ANASTASIIA KOVTUN PSYCHOLOGY


SIT BESIDE ME - YOU EXIST!

I was born in a large city in Ukraine. But in my soul, I grew up in a small village, among fields, forests, rivers, and farms. This gave my life a special relationship with the land, the elements, animals, and with the deepest meaning of home itself — as a center of belonging and community. And today, this knowledge remains an inseparable part of who I am.

 

I studied art for about fourteen years. I have always had a passion for philosophy, particularly existential philosophy and ancient Greek thought in general, which eventually led me to the study of psychology and psychotherapy. I see a great deal of meaning in the way the fields of philosophy, art, spirituality, and psychology enrich and coexist with one another.

 

Jungian analysis was probably my first passion in psychology, and I still draw a great deal of inspiration from it. The ideas of existential psychology and the humanistic approach also remain important to me. Process-oriented psychotherapy holds a special significance in my life.

 

I have a degree in practical psychology. In Gestalt therapy, I specialized in working with different forms of trauma. I completed Professor Philip Brownell’s (USA) program, “Gestalt Therapy of Addictions and Self-Medication Behaviors,” as well as the program “Postsecular, Spiritually Integrated Gestalt Therapy.” I studied in the Mastery Program at the Hawaii Institute of Process Work and at the Deep Democracy Institute International in the USA, focusing on facilitation and conflict resolution. I also trained at the Institute of Complex Trauma in the United Kingdom, and with Dr. Lynn Stadler (VSOF) in working with projective methods and metaphor, as well as in body-oriented approaches to psychotherapy, such as Bodynamics.

Spirituality remains an inseparable part of my life. The ideas of Zen Buddhism are the closest to me.

 

I work in individual sessions, therapeutic and art therapy groups, and I give philosophical lectures and hold gatherings devoted to the themes of authenticity and the search for one’s own path. One of my great passions is working with imagination, metaphor, and the body.

 

The deepest fear of a human being is to fail to become who they are meant to be. We set out on our journey out of an inner necessity, and beyond this path and this ascent, there is nothing.

The word “path” means more than simply the ordinary path of life. It is the Path of coming to oneself. A way of moving through life that ultimately brings you to yourself and allows you to realize yourself. To realize yourself in the full richness of your desires.

In essence, the path is to discover who you truly are, and to embody it so that it may blossom.