Training Programs
The Institute for the Development of Practical Psychology delivers professional training programs across several categories. The list and overview of current programs will be regularly updated.
“Metaphoric Associative Cards:
Classic and Innovative Techniques for Diverse Client Requests”
ObjectiveTwo-Module Intensive Training Project
Accredited by the Institute for the Development of Practical Psychology and the Association of Psychologists and Psychotherapists.
This training seminar is designed for professionals who seek to experience greater joy, energy, and fresh professional insight in their work.
Target audience
Psychologists, psychotherapists, counselors, social educators, coaches, trainers, educators, students, and helping professionals interested in applying metaphoric associative cards (MAC) and non-author drawings in their practice.
Objective
To develop practical competence in using metaphoric associative cards in psychodiagnostics, counseling, and psychotherapy with adults and children across diverse client requests.
- As a result, you will master techniques for:
- transforming a complaint into a structured client request;
- exploring the “language of metaphor” as a therapeutic tool;
- understanding the history and development of metaphoric associative cards (MAC);
- resource activation and stabilizing a resourceful state;
- working with fears;
- exploring self-concept, social roles, and subpersonalities;
- self-realization, goal-setting, time planning, and identifying psychologically safe (“ecological”) ways to achieve desired outcomes;
- working with professional burnout, financial requests, and resource-search strategies;
- addressing requests related to fears, resentment, guilt, and low self-confidence;
- working with psychological trauma and crisis recovery;
- navigating conflict situations;
- working with couples and families;
- addressing psychosomatic concerns;
- supporting femininity development;
- personal and spiritual growth;
- strengthening creative potential;
- understanding the universality of MAC as a psychological tool;
- learning core principles and techniques of projective card work;
- conducting individual consultations based on MAC;
- applying an effective psychotherapy model using MAC in practice;
- using simple and highly effective MAC-based psychological techniques.
Training facilitator
Olha Cherepiekhina — author and trainer of educational programs in psychology and art therapy; practicing psychologist; PhD (Psychology), Associate Professor; author of books; Master’s degree in Higher Education Pedagogy; certified trainer; family and child psychologist; art therapist; coach; business trainer; member of the Ukrainian Association of Organizational Psychologists and Work Psychologists; member of the East Ukrainian Association of Art Therapy; organizer of the all-Ukrainian festivals “Art-Practitioner” and “Crisis as a Resource”.
“Art Therapy in Work with Children and Adolescents”
Target audience
Psychologists and psychotherapists, social educators, social workers, medical professionals, educators, and psychology students interested in psychological support for children and adolescents.
Target audience
Psychologists and psychotherapists, social educators, social workers, medical professionals, educators, and psychology students interested in psychological support for children and adolescents.
Program structure
The course includes 10 modules.
Each training-therapeutic module comprises 10 academic hours of theory and practice in art-therapy-based support for children and adolescents.
Total course volume: 100 academic hours.
Frequency: one module per month (weekends).
Upon completion, participants who successfully pass certification after 10 modules receive two certificates, each with an appendix specifying topics and hours completed.
Format and learning outcomes
- Participants will develop:
- a systemic understanding of strategies and methods of art-therapy support for children and adolescents, including practical tool application;
- participation in a supervision group focused on family art therapy and long-term professional community engagement;
- hands-on mastery of an effective art-therapy-based support model for children and adolescents;
- practical experience with art therapy in individual and group formats;
- deeper awareness of conflict dynamics related to one’s “inner child”;
- experience and professional identity development as a child art therapist;
- module-based handouts, allowing training time to focus on practice, professional stance development, and skill acquisition through lived experience both as a consultant and as a client.
- As a result of the training, you will receive:
- two certificates with appendices: from the Institute for the Development of Practical Psychology and from the Association of Psychologists and Psychotherapists;
- 85 hours of theory and practice in art therapy for children and adolescents;
- training delivered by a certified specialist with 15+ years of professional practice in psychology, family counseling, and art therapy (ensuring systematic content delivery and applied expertise);
- 150+ effective techniques from multiple art therapy modalities;
- 5 hours of supervision to practice applying art therapy techniques in counseling and diagnostics;
- 10 intensive modules supporting the development of a clear professional stance and a structured algorithm for working with diverse client requests;
- additional learning benefits: practical mastery of core art techniques, personal insights, increased confidence in client work, and stronger skills for presenting and marketing professional services;
- a coherent modular curriculum united by internal logic, where each session systematically раскрывает the topic through theory, practice, group work, and participant engagement.
Course instructor and supervisor
Olha Cherepiekhina — PhD (Psychology), Associate Professor; Head of the NGO Institute for the Development of Practical Psychology; university lecturer since 2001; practicing psychologist since 1998; certified art therapist; sexologist; family and child psychologist;
Doctor of Philosophy; Master’s degrees in Higher Education Pedagogy and Psychology; honorary member of the Association of Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts; member of professional Ukrainian associations in organizational psychology and art therapy; coach and business trainer; psychosomatics-focused therapist (international certificates); certified facilitator of psychological board games; organizer of the All-Ukrainian Festival “ART-Practitioner” and the national forum “Crisis as a Resource”; psychologist of the “TELESHKOLA” project; author of 250+ scientific-methodological publications; author and trainer of long-term training projects for helping professionals, workshops, therapeutic groups, and supervision groups.
- The program includes in-depth training in child and adolescent art therapy modalities, including:
- visual art therapy;
- clay and dough therapy;
- music therapy;
- therapeutic work with glass;
- photo therapy;
- makeup therapy and mask therapy;
- body-based art therapy;
- collage techniques;
- aquatyping and monotyping;
- resource-based art therapy;
- board and card-based psychological games;
- metaphoric associative cards;
- doll therapy and fairy-tale therapy;
- mandala therapy;
- haiku writing;
- cinema therapy;
- sand therapy;
- and more.
Course Module Programs
“Introduction to Art Therapy with Children and Adolescents”
Objective
To introduce the principles and specific features of art therapy for children and adolescents, mechanisms and opportunities of art-therapeutic impact, and to develop the professional stance of an art therapist in psychological support.
- Topics include:
- requirements for a child art therapist;
- foundations of psychological and art-therapeutic work with children and adolescents;
- developmental psychological characteristics in the therapy context;
- setting up a child psychologist’s office;
- forms and methods of art-therapeutic work;
- request clarification, state diagnostics, and psychological profiling;
- specifics of applying different art therapy modalities;
- selecting art tools for work with parent–child relationships;
- a systemic multimodal approach to child and adolescent art therapy.
“Isotherapy with Diverse Categories
of Children and Adolescents”
Objective
To develop practical skills in art-based (drawing) therapy for working with children and adolescents, and to master core isotherapy techniques.
- Topics include:
- Fundamentals of drawing-based therapy with children and the specific features of the healing process through art.
- Goals and therapeutic potential of isotherapy.
- Mechanisms of psychocorrective and therapeutic impact of drawing.
- Organization of the therapeutic space and equipment requirements for a child isotherapy room.
“Play Therapy in Work with Children and Adolescents”
Objective
To master play-therapy skills in child and adolescent therapy and practice core play-therapy techniques.
- Topics include:
- foundations of play therapy and the psychology of play;
- goals and opportunities of play therapy;
- psychocorrective and therapeutic mechanisms of play;
- organizing the space and equipment for a play-therapy office.
“Fairy-Tale Therapy and Doll Therapy
for Child and Adolescent Requests”
Objective
To learn and practice key fairy-tale therapy techniques (work with existing tales and author-created stories).
- Topics include:
- foundations of fairy-tale therapy;
- definitions, functions, and types of tales;
- principles and схемы psychological analysis of children’s tales, including Propp-based analysis;
- stages of psychotherapeutic analysis and factors of effective fairy-tale therapy;
- corrective, therapeutic, and developmental potential of tales;
- key techniques for working with tales;
- using card games and metaphoric images in fairy-tale work.
“Sandplay Therapy and Work with Plastic Materials
for Child and Adolescent Requests”
Objective
To learn and practice sand therapy techniques and plastic-material-based methods (clay, dough, and plasticine therapy).
- Topics include:
- use of plastic materials in diagnostics and therapy;
- technology of working with clay as a natural material;
- goals and opportunities of child and adolescent sand therapy;
- psychocorrective and therapeutic mechanisms of sand and plastic materials;
- equipping a sand-therapy office;
- stages of sand therapy and key characteristics of sand compositions.
“Music Therapy, Vocal Therapy, Photo and Video Therapy
in Work with Children and Adolescents”
Objective
To learn and practice techniques of music, vocal, photo, and video therapy for child and adolescent requests.
- Topics include:
- principles and opportunities of photo and video therapy;
- psychological functions of photography and key phototherapy techniques;
- history and foundations of music therapy in child work;
- mechanisms of music and voice influence on the psyche;
- equipment for music therapy sessions.
- Topics include:
- principles and opportunities of photo and video therapy;
- psychological functions of photography and key phototherapy techniques;
- history and foundations of music therapy in child work;
- mechanisms of music and voice influence on the psyche;
- equipment for music therapy sessions.
“Metaphoric Images, Card and Board Psychological Games
in Child and Adolescent Therapy”
Objective
To explore the use of metaphoric images and board/card games and practice skills.
- Topics include:
- foundations of non-author drawing and MAC in child art therapy;
- обзор key board and card games for child and adolescent work;
- practical skill development;
- selected MAC techniques for counseling and diagnostics.
“Art Therapy in the School Setting”
Objective
To develop skills for preparing and delivering art diagnostics and art therapy in school contexts.
- Topics include:
- preparation and session planning
- group work and group formation
- principles of art-therapeutic exercises and feedback tools
- thematic blocks for work with students: Block 1 “Me”; Block 2 “My Feelings”; Block 3 “My Body”; Block 4 “Me and Society”; Block 5 “Me and the Group”
“Special Art Therapy for Children and Adolescents”
Objective
To study techniques for working with children’s fears and psychosomatics; family-and-child group correction formats; art therapy for children with special health needs; body-oriented art therapy for neurotic and somatic symptoms; and to practice skills.
- Topics include:
- art therapy in supporting children and adolescents with fears
- art techniques for psychosomatic requests
- foundations of art therapy in psychocorrection
- diagnostic methods for emotional and behavioral disturbances
- mechanisms of formation and bodily metaphors of neurotic disorders
- mechanisms of art-therapeutic influence on bodily and neurotic symptoms.
- Topics include:
- art therapy in supporting children and adolescents with fears
- art techniques for psychosomatic requests
- foundations of art therapy in psychocorrection
- diagnostic methods for emotional and behavioral disturbances
- mechanisms of formation and bodily metaphors of neurotic disorders
- mechanisms of art-therapeutic influence on bodily and neurotic symptoms.
“Certification: Supervision & Qualification Module”
Objective
To develop skills in creating original, creative psychological support products for children and adolescents; to strengthen the ability to position and promote oneself as a specialist in the psychological services market; to prepare and submit an original child and adolescent psychological support program (based on a specific client request) for evaluation and defense; and to receive qualified supportive feedback.
- Topics include:
- Principles of designing a child and adolescent psychological support program based on a specific request.
- Creating and presenting an original deck of Metaphoric Associative Cards (MAC) as a psychological support tool (or another original product of the participant’s choice).
- Building a personal brand, promoting services in the psychology market, and presenting a professional portfolio.
- Presenting an original family psychological support program based on a specific request.
- Case discussions from child art therapy practice.
- Techniques and methods aimed at the professional growth of a child art therapist.
- Bonus: three original art techniques for working with child and adolescent requests.
- Certificate awarding and a ceremonial closing session.
“Art Therapy in Family Counseling”
Course structure
The training course consists of 10 modules.
Each training-therapeutic module is a full day of theory and practice in family art therapy.
Each module: 10 academic hours; total course volume: 100 academic hours.
Frequency: one module per month (Saturdays or Sundays).
Upon completion, participants who successfully pass certification after all 10 modules receive two certificates, each with an appendix listing completed topics and hours.
Who is invited
Psychologists, psychotherapists, counselors, social educators, coaches, trainers, psychology students, and allied helping professionals interested in psychological support for families.
Training format
Learning art-therapy techniques with facilitated discussion; mini-lectures; supervision of real practice cases; demonstrations; skills practice; and creation of creative professional outputs.
- As a result of the training, you will:
- develop the capacity to apply a creative approach to professional tasks and mobilize your own creative potential;
- participate in a family art therapy supervision group, with long-term professional community engagement and expert feedback that supports your professional growth and deepens your understanding of family dynamics;
- master, in practice, an effective model of psychological support for families and individual family members through art therapy;
- gain hands-on experience using art therapy in individual work, couple work, and group formats;
- deepen awareness of the causes of family conflict interaction and ways to resolve them, while acquiring new competence as a family art therapist;
- receive handouts at each module; the full training time is focused on developing a family psychologist’s professional stance and learning new techniques through lived experience both as a consultant and as a client.
- Course uniqueness in numbers:
- 85 hours of theory and practice in family art therapy;
- training delivered by a qualified, certified specialist with 15+ years of professional practice in psychology, family counseling, and art therapy (ensuring systematic content delivery and applied expertise);
- 150+ effective techniques across multiple art therapy modalities;
- 5 hours of supervision to practice art therapy techniques in family counseling and diagnostics;
- 10 intensive modules through which you will form a strong art therapist professional stance and gain a clear algorithm for working with diverse family requests-both with an individual client and with the whole family;
- the proposed art techniques are designed for all age groups and client requests of any complexity;
- you will receive two certificates with appendices indicating specialization and hours completed;
- the curriculum consists of 10 interconnected modules united by internal logic; each session systematically раскрывает the topic through theory and practice, group engagement, and individual work.
Course instructor and supervisor:
Olha Cherepiekhina — PhD (Psychology), Associate Professor; Head of the Institute for the Development of Practical Psychology; university lecturer since 2001; practicing psychologist since 1998; certified art therapist; sexologist; family and child psychologist; Doctor of Philosophy; Master’s degrees in Higher Education Pedagogy and Psychology; honorary member of the Association of Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts; member of the Ukrainian Association of Organizational Psychologists and Work Psychologists; member of the East Ukrainian Association of Art Therapy; coach and business trainer; psychosomatics-focused therapist (international certificates); certified facilitator of psychological board games (“Wheel of Life,” “Goddess in Every Woman,” “Successful Decisions,” “Korzhyk,” “Anarchy,” etc.); trainer of original educational and therapeutic programs; organizer of the All-Ukrainian Festival “ART-Practitioner” and the national forum “Crisis as a Resource”; psychologist of the “TELESHKOLA” project; author of 250+ scientific-methodological publications and educational materials for higher education; author and facilitator of long-term training projects for helping professionals, workshops for psychologists, therapeutic groups, and supervision groups.
- The program includes in-depth training in family art therapy techniques across the following modalities:
- visual art therapy;
- clay and dough therapy;
- music therapy;
- therapeutic work with glass;
- photo therapy;
- makeup therapy and mask therapy;
- body-based art therapy;
- collage techniques;
- aquatyping and monotyping;
- resource-based art therapy;
- board-based psychological games;
- metaphoric associative cards;
- doll therapy and fairy-tale therapy;
- mandala therapy;
- haiku writing;
- cinema therapy;
- sand therapy;
- and more.
Course Module Programs
“Foundations of Art Therapy in Family Counseling”
Objective
To explore the history and principles of family art therapy, understand the mechanisms of family functioning, increase awareness of one’s own role within family dynamics, and develop the professional stance of an art therapist in family counseling.
- Topics include:
- Concepts and types of families; parameters of the family system; stages of family development.
- Normative and non-normative family crises; functional and dysfunctional families.
- The history and modalities of art therapy as a professional psychological tool.
- Psychological and therapeutic mechanisms of art therapy.
- The structure and space of the art-therapeutic process.
- Specific applications of various art therapy modalities in family counseling.
- Art therapist’s stimulus materials; diagnostic and therapeutic potential of art therapy in family psychology.
- Art-therapeutic techniques for transforming a complaint into a problem and a problem into a therapeutic request.
“Art Therapy in Couple (Marital) Relationships:
Love. Sexuality. Harmony.”
Objective
To study and deepen awareness of the interaction between masculine and feminine principles in partnership, exploring both their functional (resource-based) and dysfunctional (conflict-based) expressions through art therapy methods.
- Key components:
- Body-oriented art therapy in work with couples.
- Stages of couple relationships and their art-based diagnostic assessment through visual techniques.
- The use of Metaphoric Associative Cards (MAC) in couple counseling.
- Working with sexuality through art therapy methods.
- Creating the mandala “He and She. ”
- Collage as visualization of harmonious partnership.
- Fairy-tale therapy in couple work, including writing an original therapeutic story.
- Joint drawing practices.
- Key components:
- Body-oriented art therapy in work with couples.
- Stages of couple relationships and their art-based diagnostic assessment through visual techniques.
- The use of Metaphoric Associative Cards (MAC) in couple counseling.
- Working with sexuality through art therapy methods.
- Creating the mandala “He and She. ”
- Collage as visualization of harmonious partnership.
- Fairy-tale therapy in couple work, including writing an original therapeutic story.
- Joint drawing practices.
“Art-Therapeutic Diagnostics and Counseling
in Child–Parent Relationship Requests”
Objective
To diagnose, explore, and process patterns of interaction in child–parent relationships through art therapy; to increase awareness of relational challenges between childhood and adulthood; and to develop and consolidate professional skills in working with parents and children within a family art therapy framework.
- Topics include:
- The psychologist’s professional stance, principles, and techniques of family art-therapeutic work.
- Family roles: from diagnostic assessment to therapy and counseling.
- A block of visual techniques (e.g., “The Ram in the Bottle,” “Family as Flowers,” “Living House,” and others).
- Application of the “Family Map” technique and drawing-based family constellations.
- Aquatyping and monotyping techniques.
- Guided drawing methods.
“Art Therapy in Work with Trauma, Symptoms,
Psychosomatics, and Fears
(Children and Adults)”
Objective
To develop competencies in art-therapeutic work with trauma, symptomatic manifestations in family requests, psychosomatic conditions, and childhood and adult fears.
- Key areas of study:
- Foundations of trauma work in art therapy.
- Psychological meaning of art-therapeutic work with symptoms.
- Selected techniques for art-based counseling of psychosomatic disorders within the family system.
- Family art therapy approaches to childhood and adult fears.
“Group Art Therapy for Families”
Objective
To study art therapy techniques for working with families in a group format and to explore their practical applications in family counseling settings.
Objective
To study art therapy techniques for working with families in a group format and to explore their practical applications in family counseling settings.
- Program includes:
- “Presentation of the Family Picture” at different levels through art therapy and body-oriented art therapy.
- Working with one family member versus whole-family therapy: specificity and distinctions.
- Practical training in family group art therapy techniques.
- Psychological board games for family work (G. Horn’s cards such as “Psikreti,” “Lipesha,” “Anarchy,” “Prison”), as well as “Wheel of Life” as a tool for family counseling.
- Art-based practices for navigating and supporting families through crisis situations.
“Resource-Oriented Art Therapy for Families”
Objective
To study resource-based art therapy techniques and explore their practical application in addressing family-related therapeutic requests.
- Course topics include:
- Foundations of resource-oriented family art therapy.
- Art-therapeutic techniques aimed at activating and strengthening family resources.
- The use of phototherapy in resource-based family work.
- Art therapy methods for harmonizing family relationships.
- Resource-oriented techniques for working with feelings of resentment and guilt.
- Practical training in psychotherapeutic techniques within the framework of family resource therapy.
“Core Art Therapy Techniques in Family Counseling:
Puppet Therapy, Fairy-Tale Therapy, Sand Therapy,
and Metaphoric Associative Cards”
Objective
To study and practice key techniques of puppet therapy, fairy-tale therapy, sand therapy, and Metaphoric Associative Cards (MAC) in work with family-related requests.
- Program includes:
- A block of puppet therapy techniques for resolving family issues.
- Review of foundational fairy-tale therapy methods.
- Practical training in sand therapy techniques for family counseling.
- Selected Metaphoric Associative Card techniques in family diagnostics and counseling.
“Art-Therapeutic Techniques for Family Support:
Cinema Therapy, Music Therapy, Mandala Therapy,
Mask and Make-Up Therapy, Dough and Clay Therapy”
Objective
To study the application of cinema therapy, music therapy, mandala therapy, mask and make-up therapy, dough therapy, and clay therapy in family psychological support, with emphasis on skill development and practical integration into counseling work.
- Key areas of study:
- The therapeutic potential of cinema therapy in family counseling practice.
- A block of music therapy techniques for family-related requests.
- Mandala therapy in working with deep unconscious processes.
- Archetypal and symbolic levels of family work through mask and make-up therapy.
- Practical training in family art therapy techniques using dough and clay.
“Developing a Creative Professional Product:
Designing a Family Psychological Support Program
and an Author’s Deck of Metaphoric Associative Cards as a Therapeutic Tool.
Self-Management in the Psychological Services Market”
Objective
To develop competencies in creating original psychological support products for families and to strengthen professional positioning and self-promotion skills within the psychological services market.
- Program includes:
- Step-by-step principles of designing a psychological support program for a family or an individual family member based on a specific request.
- Development of an original deck of Metaphoric Associative Cards as a professional therapeutic tool for family counseling.
- Building a personal professional brand and promoting psychological services in the market.
“Supervision & Certification Module”
Objective
To present and defend an original family psychological support program based on a specific client request and to receive structured professional feedback within a supervisory framework.
- The module includes:
- Presentation and defense of an original family psychological support program.
- Discussion of real cases from family art therapy practice.
- Techniques and methods aimed at the professional development of a family art therapist.
- Bonus: three original art therapy techniques for working with family-related requests.
- Certification ceremony.
Learning Outcomes
- As a Therapist, You Will Be Able To:
- Work effectively with child–parent relationship dynamics.
- Address deep-seated resentment, guilt toward significant others, and self-directed guilt.
- Support clients in processing childhood psychosomatic trauma.
- Provide structured psychological support in critical and high-stress situations.
- Apply art-based practices for accompanying and overcoming family crises.
- Facilitate therapeutic support for couples.
- Identify, activate, and ethically integrate generational and family resources in therapy.
- Support the development of healthy self-esteem and personal boundaries within family and social systems.
- Apply core art-based techniques to strengthen inner dialogue and trust between partners.
- Gain knowledge and competencies that contribute to strengthening family resilience and preventing relationship breakdown.
- As a Participant in Personal Development (Client Perspective), You Will:
- Release fears and limiting beliefs related to family life.
- Learn to recognize and protect personal boundaries.
- Strengthen self-esteem and self-awareness.
- Process past trauma in a resource-oriented and psychologically safe way.
- Improve the quality of family and intimate relationships.
- Develop greater understanding and acceptance of yourself and your partner.
- Mobilize your creative potential.
- Experience personal growth through creativity and self-compassion.
- Gain deeper insight into family roles and clarify personal and family values.