Department of Psychology

Brief CV

I studied journalism in Athens and sociology at the University of Crete, from where I received my Ph.D. degree. My doctoral thesis refers on the transition from the asylum to the community model of mental health. My scientific interests focus on issues of institutional organization of mental health, bodily practices and practices of the self as well as the relationship between subjectivity and recreational sports.

Career Development

University of Crete:

2023 – present: Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.

2009 – 2022: Faculty member in the Department of Sociology.

2005 – 2009: Adjunct professor at the Department of Sociology.

2004 – 2005: Adjunct professorat the Department of Philosophical and Social Sciences.

TEI of Crete:

2003-2005: Adjunct professor at the Department of Social Work.

Greek National Health System:

2006 – 2009: Sociologist at the Social Support Education and Training Center for Persons with Disabilities (KEKYKAmeA.) of Rethymno.

2004 – 2006: Sociologist at the Central Service of the Health Region Administration (D.Y.PE.).

Research Interests

My research interests focus on the sociology of mental health as well as the social connotations of the body, subjectivity and contemporary self practices. More specifically my research focuses on the transition from the asylum psychiatric model to the development of differentiated community mental health. I am also interested in contemporary practices of the self in the field of leisure and sports.

Selected Publications

Tzanakis, M. (2022). The Concept of Ulysses as An Understanding Form of Mental Illness in Individualized Societies: Testimonies in the Greek Post-Asylum Era. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences International Journal, 20(1): 556029.

Vavvos, A, Tzanakis, M, Triliva, S. (2022). From the World of Falsehood to the World of Truth: Recovery and reflexivity in Clubs of Families with Alcohol-related Problems in Crete. Journal of Community Psychology: 1-7.

Siettou, E., Paraskevopoulou, S., Tzanakis, M. and Perdicari, E. (2022). Self-Care? Narratives of Patients Diagnosed with Schizophrenia and the Issue of the Identity-management. Journal of Sociology and Social Work, 10(2).

Perdikari, E. Paraskevopoulou, St., Tzanakis, M. (2022). Depression and Perspectives of Life of the Elderly in Greece. Agora Psycho-Pragmatica, 15 (1): 1-12.

Tzanakis, Μ., Valasaki, M., Moraitou, M., Kelemen, G., Gavrila-Ardelean, M., Deloyer, J., Hanon, C., Hunstinx, N., Tournier, I., Vaseur-Bacle, S., Maes, C. and Fond-Harmant, L. (2019). Sociocultural and Organizational Dimentions of Mental Health Networks for Older Adults towards new Formations”. Agora Psycho-Pragmatica, 13(1): 55-63.

Tzanakis, M. (2016). Nature, corps et soi sous la surface de la mer. La plongée sou-marine comme pratique de soi. Loisir et Société/Society and Leisure, 39(3) : 451-466.

Tzanakis, M., Savvakis, M. and Alexias, G. (2016). Mastectomy and Voluntarism: From the Individualized Self to Solidarity Groups in Greek Women with Breast Cancer. In W. Armstrong (Ed.), Breast Cancer: Risk Assessment, Treatment and New Developments. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 51-88.

Tzanakis, M. (2014). Gérer son « soi souffrant » : pédagogie d’autonomie et expérience psychiatrique. Socio-logos, Revue de l’assotion francaise de sociologie, 9 (mis en lighe le 19 avril 2014). URL : http://socio-logos.revues.org/2872

Savvakis, M. and Tzanakis, M. (2004). The Researcher, the Field and the Issue of Entry: Two Cases of Ethnographic Research Concerning Asylums in Greece. Sociology Research on line, 9(2).

Courses offered at the Undergraduate Level

Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences (PSY-2204)

Society, Community and Mental Health: Research and Learning through Community Giving (PSY-4615, Lab., in collaboration with Prof. Sofia Triliva)

Courses offered at the Postgraduate Level

Qualitative Methodology in the Study of Addictions (KPE – 07, in collaboration with Prof. Sofia Triliva)