The Psychological Support Service for students (PSS) is a structural subdivision of the SPbGASU Division of Social and Extracurricular Student Activities.

PSS functions

1. Psychological support for students during the period of personality development, associated with the completion of parental care and the beginning of the formation of personal autonomy, combined with an increase in intellectual load, a general increase in the level of personal responsibility for the results of activities and behavior
2. Psychological education of students in the actual context of life situations, interpersonal, group and social relations, expanding their horizons in the field of practical psychology, forming a stable base for organizing and regulating their own behavior, actions and making independent decisions regarding their own lives
3. Psychological studies of aspects of the development and functioning of the personality, individual characteristics, directly related to the learning process in a higher educational institution of a technical profile, the adaptation of students to the conditions and rules of study at SPbGASU
4. Methodological and psychological training of the SPbGASU teaching staff in terms of taking into account the individual characteristics of the individual, interpersonal, group and social relations in improving the effectiveness of the educational process

The purpose of the psychological support service for students is to create conditions for students and university staff to realize their mental and creative potential in terms of psychological support for the SPbGASU educational process.

PSS objectives

Creation of conditions for students to obtain sufficient knowledge, skills and abilities related to psychological aspects, such as:

• the learning process at SPbGASU;
• personal development and its self-organization;
• psychoprophylaxis and adequate risk assessment of deviant and delinquent behavior;
• emotional and behavioral self-regulation;
• development of social interaction skills and effective communication both in the space of interpersonal relationships and in the professional space.

PSS approaches  

1. Individual psychological work is organized and carried out by PSS specialists in the form of individual psychological consultations.

Psychologists of the service have sufficient competencies and professional training to solve the following tasks of those who seek advice:

• psychological therapy of the consequences of complex psycho-traumatic life situations, acute blocking experiences and conditions, psychological "stuck" in certain stages of personality development (disturbances in the dynamics of personality development) and many other things that can interfere with normal learning at SPbGASU;
• obtaining a sufficient amount of psychological knowledge for self-assessment and resolution of actual problem situations of various aspects of personal life.
2. Group psychological work of the following types:

a) Psychological dynamic groups, in the space of which the leader contributes to the formation of such a model of relations that is very close to what happens in real life, thereby giving group members the opportunity to calmly explore all aspects of situations, determining the best behavior scenarios for themselves;

b) Round table, i.e. a specially organized space for communication between participants, in which a problematic topic is brought up. The round table is moderated by a specialist psychologist in order to provide participants with the opportunity to detect and take into account not only the content components of the problem, but also everything that it is “immersed” in, that surrounds it (the emotions of the participants, their motivations, involuntary behavioral scenarios, distortions of perception, fluctuations moods, etc.). This helps the participants to understand the problem in all its versatility and ambiguity and come to its balanced solution;

c) Training, i.e. a space for participants to communicate, formed by a specialist psychologist in order to provide an opportunity to develop and improve socially useful skills, such as self-presentation skill, conflict resolution skill, skill of formulating and presenting one's own position, effective communication skill, etc.

3. Psychological diagnostics.

a) Individual psychological diagnostics solves the problems of studying the individual characteristics of the psyche and personality of the student in order to determine those that contribute to the successful assimilation of the training program at SPbGASU, and those that hinder this.

b) Screening psychological examinations of small social groups (study groups) solve complex problems both in determining cirtain individual characteristics of the psyche and personality of each student that help or hinder the learning process, and in identifying interpersonal interaction factors that prevent the formation of a favorable socio-psychological climate in teams.

PSS methods

The service carries out its activities based on the principles of unconditional privacy, confidentiality of any information obtained during consultations, and complete voluntary interaction with psychologists.