Our center’s specialists pay special attention to families with children.

I came to therapy because it was unbearable to live… Despite the fact that there was no reason for suffering. But there was only suffering. In difficult moments I couldn’t do anything besides my work, and I didn’t have the strength to ask for help. And it was not clear how to ask, because literaly nothing bad happened in life - others suffer as well,  ut what about me? Am I going crazy because I have not enough problems and that’s why I’m inventing them? But the anxiety was gaining momentum, and it was difficult to just leave the house, although outwardly, of course, nobody knew about my inner unhapiness. After the first session with Natalya, I came out very surprised - as nobody evel listened to me in the way Natalia did. And then I slowly learned during the therapy process that I don’t have to endure it. Even if something difficult and painful has happened to me in my life, it doesn’t mean that the problem is in me and I don’t have to endure it. The therapy process itself was not easy because for the nonlinearity of the process. There are moments when you feel that something inside has irrevocably changed for the better, and there are stages when you feel like you are throwing out the pain and it will never end. But this pain has always been with me. If I had not brought up these topics in therapy, I would have experienced them alone in a more painful way. In therapy, I was able to separate the pain from myself. I stopped watching heartbreaking films in order to cry about the fate of the heroes and let off steam - because crying about myself was no longer unbearable. I was able to find more space in my life for myself. Maybe outwardly my life has not changed much, but living it has become much more pleasant and easier.

I came to existential therapy with the general question “what is the meaning of my life?” It seemed to me that the colors around me had faded and nothing brings  joy. Working in self-discovery helped me explore my own individuality, determine what is really important and meaningful to me. This helped me better understand myself and my life priorities. The meanings that I was able to discover in this work gave me deep satisfaction in what I have right now and what I still want. There was a feeling that a bright guiding star had lit up - the goal of where I was going, and my values became a support on this path. An open and trusting dialogue with the therapist was the main key and great support to see how my actions and decisions shape my destiny. Yes, this is not a quick process, but it is very deep and worth it. After all, it is in this depth that you can connect with your real feelings and needs, with your authentic personality. Now the techniques for expressing my feelings and thoughts, obtained in the process of self-knowledge, have become for me a valuable working tool for living my now meaningful life.

Dear Natalya! I want to express my deepest gratitude to you! 💐🌺🌸🌷🌹☘️💐It turned out that I keep my gratitude to myself (and it appeared after the first session!), but I immediately rush to voice what I don’t like (“the feeling that we are wasting time”). By the way, this really infuriated my mother-in-law (focusing on what is NOT), she still is poisonous 😄 So, I thank you for helping to untangle this tight knot of different feelings (I also felt pity for my mother-in-law, and guilt, and anger, and resentment), originating in the trauma of childhood, and in the trauma of losing a child, and in the insanity of the mother-in-law and others like her. These are all different threads - you are certainly right. And when she said that we are marking time, she meant that we give these threads a name (the color in this ball), but do not pull them out. So this is impossible just by one thread! But the ball is no longer so tight. This is a huge breakthrough! So, a short review (yesterday you asked, but it didn’t work out): After starting therapy, I never cried after meetings with my mother-in-law, which happened only a couple of times in 5 years! So, thank God, we sorted out the first request!
✔️ There comes an awareness of the feeling of pity
✔️ There comes an understanding of the root of the irrational (!) feeling of guilt
✔️ This is a huge breakthrough, otherwise I lived all the way with the feeling that I was really guilty before this family, maybe that’s partly why I allowed myself to be “punished” - like eating for what, after all, my son was “taken away from the family” We are working through the trauma of losing a child, a difficult first birth
✔️ We are working through the trauma of abandonment
✔️ You teach me to pay attention to feelings
✔️ I sorted everything out with my head, but feelings live their own lives You are helping me find my place in... the family
✔️ Otherwise, I’m like a restless person - with one foot a wife and mother of a baby (real roles), the other - a mother-in-law, a cornered child, a rescuer, a victim... (injury game). You are trying to put this second leg in place - in the family (husband, me, child) You are trying to get to the bottom of the matter
✔️ This is a very valuable quality, even when I say “I don’t know” - you encourage me to search You provide tremendous psychological support
✔️ Let the ball not yet unraveled, I believe it is possible. Otherwise it seemed that I would spin this wheel like a squirrel until my death. The prospect is depressing, I’ll tell you, dialogues with my husband’s family have become less frequent
✔️ To resume: I’m very glad you exist! In general, and in my life - in particular!