«If you experience discomfort, anxiety, or mood fluctuations that are difficult to manage independently, consider consulting a psychologist. Don’t worry or let fear, anxiety, or prejudice stop you — psychological counselling is a normal and widely accepted practice around the world», says Solomiia Dmytriv, a practical psychologist at Lviv Polytechnic, Assistant Professor at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Psychology, the Institute of Law, Psychology and Innovative Science.
The Psychological Service has been operating at our University for over a year. Its creation was initiated by Iryna Sniadanko, Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Psychology. Volodymyr Ortynskyi, Director of the Institute for Law, Psychology, and Innovative Science, gave his full and immediate endorsement of the idea. The main task of the Service is to ensure that all students and staff of the University can use free psychological counselling service on various issues that arise.
Today, the Service employs three psychologists: Solomiia Dmytriv, Iryna Martyniuk and Olena Petrovska. This initiative is used both for individual counselling and for education, i.e. to spread information about mental health.
Since the establishment of the Psychological Assistance Service, most requests for individual counselling have come from students. The typical problems they want to solve are increased anxiety, depression, difficulties in relationships (romantic or interpersonal), and emotional burnout. Many internally displaced people experience sadness and anxiety related to adaptation in a new area.
The educational activities include online webinars which the Service specialists announce on their social media pages. For example, at the beginning of this academic year, a series of such meetings were held on the topic of freshmen adaptation. They covered overcoming stress, psychological preparation for the first exams, psychological adaptation to changes in student life, and time management.
The psychologists visited various Departments and told students how the first visit to a consultation takes place, highlighting that they are anonymous and free of charge. The specialists of our service are also eager to respond to requests from different Institutes and Departments and conduct group classes on topics that they initiate. Recently, the specialists ran a semester-long course on fairy tale therapy. They are planning to create a reading club and organise retreats.
Every Polytechnic student can contact the Psychological Service by filling out a Google form on the Lviv Polytechnic website and on its social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. However, you can also attend a consultation without making an appointment. Psychologists provide consultations in room 805 in the 36 academic building on 57 Chornovil Prospekt.
