Mental health in verbalizations and visualizations of future psychologists

On the eve of World Mental Health Day, within the educational component «Pathopsychology», an interactive lecture on the topic «Mental health: theoretical approaches and practical aspects of support» was held by Professor of the Department of Psychology, Doctor of Psychological Sciences Nataliia Savelyuk with third-year students of the OP «Psychology» (group CH-111).

At the beginning of the lesson, higher education students were involved in a thematic associative experiment using the online resource «Mentimeter». This allowed to establish the students’ basic (prior) knowledge before the theoretical block of the topic. It was found that the key associations in response to the word-stimulus «mental health» in the young people present at the lesson were «happiness» and «peace».

Furthermore, the key concept of the lecture was analyzed in detail. Important in the process of the mentioned theoretical analysis was the comparison of «mental health» with a number of related, but not identical concepts: «psychological health», «subjective well-being», «emotional well-being», etc. «Is it possible to be psychologically healthy without having a certain necessary level of mental health?»: on this problematic point, the opinions of students, as well as scientists, also diverged. Truths are not always born in discussions, but critical thinking is developed.

At the end of the online lesson, we used the projective (metaphorical) method «My mental health» with elements of art therapy. We reasoned and interpreted together: «Why are the drawings so dark, «sharp», disturbing?»

The lesson was held within the framework of the implementation and implementation of the project of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine «Psychosocial support and psychological assistance at all levels of education».