Life is for Living is an organisation created by a community of yacht-related individuals who wanted to create awareness around the emotional and mental wellbeing support services available in the yachting industry. 

Due to addiction being incredibly prevalent within the yachting industry and a struggle for many crew, the organisation decided to partner with a specialist team, EMA, to provide accurate and informative guidance during their debut event earlier this year. 

EMA is run by a psychologist and counsellor duo, Enrique and Marta, who are based in Porto Portals, Mallorca, and specialise in addiction. Unfortunately, EMA already has many clients who are yacht crew.

During the event, Enrique and Marta illustrated the workings of the mind through addiction, including how the prolonged use of substances can permanently alter the mind. Captains, crew and yacht managers were taught actionable skills to help recognise the signs of addiction and mental health issues. They were also given handouts of resources so they can accurately direct affected fellow crew.

If you need support or would like access to some useful resources, head over to the Life is for Living Facebook page for a list of emotional health and wellbeing services and resources, or join the EMA support group in Mallorca for addiction-related matters. See the full details below. 

EMA Support Group

Jeremy, Enrique and Marta have set up EMA Entorno de Soporte Terapeutico, a professional group therapy support network in English.

They meet every Wednesday in Portals Nous and the sessions are open to anyone (in yachting or not) who is struggling with life, addiction, mental instability or can see themselves heading in that direction. Everything discussed within the group is completely confidential and all they ask is that you send them a WhatsApp message beforehand so that they have an idea of numbers.

Meet with EMA

When: Every Wednesday 6:45pm

Where: Portals de Yoga

Carretera Andratx 43

Local 12

Portals Nous

Mallorca

Contact: WhatsApp +34 608 418 863 

The EMA Team

Enrique Balasch Torres

• Therapist at EMA and Instituto Hipocrates Mallorca.

• Specialist in the treatment of addictions to substances.

• Experience: Former recovered addict with many years of experience conducting group therapy at Instituto Hipocrates.

Marta de la Cruz

• Clinical psychologist

• Specialist in the treatment of addictions at the Instituto Hipocrates

• Specialist in floral therapy applied to emotional processes

• Psychosocial analyst in freelosophy

• Experience: Psychologist for EMA with 3 year's experience treating patients at Instituto Hippocrates Mallorca. More than 10 years of experience as a clinical psychologist in different areas and more than 20 years in the area of qualitative market research with a psychosocial approach.

Jeremy Hance

• Engineer and Captain, recovered with Instituto Hipocrates a year and a half ago.

• Promoter of the group in Portals Nous.