Raquel is a Clinical Psychologist and certified expert in Clinical and Health Psychology and Community Psychology by the Portuguese College of Psychology. She is a researcher at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPCEUC), University of Coimbra (UC) and Integrated member of Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behavior Intervention (CINEICC). Raquel holds her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the UC (2015). Between 2014 and 2018 she was a Researcher at the Association for Research and Development of the Faculty of Medicine (Lisbon, 2014-2017), an Assistant Professor at the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies (Lisbon, 2015-2018), a Clinical Psychologist at Centro Materno Infantil de Lisboa (2014-2016), and an Invited Researcher (2014-2017) at the Cardiovascular Center of the University of Lisbon. Throughout this career path, she gained vast clinical and research experience in different domains of clinical and health psychology, as well as in community psychology, and particular expertise in managing the conduction of prospective, multicenter, randomized, and controlled trials and quantitative research methods, as well as complex statistical techniques. Since 2019, she is a FCT Researcher (Scientific Employment Stimulus) at CINEICC. She is responsible for the research project: "A Mindfulness approach to adoptive parents' psychological and parenting functioning" (2019-2025). This projected count with the collaboration of the Social Security Institute, IP, the Azores Social Security Institute, ISS, IPRA, the Madeira Social Security Institute, ISSM, IP-RAM, the Collaborative Laboratory - ProChild CoLAB against Child Poverty and Exclusion Social, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa and the Associação Tempos Brilhantes. Her research work has been particularly focused on sexual & reproductive health and (the transition to) parenthood, with special emphasis on decision and adaptation processes among individuals in different developmental stages (e.g., adolescents, adults, advanced reproductive age). During her research activities, she has focused on issues related to sexual and contraceptive behaviors, sexual and relational satisfaction, reproductive decisions, and adaptation to parenthood in normative and non-normative situations (e.g., adolescent motherhood, unplanned pregnancy, induced abortion, advanced maternal age, child adoption), among non-clinical and clinical populations (e.g., individuals with chronic health conditions, infertile couples). Since 2020 she collaborates in teaching activities of the master's degree in Clinical Psychology - Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions and in the Doctoral Program of Psychology at FPCEUC, and she is also collaborator of the Cognitive-Behavioral Clinical Psychology Unit of the University of Coimbra.