My name is Eduard Abashiya, I am a psychologist at the Amur-Nizhnedneprovsky District Branch of the State Institution "Probation Center" in the Dnipropetrovsk region, a lawyer, a lecturer at the Department of Psychology at the Dnipro Institute of MAUP, and a member of the International Association of Psychologists and Consultants in Sexual Education. During the day, I work at the probation office, and in the evening, outside working hours, I give lectures and conduct exams on psychological and legal disciplines online.

Dnipro (until 1926 - Katerynoslav, until 2016 - Dnipropetrovsk), a city in eastern Ukraine. This city has its own local flavor, mentality, way of life, and so on. I have been working as a psychologist in the probation department for almost a year. Prior to that, I worked as a lead probation officer. Before starting my career in the probation authority, I already had experience in public service, at a free legal aid center, in private companies, in a psychiatric care facility, and I also had teaching experience at the institute.

I wake up early. My workday starts at 08:00. Around 07:15-07:20, I am already at my workplace. I combine all the professions I have acquired in my work, constantly trying to develop, improve my skills, be open to new knowledge, lead an active lifestyle, analyze the people I meet and the events that happen, draw conclusions, and help people if they are ready to accept help.

My work covers various areas, including:

• showing educational films about human rights to probation subjects, acting as a moderator of the "Docudays UA" film club and as a representative of the DOCU/CLUB network;
• conducting probation sessions with probation subjects, being a curator of probation programs;
• at the request of probation staff, I draw up individual work plans for probation subjects;
• at the request of probation staff, I participate in assessing the risks of re-offending;
• at the request of probation staff, I participate in the drafting of pre-sentence reports for defendants;
• conducting preventive and motivational talks with probation subjects;
• compiling character references for convicted persons;
• analyzing personal files of convicted persons, conducting psychological testing, surveys, psycho-diagnostic observations and interviews, psycho-correctional sessions, consultations, etc.;
• holding informational and educational sessions on national-patriotic education with probation subjects and other educational seminars;
• organizing and conducting various meetings and events with public organizations, institutions, etc.;
• preparing and publishing news about the activities of the probation department on media resources, and so on.

In my work with probation subjects, I combine various psychotherapeutic techniques and methods, including art therapy, gestalt therapy, catathymic-imaginative psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, autogenic training, and others, and I believe that the psychotherapeutic approach is a key aspect of an effective probation officer's work. While mastering psychotherapy techniques, I underwent personal psychotherapy myself, which is a mandatory condition for professional work in psychology, and I understand how important it is.

Why is this important? As a psychologist, I encounter and work with various qualities, behaviors, and reactions of people. I would like to point out that a sense of personal inadequacy hinders the awareness of elements of life experience or feelings. Personal inadequacy is painfully perceived by a person, and this feeling affects their thoughts and decisions regarding themselves and others, leading to certain consequences. People also tend to hate those who want to help them. In fact, a person's hatred is consciously or unconsciously directed at themselves. Unconscious psychological problems often cause serious negative consequences for a person in the form of psychosomatic diseases, emotional disorders, character deformations, etc.

In my observations, I can say that psychologists/psychotherapists are usually avoided and not accepted by people who are afraid of themselves and what is in their souls. I really like the saying by Sigmund Freud: "The more perfect a person is on the outside, the more demons they have inside", and this is really true. Not everyone is capable of looking into their soul and facing their own monsters and pain there. Probation subjects (convicted) and probation officers (probation staff) should periodically undergo personal psychotherapy. Working through and realizing one's traits, character properties, life difficulties, helps to professionally and impartially perform one's job, change for the better, develop, without stigma, and not be guided by emotions, stereotypical thoughts, judgments, and so on, which is the key to successful and quality work of probation staff, especially when forming a risk assessment of re-offending in the Unified Register of Convicted Persons and Detainees.

In my work, I often hear different opinions and positions about convicted persons, including that they are incorrigible, they should be punished, they must suffer, sit in prisons, and so on. Working with convicted persons and conducting my own analysis of these positions, I have come to certain conclusions, namely:

• neither a judge, nor a prosecutor, nor anyone in this world can punish a person more than they punish themselves with their actions, habits, and behavior;
• no person on Earth is as good as they think of themselves, and no one is as bad and terrible as others say about them.

From a psychological perspective, punishment is generally less effective than encouragement for change, as punishment temporarily suppresses a person's reaction but does not weaken it. Punishment also tends to provoke anger, disobedience, and a desire for revenge. Moreover, punishment models the use of aggression and can break important relationships between people. A person's character is approximately 50% genes, and the other 50% is upbringing, so we can influence a person's character, but it requires a lot of work on oneself and the development of critical thinking, precisely through psychotherapeutic influence. Those who have gone through suffering, torment, aggression, various trials, and so on, need understanding, support, development, trust, psychological help, and a chance for a new life. Only in this way can we change our society and the world for the better. And today, we are tirelessly working on this. We are creating a new society," - summed up the probation department psychologist.