I am a psychologist and a person-centered psychotherapist, working with individuals, couples, families and groups for almost 20 years in private practice. I also offer therapy for kids and adolescents. I am originally from Dnipro, Ukraine, but due to the aggressive Russian full-scale war in my country, I was forced to leave Ukraine and move to Germany for a while.
My professional way was not too easy at the very beginning. After finishing school I began to study philology and graduated in 2000 with the Diploma of Philology, but my career in 'technical translation' was not satisfying to me. I missed live communication with people. So, in 2001 I joined the Dnipro State University again to study psychology and successfully graduated with a master's degree in 2003. During my university days I met some people who were into psychotherapy, which was a totally new trend in the human sciences in Ukraine then. In 2002 I was introduced to the person-centered approach at the UUAP (Ukrainian Umbrella Association of Psychotherapy). That was what I really needed. At that point, I decided I wanted to do this as my main professional activity. I qualified both in client-centered psychotherapy and children and youth psychotherapy, along with this I opened a private practice which I still run. After years of work I felt keen to share my professional experience and got qualified as a PCA trainer at the UUAP where I teach practical and theoretical skills to those who decided to dedicate themselves to this profession.
Since the very beginning of the war in 2014, major changes came to the lives of my fellow countrymen and my own. Especially now, during the full-scale aggression, most people in my country, being supported by many other people in the World, have stood up for humanistic values, such as freedom, independence, dignity, etc. These values, as well as many others, are represented in our approach. The PCA to many PCA practitioners is much wider than just the approach. As a way of being, it is embracing a wider range of the values which we carry as individuals. Being a board member, I am keen to contribute to the development of the WAPCEPC so that the Association can flourish and take its rightful place among other global psychotherapy communities.
