On Environmental Depression

December 5, 2022January 28, 20231 Comment

Recently a colleague reached out with a question if I could lead a session on climate/ environmental depression during class time as students have specifically requested a psychologist to talk to them about it.

Some of the questions asked were:

How to manage climate anxiety?
How to avoid depression, when working in climate science and ecology?
How to cope with feelings, while maintaining objectivity in work? How to avoid nihilism and despair?
How can one working in the environmental science field manage a good work life balance, such as being able to enjoy life and stay happy knowing all the scary things we learn and see on a daily basis.

We talked about the foundation on which ‘non-anxiety’ can be built, such as having the feeling of support, space and protection, trust and endurance. In terms of working professionally with the highly touching topics – to be able to protect oneself, to know own borders, capacities, abilities and inabilities, personal scope – what is possible for me personally in this particular context and circumstances? I shared my own experiences in becoming a clinical psychologist – while visiting various clinics during my studies I have realized that I am not able to work in child psychiatry – I couldn’t see myself as able to provide good help there. I have huge respect for those colleagues who can.

We talked about the importance of:

preventive measures of emotional burnout – possibility of having something similar to supervision process, peer groups or intervisions.
knowing own values – knowing what is important for oneself and why it is important? Doing check-ins with oneself by the end of the day: Have I lived my values today?
being selective with consuming the information that comes in from various directions. Not reading the news everyday and really paying attention to the news with positive initiatives, because they are there, but might not have all the spotlight attention on them.
finding the healthy outlet for difficult emotions that might be directed to specific people, entities, previous generations. Emotions need to be recognized and then it becomes possible to see the situation in more productive and solution oriented way.

And most importantly to give oneself permission to live. To be true to own values and not to get overwhelmed by new contexts, making our best in not falling into conformism. To remember that even the small actions are important, as they continue to live in one form or the other.

If your organization has a similar need – to have a questions and answers session on the topic of climate / environmental depression or dark future anxiety – please reach out!

Workshop: Introduction to Art-Therapy for Developmental Disorders | DIS – Study Abroad | 30.11.2022

December 5, 2022Leave a comment

Final workshop for DIS this semester was on Art-Therapy. During this workshop I have introduced the students to the basic principles of Art-Therapy, we talked about what mediums can be used in art therapeutic setting, some of the themes that can be explored with the help of art therapy and how a typical session would look like with kids or adults.

I have also presented various cases where I have used art therapy to illustrate the main underlying principle of the approach – that once we figure out how to make a symbolic change, we can also invite that change in real life.

This fall semester is almost at the end, and students enjoyed their time in the Studio expressing various emotions and impressions that have accumulated throughout their study abroad stay in Denmark. They really got engaged in the activity and were totally ‘hands-on’. It is always such a pleasure to work with future colleagues!

Do reach out if you would like an art-therapy session yourself or as a workshop for educational purposes. I enjoy developing workshops, so I would be happy to fine-tune it to fit your organization, class or group’s needs.

WHAT AM I WORKING ON NOW – FALL 2022

November 11, 2022

During Fall 2022 I am:

DEVELOPING

A unique event in Greece tailored for those who want to learn something new about themselves, get inspiration, and find new ways of working. In collaboration with Ekaterina Zhuikova, clinical psychologist, family and child psychotherapist. June 27 to July 2, 2023, Greece. More info to follow soon. ..

Training course on Balanced Time Perspective coaching for practitioners – end of March 2023. More info to follow soon.

Running my private psychotherapy practice in Copenhagen

I specialize in transitions and endings, psychology of time and Balanced Time Perspective coaching and existential questions. I work in English and Russian, both in-person and online. I work with individuals and couples. Currently, I also work Pro Bono with people affected by the war in Ukraine. I have some availability – feel free to reach out.

LEARNING

This year in my Logotherapy and Existential-Analytical Psychotherapy course we have started the clinical part of the education. Spring modules were on anxiety. The September 2022 module was mostly dedicated to depression, how it is viewed in existential analysis. The November 2022 module will be on treatment of depression.

Looking forward to joining the group in-person in London!

TEACHING

This Fall, I was running some workshops and guest lectures for various courses at DIS:

Workshop on Futurization for Creating the Space for the Future | Sustainable Development in Northern Europe course
Workshop on Balanced Time Perspective theory and practical interventions for Happiness Lab
Field Study on the applied effects of psychology of time for Environmental Philosophy
Introduction to Art-Therapy for Applied Psychotherapy

Exhibiting

In the month of December 2022, some of my art will be exhibited at the Gadens Galleri on Ryesgade 4, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark. Opening will be on Friday, December 9, 2022. More info to follow soon.

***

How do I manage all of the above and a few things that were left out? I love working with my version of the bullet journal and I also follow my own medicine regarding taking the creative breaks.

I am available for giving workshops on:

Balanced Time Perspective and its role in Mental Health
Futurization: Images of the Future and Future Scenarios to develop sustainable attitudes and behavior
How to deal with culture shock
Using creativity as a resource.

I would be thrilled to develop a tailored talk / workshop regarding time, creativity and your field of interest.

Best ways to keep up with my progress and stay in touch with me:

subscribe to my newsletter with my recent discoveries and updates & invitations to my exhibitions / pop-up galleries openings, events I’m organizing / hosting, talks & workshops I’m giving, etc.
follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook

Find out more about me on my about page.

Field Study: Applied Effects of Psychology of Time for Environmental Philosophy | DIS – Study Abroad | 26.10.2022

November 8, 20221 Comment

Thank you for last week’s event with a change of scenery!

On Wednesday morning, with DIS: Copenhagen, we found ourselves in a bus driving outside Copenhagen for an adventure!

The event took place at Karlstrup Kalkgrav lake, where students were able to learn about geology, the history of the lake, and the psychology of time while walking in nature and going with the flow.

We looked into:

Balanced Time Perspective in Therapy;
Time perspective theory;
Balanced time perspective profile;
Personal and global future;
Living in the present.

The main activity was a mindful walk in silence while experiencing living in the present, contemplating, and observing the surroundings. After this, students shared their feelings, impressions, and diverse points of view.

This activity allowed students to reflect and become more conscious of their views on the human-made lake and its nature.

As a result, students discovered that while having different thoughts about it and listening to totally different experiences of others, all of them were right, depending on their past experiences.

It was wonderful to be a part of this adventure, and we look forward to hearing more about students observing their lives and reflecting on their Time Perspective Profile to become more balanced.

If you are a practitioner (psychologist, therapist or coach) and interested to learn more about the Balance Time Perspective Coaching please join our educational seminar on it.

If you are interested in self-development and learning more about your personal time perspective profile and how to reach more balance, you can join the course “Where is my time?” or reach out for an individual consultation.

Many of the Creative Time Studio’s workshops are tailor-made, so don’t hesitate to reach out by requesting a workshop that fits your organization, class or group’s needs.

Workshop: Futurization: Creating the Space for the Future | Sustainable Development in Northern Europe course, DIS | 28.09.2022

November 4, 20221 Comment

Recently the DIS students from the course Sustainable Development in Northern Europe participated in our workshop on Futurization: Creating the Space for the Future.

We looked into the images of our own personal future and those of the global future. There was a stark difference between the two – personal future being much more positive and global future images were mostly negative. Similarly to my earlier research results presented at the TEDx Vilvoorde.

We looked into the common challenges associated with futurization:

lack of future discourse – no future language, absence of a tool to talk about it, except for concepts like ‘pension’ or ‘mortgage’ (are those effective?);
lack of our cognitive capacity to imagine long-term future;
images of the global future can be very scary, anxiety-provoking, or leave us feeling hopeless;
our defense mechanisms protect us from such emotions, but also make us shortsighted.

We looked at our difficult emotions, but have also looked at what can actually be done by us in the context of the current situation. We talked about the importance of knowing our own values and how to develop personal strengths supporting them.

Creating a safe space for expressing the emotions, imaginaries, hopes, and, most importantly, fears associated with the future and ‘futurization’, allowed for more productive ideas and solutions to emerge among the participants.

Finally, we looked into the ideal future, a combination of personal and global images, by visualizing it. Creating and discussing collages were valuable tools that helped the students to realize their thoughts about the future and to find what can support them in developing strategies for a better future.

As a result, students shared how they can keep the positive side of looking at their personal and global future and the importance of making change individually on a small scale.

We look forward to seeing how our workshop will inspire our young participants to create more sustainable personal and global futures.

If you are interested in self-development, learning more about personal and global future, and sustainable development – join our future workshops or reach out for a tailor-made workshop that fits your organization, class, or group’s needs.

Balanced Time Perspective in Therapy and Coaching workshop | DIS – Study Abroad | 05.10.2022

October 7, 2022November 4, 20221 Comment

Thank you, #HappinessLab from DIS – Study Abroad Copenhagen, for joining us this week at the Balanced Time Perspective in Therapy and Coaching workshop.

It was a pleasure to educate the new generation about time perspective theory, balanced time perspective profile and introduce various practical interventions.

Students got to see different cases, for example, a typical profile of someone struggling with anxiety, depressive episode or work-related stress and burnout, etc.

We looked into the process of working with a prospective client step-by-step:

– Performing initial assessment of the time perspective profile.

– Working with the profile: taking into account the individual, culture and context of the current situation.

– Learned about ‘reading between the lines’ of the profile numbers.

– Discussed and exercised various tools and interventions aimed at creating a higher level of balance in one’s time perspective.

Students were introduced to different exercises aimed at activating a positive past, or mindful present or possible future. For example, we went on a silent mindful walk, shared our observations and experiences after it, and discussed the importance of noticing how we notice.

As a result of the workshop, participants shared that they felt more relaxed, that they became more aware about their own past, present and future, that working with clients is not a “one recipe that fits all” but that it is a journey and discovery of a personal approach and that they have the tools that they can apply themselves to improve the level of balance of their time perspectives.

It has been a great pleasure to lead this workshop and we are looking forward to seeing how the approaches discussed today will be applied in daily lives.

If you are a practitioner (psychologist, therapist or coach) and interested to learn more about the Balance Time Perspective Coaching please join our educational seminar on it.

Many of the Creative Time Studio’s workshops are tailor-made, so don’t hesitate to reach out by requesting a workshop that fits your organization, class or group’s needs.

Psychology of Time and Well-Being

April 4, 2020Leave a comment

Dear friends and colleagues, please help me to record a guest lecture for a Positive Psychology course – I find it extremely difficult to talk without an actual audience.

Time: Apr 5, 2020 05:00 PM Copenhagen

During this talk I will:
– give a very very very brief intro to how time is studied in psychology,
– how I ended up in this research field, in which I’m ‘stuck’ now for almost 20 years (celebrating my anniversary this August),
– what is a time perspective and what is a balanced time perspective profile
– I will talk about my research on the balanced time perspective profile in Russia and in Sweden.

I also usually have some tips on what can be done to achieve it, I might adjust it as a response to the current new conditions for many of us.
You will also have an opportunity to take the test and discover your own temporal profile.

We can also have a Q&As session at the end of the talk.

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 759 397 541

What Am I Working On Now – February 2019

February 23, 2019February 22, 2019Leave a comment

During February 2019 I am:

Developing:

Concept for the arts part of the Time Perspectives Network meeting in Vilnius 2020, more info to follow soon.

Teaching:

Psychology of Time – at DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Psychology of Endings– at DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Guest lecture “Time and Trauma” at the Psychology of Crisis course, DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Workshops:

Where is My Time – at my Creative Time Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dealing with Endings in a Creative Way – at my Creative Time Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark.

RESEARCHING:

Linking the time awareness, future thinking and sustainability across disciplines: Futurization of thinking and behavior. Time Perspective Network, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Learning:

About the Hindustani Classical Music and how to play on Bansuri flute.

***

How do I manage all of the above and a few things that were left out? I love working with my version of the bullet journal and I also follow my own medicine regarding taking the creative breaks.

I am available for giving workshops on how to deal with culture shock and using creativity as a resource. I would be thrilled to develop a tailored talk / workshop regarding time, creativity and your field of interest.

Best ways to keep up with my progress and stay in touch with me:

subscribe to my newsletter with my recent discoveries and updates & invitations to my exhibitions / pop-up galleries openings, events I’m organizing / hosting, talks & workshops I’m giving, etc.
see my visual explorations on Instagram
follow my occasional banter on twitter , updates on facebook or browse my blog on Medium

Find out more about me on my about page

WHERE IS MY TIME WORKSHOP | POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY COURSE, DIS | Spring 2019

February 4, 2019April 16, 2019Leave a comment

Once again it was a great pleasure to welcome students from the Positive Psychology spring semester course at DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia to take part in my “Where is my Time” workshop as a field study.

We have explored various aspects of the subjective time experience, individual differences in time perspective and how to apply in practice our research results about how to achieve the balanced time perspective and what are the actual benefits of having this particular time perspective.

If you’re interested to run this workshop at your workplace or interested to take the full course – feel free to get in touch!

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WHERE IS MY TIME WORKSHOP | PSYCHOLOGY OF TIME COURSEs, DIS | SPRING 2019

January 30, 2019April 16, 2019Leave a comment

This Spring semester of 2019 I was taken by surprise with two sections of my course “Psychology of Time” that I’m teaching at DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia. Overall I have 50 students, who are interested in the subject matter! It’s super exciting that students find this topic interesting and decide to take the course! “Where is My Time” workshop becomes an integral part of the course, when students discover their temporal profiles using various instruments and techniques. My current studio space is not that large to host groups of 23 and 27 students, but we did our best to fit in and I think we had good time while working on the “My Time Collage”.