What Issues I Work With

• Life Crises

• Loss of Meaning and Meaninglessness

• Difficulty in Making Choices

• Conflicts with Oneself and Others

• Identity Crisis

• Loneliness and Isolation

• Support in Postpartum Depression and Motherhood Challenges

• Losses

• Experiencing Betrayal

• Disturbed Relationship with Body Image

Biography

My professional mantra echoes the words of Djalal ad-Din Rumi: “There is a field beyond right and wrong ideas. I will meet you there.” As a specialist, it is important for me to remain open to the being of my client, to see and accept their uniqueness, rather than attempt to steer them towards an alternative way of being more understandable to me. This approach requires constant contact not only with the other's feelings but also with my own, observation, reflection, and timely pausing when there is a desire to 'cure' the person who entered therapy.

My journey into the world of therapeutic relationships was nonlinear. I began my professional career as a writer, creator of an online magazine for young women, and organizer of documentary and auteur film festivals. In all art projects, my focus was on how a person lives, what happens to them in moments of encountering various life events, and what choices they ultimately make. Exploring and describing are what I did and continue to do. It was this genuine interest in the process and continuous changes that led me to yoga 17 years ago, and in 2017 brought me to India, then to Costa Rica, where I trained as a yoga and meditation teacher. The practice time, in my understanding, is inseparable from time beyond it. Behavior on the mat tells how a person lives and when they leave it. Classes become a space for exploring states and sensations, an opportunity to be present in one's own body and, as a result, claim it for oneself. Regular meditation helps learn to observe and realize what is happening with the practitioner, if possible, remaining in the experience. As a psychologist, I hold the view that there is no separation between the human mind, body, and feelings, they intertwine in the wholeness of experience, which is why I pay particular attention to the client's bodily reactions in my work.

An important place in my professional activity is the exploration of women's existence. Since 2016, I began conducting "Women's Conversations", which became a space for dialogue and experience sharing. In 2019, alongside visioning practices, secular meditation seminars, and retreats, I started working with an international team focused on organizing and conducting: a festival of gender literacy, freedom of choice, and human dignity; studies on women's economic security; working with organizations helping victims of domestic and sexualized violence. In the same year, I managed to find like-minded women in Irkutsk with whom we held two women's conferences aiming to highlight diverse life experiences and also remove stigmatization regarding women with somatic and mental illnesses. The basis of the mentioned activity lies in the same professional mantra, reminding of the right of others to independently choose how to be in this world, realizing their choice and responsibility.

In 2020, I began engaging in psychological counseling, which gradually became the main activity. It's difficult to pinpoint the moment when my focus became existential practice. However, in 2022, I began training in the “Existential Psychotherapy and Counseling” program, during which it became evident that I had no option but to be an existential therapist. My motivation is driven by the desire to investigate with the client how they live, face the dilemmas of living, their relationships with others, acknowledging uncertainty, processuality, interconnectedness, and non-linearity. Describing “how” allows us to see and realize the pattern of interaction between a person and the world, existing limitations, and, consequently, to pay attention to existing opportunities. This perspective on the therapeutic process is not suitable for everyone, which is why I consider it necessary to regularly clarify with the client what expectations they have of our relationship, where we are heading, and at what point should we part ways. As a therapist, I pay special attention to my ability to be open to personal changes when meeting with another. Maintaining acceptance cannot remain unchanged, implying readiness not only to be beside the person but also to change. Otherwise, there may be a desire to take the position of an expert or mentor.

Accreditations and Memberships

• Existential Counseling and Care Alliance (ECCA)

• Specialist of the Russian Psychotherapeutic Association (RPA)

Professional Education

• Baikal State University of Economics and Law, Marketer, 2010

• Jivamukti Yoga Immersion, India, 2017

• Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training Program, Costa Rica, Yoga and Meditation Teacher, 2017

• Jivamukti Yoga Immersion, Barcelona, 2018

• Mindfulness Education, somatic mindfulness practice, 2021

• Mindfulness Education, international certification confirmation, Mindfulness Teacher, 2022

• Buddhist Meditation, Theravada Tradition, theory and practice, 2023

• Buddhist Meditation, Mahayana Tradition, theory and practice, 2023

Key Principles of My Approach

• Open-mindedness

• To describe is to change

• Focus on the Present Client

• Listening aimed at clarifying what and how is happening in the client’s experiences

• Willingness for Personal Change

• The Client Knows Best What They Need

• The Meeting is More Important than Technique

• The Past Can Never Fully Explain the Present; Reality is Such that We Will Never Find a Specific Cause for the Current Situation

• Respect for the Client's Right to End Therapy at Any Moment

Current Groups, Courses, and Projects

• Women's Therapeutic Groups

• Collaborative Project of Group Experience Research “Motherhood. Group of Existential Experience”

• Book Meetings “Her Words”

• Project LIFE IS PRACTICE

Languages

Russian

Work Format

Online