The P.A.T. concept

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This concept offers harmony in the development of every being and in the human relationships they have.

This concept offers harmony in the development of every being and in the human relationships they have. The social services offered to our beneficiaries include activities based on the P.A.T. Concept, thus combining in a balanced way: practice, art and creation skills, and theory or professional training. Through these activities, we aim to constantly care for the mind, body, and soul of each beneficiary. The daily activity has a rhythm found in a program of activities focused on developing the three components of the human being: will, feeling, and thinking.

Every weekday morning, from 9.00 to 10.00, the Morning Circle takes place. All beneficiaries and the recovery pedagogue meet in the Festive Hall for this therapeutic activity aimed at preparing the body, mind, and soul for a new day. This includes 30 minutes of gymnastics (under the guidance of a beneficiary) in which every part of the body is trained. Then, also under the guidance of one of the youth, we sing, as a sign of joy, for the beauty of the season we are in. Next comes the moment of lighting the candle in the middle of the circle, when, holding hands, we recite a saying together. We feel the warm light of the lit candle illuminating everyone’s soul, making us all more connected to each other and more confident. The Morning Circle continues with discussions about the weather and the day’s program, always associated with pictograms.

After the Morning Circle, from 10.00-11.00, follows the group psychological counseling or social counseling activity.

After the snack break taking place in the interval 11.00-11.30, occupational therapy activities follow in the three workshops: handicrafts, weaving, and artistic creation. There, the youth develop their artistic and creative skills by making bracelets, small rugs, or decorative objects. During the warm season, activities take place outdoors, in the specially arranged external space, where occupational therapy activities focus on everything nature offers us: harvesting aromatic and medicinal plants and preparing them for teas and spices, harvesting fruits and preparing them for juice, compote, or jam, greenhouse activities and preparing vegetables for winter preserves, caring for the green space and the backyard poultry area. The interval in which this activity takes place is 11.30-12.30.

From 12.30 to 13.30, empowerment activities take place, which are specific to each day and are based on the P.A.T. Concept, meant to develop the body, mind, and soul.

On Monday, we have music at the center of the empowerment activity, with the youth having a program where they sing and dance. The purpose of the activity is vocational development, a sense of rhythm and body coordination, stimulating artistic and emotional expression, increasing self-confidence, encouraging active participation, and respecting group rules. Tuesday is dedicated to therapeutic games for developing motor skills, spatial coordination, and attention. Wednesday is the day when our psychologist has specific group activities: learning techniques for breathing, relaxation, and meditation. These activities aim to achieve emotional balance, self-control, self-knowledge, and soul care.

On Thursday, the activities carried out under the coordination of the recovery pedagogue focus on cognitive development. They include activities like sorting by color, drawing, literacy, writing and transcribing, and learning poems for visually impaired youth.

The day for watching a documentary or movie is Friday, and it is done in a cinema system. This activity aims to provide visual stimulation, accumulate knowledge visually, develop task maintenance, attention, and acquire the appropriate behavior needed when attending shows.

On Monday, the social counseling held from 10.00-11.00 includes the Weekend Retrospective, and on Friday in the same interval, the Week Retrospective. On Wednesday, an online meeting takes place with colleagues from the DGASPC Sector 6 Day Center to have discussion sessions on various topics. These group social counseling activities are coordinated by the social worker and aim at language and cognitive development, correct positioning toward the past, present, and future, respecting conversation rules, staying on task for one hour, with the youth taking turns telling the events that occurred in each time interval, what they achieved, how they feel, and what they want to do in the coming week, as well as holding discussions on various topics of common interest.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, also in the 10.00-11.00 interval, group psychological counseling sessions take place on various topics, and individual psychological counseling is provided daily based on a schedule because our youth need to be listened to, understood, to offer but also to receive respect, understanding, and love.

Lunchtime, always the same, gathers us together like a big family, so this is an opportunity to enjoy each other and the food prepared in our kitchen, where many of our own products from the greenhouses and the small poultry farm are used. The entire activity is well-organized by the association’s chef.

From 17.00, some of the youth go to their families (those from the Day Center), while some (those from Casa Livezilor) continue their routine activities and supportive environment. They develop their skills for an independent living. This journey toward autonomy is under the guidance of the vocational counselor, social work technician, social worker, nurses, and caregivers.

At the self-management activities, the youth set the table, participate in food preparation, wash dishes, wipe them and put them in the cupboard, sweep, wipe tables, take out the trash and compost, clean their rooms and common spaces.

Self-care activities emphasize developing everyone’s ability to dress/undress, put on/take off shoes, choose their attire, and ensure proper hygiene. And because we want the home to always be a warm, clean, friendly, and cheerful space, all employees along with the beneficiaries take care of this aspect every day.

During the night, the state of relaxation and safety is ensured by specialized staff, so the youth sleep 9-10 hours a night in the quiet and comfort of their own rooms, keeping in mind that sleep is the best medicine for a person’s body and mind. For relaxation and social integration, the social worker periodically organizes, both during the week and on weekends, community outings, walks, joint work activities with other organizations, and excursions. During the summer, the Holiday House in Slănic Prahova becomes our generous host for the camps organized there.

The entire activity carried out within the Prietenia Association is coordinated by Valentin Mugurel Ciobanu, Executive Director and Social Services Manager.

Continuous professional development of staff – an essential component in providing quality social services.

At the individual professional level, employees have the necessary qualifications in social services: social services manager, psychologist, social worker, social work technician, social worker, vocational counselor, recovery pedagogue, nurse, caregiver, and have attended specialization or improvement courses (special psychopedagogy, vocational counselor, integrative psychotherapy).

Our association benefits, based on the partnership with Sonnhalde Gempen from Switzerland, from professional training, experience exchanges, and participation in Congresses, so that periodic trainings have been organized within the association for employed staff, beneficiaries, and parents under the guidance and active participation of Heleen Biekart, Mathias Clauberg, and Ermuth Volker, our mentors who constantly support us in our evolution.

Biannual internal professional training takes place under the guidance of Bogdan Leonte, psychopedagogue at Sonnhalde Roderis Switzerland, with vast experience in working with beneficiaries.

Through collaboration with Academia Concordia, employees have benefited from group supervision and courses for social work practitioners and social services managers.

The P.A.T. Concept is found in everything that means professional training, so that to the theoretical and practical part, the component of vocational-creativity is added, necessary in the ability to develop human interactions based on respect, trust, and love.