Ontopsychology division of Psychology faculty in the St.Petersburg State University

Goals and tasks

Ontopsychology division is the youngest division at the Psychology faculty in the St.Petersburg State University and is aimed to provide qualitative and professional knowledge in the field of ontopsychology, agreeable to the highest educational and scientific standards. The main direction of the department in scientific and educational activity is development of a complete approach both in the field of theoretical research of human identity and in the field of work with existential problems of human life; hands-onimplementation of ontopsychological approach in various areas of human life.

Ontopsychology (psychology of life) is a modern scientific direction, which continues traditions of humanistic and existential psychology and considers human personality in a life cycle context according toself-realization in creativity.

Russian psychologist Ananyev used to write, that the subject of ontopsychology should be «a psychological research of person’s life», «for ontopsychology, as a science, human life is a natural scale of measurement». Ontopsychology has been developing as a result of necessity for changing scientific approach from description separate phenomena of psychological human life to disclosure complete logic of the whole human life, analysis of person’s life in the society, in historical, social, cultural context of its existence.

Today Ontopsychology division is presented in the world by its continuous participation in various scientific conferences, scientific publications and also joint educational projects with other faculties of the St. Petersburg State University and other leading Russian, CIS countries’ and foreign higher education institutions. Since the start of the program on ontopsychology, about 600 students and experts in the field of ontopsychology from different countries graduated from this course; and researches, carried out on the basis of the division (more than 300 for today), have cross-cultural character and take a honorary place among the best degree works of Psychology faculty in the St.Petersburg State University.

This educational process is conducted by a number of teachers directly from Ontopsychology division jointly with teachers from Psychology faculty.

*Below you can find the short history of division establishment and list of its teachers.

Official website of ontopsychology division

History of the division establishment

The key precondition for establishment the division exactly in the St. Petersburg state university became historical meeting between Lomov Boris Fedorovich (the dean of SpSU) and Antonio Meneghetti on the First European congress on psychology in Amsterdam in 1989. It was the first time when Russian scientists understood an essence of the method of ontopsychology, offered by Meneghetti. Meneghetti's book «Clinical Ontopsychology», presented at the IV Moscow book fair in 1983 rouseda great interest in Boris Fedorovich and acquainted him with its author, Meneghetti, in 1989 on the European congress in Amsterdam.

Then on the Lomov’sinitiative a number of Meneghetti visits with lectures on the subject of ontopsychology were organized in the USSR. During these visits Meneghetti got acquainted with a great number of scientists of the USSR: Zabrodin, Luriya, Pankin and many other scientists; visited hospitals, acted with practical lectures, on which demonstrated ontopsychological methods at work. On October 26, 1989, during lecture in the Leningrad state university, where there were more than 100 experts, Meneghetti met with Krylov Albert Aleksandrovich, who later become one of initiators of establishment the Ontopsychology division at the Psychology faculty.

In 1998 at the Psychology faculty of the St.Petersburg State University jointly with International and Slavic Ontopsychology Associations professional retraining program on Ontopsychology specialization started its work. This joint project got public recognition, which allowed organizing ceremony of grand presentation of the first graduate diplomas in 2001 in Capitol Protomoteka (Rome, Italy). At the ceremony the dean of Psychology faculty, Krylov Albert Aleksandrovich, and head of the St. Petersburg State University,Verbitskaya Lyudmila Alekseevna, personally presented diplomas for the first graduates.

In 2003 the Master’s degree program on Ontopsychology was opened. In March, 2004 the Psychology faculty officially openedont Opsychology division and on May 27, 2004 in the Assembly hall of Twelve boards building an opening ceremony of Ontopsychology division was organized with the contribution of the head of the St.Petersburg State University, L. A. Verbitskaya, the new dean of Psychology faculty of the St.Petersburg State University L.A.Tsvetkova and A.Meneghetti - an event, which placed ontopsychology school into history.