The themes and challenges I work with

• Identity, roles, and self-determination

• Work, burnout, and the quiet disillusionment after success

• Intimacy, boundaries, and relationship difficulties

• Loss, grief, and mourning

• Anxiety, shame, and guilt

• Choice, freedom, and responsibility

• Emigration, the loss of a familiar world, and starting life anew

Biography

I came to the profession of psychology from the world of tech entrepreneurship. From the very beginning, my path was interdisciplinary: I studied at SPbSU in the "Complex Systems in Nature and Society" program, conducting research at the intersection of natural sciences and the humanities, and later earned a Master's degree in Innovation at ITMO University. For most of my career, I worked in startups, managing products, processes, and leading development teams. Gradually, I realized that the questions that truly captivated me could not be solved by product metrics or new investment rounds. Questions such as: what makes work deeply meaningful? How can we cultivate an environment where the radically new is born? Why do entrepreneurs and teams experience burnout? Does business need philosophy, and if so, what kind? The decision to step into psychology grew from the resonance of these questions with my own life events: migration, profound losses, and my own experience of burnout. Moving across careers, geographies, and inner landscapes sharpened my attention to how people, stripped of their usual coordinates, find those precious, vital things they can lean on once more. My own journey as a client in existential therapy helped me accept that some questions cannot be answered, but we can learn to live with them beautifully.

To me, therapy is an Encounter (with a capital E), where the client's unique experience and feelings meet my gentle attention and sincere curiosity. I deeply believe that in an equal dialogue, free from pathologizing and judgment, we co-create a living space where one can freely think, feel, and make life choices.

In 2024, I graduated from the "Practical Psychology and Modern Methods of Psychotherapy" program at MSU. In 2025, I completed a program in narrative practice at the Narrative Workshop, and in 2026, I am completing the first level of training at HEPI under the program of R. Kociunas. I practice within the existential approach, weaving in methods of narrative practice. Between these two traditions, I find a beautiful synergy and a productive tension. For me, the existential stance is our shared willingness to stand beside whatever is present, without rushing to explain or fix it; narrative tools allow us to notice how the language and stories through which a person speaks of themselves simultaneously shape and limit their world. My practice is also informed by my background in neuroscience and complex systems theory, which I explored as a researcher back in my university days.

Currently, I live in Finland, building a company that creates ethical digital tools for helping practitioners and their clients. I also run workshops on burnout for IT entrepreneurs and write about psychotherapy in my blog. My technological background continues to shape my therapeutic lens: I am deeply interested in exploring what happens to human life, relationships, values, and meaning as artificial intelligence becomes woven into our daily lives, and how we can build technologies that ultimately bring human beings closer to one another.

Accreditations and Memberships

• Alliance of Existential Counseling and Care (ECCA)

• East European Association for Existential Therapy (EEAET)

Professional Education

Psychological and Psychotherapeutic Education

• Program "Practical Psychology and Modern Methods of Psychotherapy", Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2024

• Narrative Practice (3 levels), Narrative Workshop, 2025

• "Existential Therapy", HEPI (Institute of Humanistic and Existential Psychology), Lithuania, currently in training

Basic Education

• Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, SPbSU & Bard College (NY), program "Complex Systems in Nature and Society"

• Master in Technological Entrepreneurship, ITMO University

Key Principles of My Approach

• Deep respect for the client's unique experience, values, and personal goals

• Honoring the client's absolute right to autonomy and self-determination

• A focus on dialogue, presence, and equality in the therapeutic relationship

• Working gently with imagery, metaphors, and felt bodily experiences

• Attentiveness to language, narratives, and the broader social context

Languages

Russian, English

Format

Online