Psychology Department held its 2016 Psychology Summer School

July 6, 2016

#PSY

June 6-11, AUCA’s Psychology Department held its 2016 Psychology Summer School to introduce the Psychological Assessment and Training Institute (PATI), promote high-quality psychological services in Kyrgyzstan, enable professional development for mental health specialists and personal development for parents, and, finally, to contribute to AUCA’s community outreach.

Faculty members from the Psychology Department developed two curricula for two separate summer schools. The participants of the first summer school included young people interested in the psychology of interpersonal relations, the parents of children both with and without autism or Down Syndrome, and even students without a psychology background. The program focused on children of divorce, adolescence, the benefits and challenges related to punishment and reinforcement of childhood behaviors, and the applications of art therapy in psychology.

The second summer school was targeted towards people with a professional background in psychology. Among them were psychiatrists, psychologists, and interns from the Republic Center of Mental Health, school psychologists, as well as students from Slavic University, Bishkek Humanitarian University, and AUCA. The summer school introduced participants to different schools of psychotherapy, such as psychoanalysis, family therapy, Applied Behavior Analysis, gestalt, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and art therapy. PATI will continue to offer workshops on psychotherapy on a regular basis throughout the year.  

PATI, introduced through the summer school, will continue to function as a part of AUCA’s Psychology Department and will provide psychological services for normally developing children, children with special needs, parents, and adults with psychological difficulties. Starting Fall 2016, the psychology department will be able to offer psychological consultation, ABA training for parents of children with autism and Down syndrome, and assessments of Autism spectrum disorders with the help of ADOS and ADI-R instruments.

The Psychology Department faculty enjoyed working with both parents and professional psychologists and the feedback from participants was also positive.

Dina, a mother of four, “liked the professionalism of the experts, and the clearness and relevance of the topics and materials. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss problems with experts and fellow participants. I learned a lot of useful information and skills immediately applicable to my husband, kids, and mother-in-law. I recommend parents and married people participate in these kinds of summer schools.”

Leila, a director of a private kindergarten and a mother of two, “participated in the Psychology of Interpersonal Communication summer school for the first time. I decided to participate because, during my eleven years of marriage, there has been tension from time to time. In general, I liked the course, and came to the conclusion that everything can be overcome and resolved.”

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