Meet The Team
Lana Galkovskaja - Psychotherapist
Short Bio
My name is Lana Galkovskaja.
In Spirasi I am employed as Family Therapist. I am a Systemic Psychotherapist.
I was born to USSR country which does not exist anymore. It used to be the biggest country on the planet Earth by land. Maybe that is why I still feel that I belong to a big place.
Spirasi is one of the places where I practice. I also work privately and teach in university.
On a daily basis I work a lot with families and individuals. I know that a way we struggle and experience feelings is very unique to each person and at the same time very common in human kind. Heart pains just the same regardless the colour of the skin, faith or language spoken.
Fun Fact
I swim in the Irish Sea all year around. I find it nearly a spiritual experience. Sea is beautiful, powerful and alive. It is generous and shares its power with all of us, gives the strength to live.
What attracted you to your role at Spirasi?
Firstly that I have a chance to work for organisation that was founded by Christian brothers and it has a lot of Christian values. I come from a country (and a family) that in a last 130 years experienced 1st World War, Revolution of 1917, 2nd World War world war, collapse of the USSR and building of a new country... I know on a nearly genetic level what does loss, displacement, survival, poverty, fear and death means. We know as a family and community and me personally what it means to start over again, start from 0 point. All of that motivates me to work in Spirasi.
Second comes out of the first I want to use my skills to support other people. Asylum seeker/ refugee are just legal statuses... we all only human beings and we are here alive on this planet for a relatively short time. So it is important to try to be as content, kind, and generous as possible. Life needs to have a meaning before we all go back to the Masterpiece.
What are the challenges and rewards of your job?
Rewards are obvious... when people do well in their lives, feeling happier, healthier, having purpose in life.
Challenges are dealing with a raw pain people experience all the time, feeling helpless, hopeless and no use at times.
