of their choice, with the accessibility of the digital era but no tracking or recording of your private life. Added to this, a platform where I can share lessons learnt along the way with anyone interested, and keep learning together.
In summary, I am just a guy trying to do more good than bad, have a life worth living, and not sell my integrity in the process. We are here because others decided to care about us. Their actions ripple through time with our own. If we decide to care about others, those who once held our little hands are still making a difference today.
Their love is still here 🙂