POPI-Slovakia now

The Process Oriented Psychology Institute (POPI), an instituton, that organizes and coordinates the education in processoriented psychotherapy, counseling and facilitation (in short processwork) in Slovakia and Czech republic, is one of the accredited training institutes of the Slovak Psychotherapeutic Society (SPS). After more than 12 years of existence it is becoming more and more visible and known among professionals. This year the Slovak Psychotherapeutic Society with its training institutes became the only organization trough which professionals can get the license for psychotherapy work in Slovakia and created common rules and specifications for psychotherapeutic trainings. SPS is also the member of the European Psychotherapy Association, so the graduates of its training institutes can apply for the European psychotherapy certificate.
One of the most important visions of the organization is to start organize Diploma trainings in processoriented psychotherapy. We hope that the first will start 2010 / 2011 after some of our phase II students get their Diploma and can teach and with support from teachers from abroad. Important is, that the (preliminary) structure of the PW training is already accredited by SPS and the Slovak Ministry of Health- we have now only to discuss it with IAPOP, because there are specific Slovak conditions, so that it will be acknowledged also as an PW Diploma training .

Our Teachers

Since 1990 many teachers from abroad came to Slovakia. I already wrote about Ivan Verny and Miro Roth, who brought process work to Slovakia. Ivan Verny is the most important person for our community since the beginning till today. During the training and few years after the training our basic teachers except Ivan were: Jean Claude Audergon, Arlene Audergon and Lane Arye. During training came also some other teachers here: Annie Morgan, Ursi Jean, Michal Wertheimer. Since 1990 till today were many Diplomates which kept coming to Slovakia, some of them came once, some of them many times. (It is quite difficult to remember all of them. If you know anybody who is not apreciated here and belongs here, please write us.) Diplomates whome we do remember are: Adam Zwig, Salome Schwartz, Sebastian Elssaesser, Marianne Verny, Reini Hauser, Barbara Zust, Alexandra Vassiliou, Lena Aslanidou, Leslie Mones. Their interest in our country and comunity helps us very much in moving further, especially in fulfiling our dream - to become an independent training center accepted by the international process work community. Our deep apreciation belongs to everybody with whom we got to contact and especially to Ivan Verny, Jean-Claude Audergon, Arlene Audergon, Lane Arye, Reini Hauser, Alexandra Vassiliou, Lena Aslanidou, Barbara Zust.

New organizational team

In May 2007, Andrea Sváková and Katka Labašová joined our team of organizers. We decided to divide our roles in the directory and created an organizational part, which will focus mainly on organizing events and running the organization and the experts part (phase II students- Brigit, Sylvia, Boris and Sarah) which is focused more on finishing studies, giving support and lectures and promoting by various projects and events PW in Slovakia and Czech republic :

Here is the new organizational part of our team:

Andrej Jeleník

Katka Labašová

Andrea Sváková

Quo vadis POPI-S?

Thomas Diener came to facilitate processes inside of organization and I think, this seminar was very crucial for our future. We as a organization decided to change our direction. We decided to become an umbrella organization. It was big shift for us. Instead of fulfilling only wishes and dreams of people in PW community, we decided to create space and support for ideas, but not to realize them only by ourselves. People from the organizational team were in that time all also phase II students and had not enough energy to keep the organization and study at the same time. This decision freed a lot of energy for us. After many years of depression we started to feel energized :)) We also realized that the shortest way to organize a new training here in Slovakia is first to finish our phase II studies and then with support from teachers from abroad we can realize it. So since that time we go for it very strongly. The following are few photos of sculptures representing POPI-Slovakia :

Processing

Many years we seemed as an organization stucked. It was very hard especially for people from the organization team. In that time the team changed completely except Sylvia. So we were: Andrea Vanyová, Brigita Trimajová, Boris Sopko, Keša Mrkvicová, Martina Fedorová, Slávka Takáčová and Sylvia Ondrisová. We felt criticized and we also criticized people which we perceived as our critics. We processed very much our relationships, it took a lot of energy and time. All of us were also phase II students. It was difficult to follow the study, because we were very focused on relationships. After few years of processing some people left and we worked together as: Brigita Trimajová, Boris Sopko, Keša Mrkvicová, Sarah Kašáková, Slávka Takáčová and Sylvia Ondrisová. There was also phase II student Magda Panáková, but she is not studing in the moment, we do not have much connection with her. In that time we believed in our dream to organize a new long term training in PW here in Slovakia. After processing it with teachers from RSPOPUK, Zurich and Greece during 2005 we were in a really big crisis. We saw the training as the only and best way how to support pw community, how to revitalize it. But it did not work. Around this time joined us also Andrej Jeleník. The strongest edge during last years was to take the role of the leader of organization. Nobody wanted to become the head. We decided to organize a seminar out of Bratislava focused on the further direction of POPI-Slovakia and PW in this region. Few months later we processed the role of the director and we asked Tao for help (spinning a pen helped us) and the new head of organization became Andrej Jeleník.