In our work, we use various approached and principles, the main of which are: the principle of love and respect for every person; family care; harmonizing relationships with oneself and others; preservation and restoration of psychological well-being; mediative understanding approach.

We work with children, families, schools, social services, non-profit organizations, local communities, governments and other stakeholders.

More on our psychological paradigm

In our approach, we use the paradigm developed by Professor Hilarion Petzold, one of the leading experts in clinical psychology, director of the European Academy of Psychosocial Health – Fritz Perls Institute (Germany), Head of the Department of clinical psychology at the University of Amsterdam, author of an integrative approach in psychotherapy, and author of almost a thousand publications in various fields of psychology, including more than a hundred monographs and several textbooks, including textbooks on working with patients with drug addiction.

Professor Petzold accentuates five basic principles of psychological well-being:

• health;
• interpersonal relationships;
• social status;
• financial situation;
• recreation/leisure.

Violation of one or several principles leads to the risk of developing personality crisis, which in turn triggers a mechanism of destructive or self-destructive behavior aimed at reducing and terminating social and biological functioning.

The main forms of destructive behavior include:

• addictive behavior – dependence on or an acute need in a certain type of activity (abuse of psychoactive substances (nicotine, alcohol, drugs, etc.); Internet addiction, gambling, shopaholism, psychogenic overeating, fanaticism, etc.;
• delinquent behavior – antisocial, unlawful behavior (leaving school, running away from home, vagrancy, crime);
• suicidal behavior – intentional and voluntary taking of one’s life. Its manifestations include suicidal thoughts, intentions, statements, threats, suicidal attempts. With true suicidal behavior, the intention to take one’s life is not only deliberate, it often lingers for a long time. Often there is also a demonstrative suicidal behavior, which is not based on the intention to end one’s own life, but such behavior may also eventually lead to death.

Various forms of destructive behavior are like communicating vessels, similar in that when people try to combat such behaviors on the symptomatic level, their efforts prove to be ineffective. For example, if you deprive a person of the ability to take drugs by force or medical treatment only, even if the problem of dependence is successfully resolved there is a high probability of relapse or activation of other forms of self-destructive behavior — for example, suicidal. Therefore, it is extremely important to identify and eliminate the root cause of the formation of psychological distress (but that is the area of work for counselors, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts).

The foundational principle of prevention of psychological problems is love and respect. Only through love and a respectful attitude towards the person can we keep our loved ones (our spouses, children, parents, friends, students, colleagues and acquaintances) from fatal mistakes, helping them to get back the joy, think positively and be happy.

More on our mediation paradigm

Conflict (from Latin conflictus “clash”)is defined as a disagreement, a clash of interests, goals and views. Conflicts and disputes are an integral part of human life. Conflict is the product of any interaction of living organisms and even objects of the material world. The simplest solution to an elementary conflict-interaction is based on the physical superiority of one of the parties. Therefore, the first way to resolve a conflict in a primitive society was force. Throughout early history, humankind concluded that a more civilized way of resolving disputes was necessary, and we have seen the emergence of the legal system. However, this method turned out to be insufficient, since it was based on the principle of competition, generating negative emotions leading to hostile relations. People thought about alternative ways to resolve disputes, based on the basic needs of individuals and a more humane approach.

This is how mediation came about (from Latin mediare “to serve as an intermediary”). This is an alternative way of settling conflicts between parties with the help of a third party (the intermediary).

The purpose of mediation is consensus (from Latin consensus “agreement, compassion, being of one mind”), which is, in fact, victory for both parties and is based on the satisfaction of their true interests and needs. This is the most humane and civilized way to resolve a dispute, since it is based on the principles of cooperation, positive communication and mutual respect.

The philosophy of mediation is based on universal human moral principles, meeting the needs of the individual (safety, love, respect, self-actualization, etc., as in Maslow’s pyramid). Mediation is aimed at awakening the best human qualities, contributes to the development of personality, provides an opportunity to learn to trust again, to show empathy, respect, love, and congruence.

Mediation is not possible without understanding the value of a person, in their ability to cope with any even most difficult situation, based on the understanding of the innate freedom of choice. This principle is consistent with biblical knowledge (the highest gift of God to man – free will – the ability to choose), and with the wisdom of the ancient Romans: Faber est suae quisque fortunae – “Each one is the blacksmith of their own happiness”. The mediator accepts and respects people’s right to choose. The mediator must have the spiritual strength to help the parties believe that they are endowed with the strength and power to find a way out of any situation.