SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  is an original method of psychotherapy for children, teenagers and families, developed by Monika Perkowska.

It is based on scientific evidence that emphasizes that establishing a warm, safe contact with a patient helps to improve their mental well-being.

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One of the elements of psychotherapeutic work in accordance to SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  is an adjustment of therapeutic techniques from various trends to the individual needs of each patient or his family.

As a result, in addition to treating symptoms that a client complains about during psychotherapy, their autonomy, self-esteem, and an ability to build safe relationships are supported, which will pay off in future.

SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  is Tailor-Made Psychotherapy for Children, Adolescents and Families so that everyone has a personalized treatment and the chance to build healthy relationships in future.

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Parents testimonials

(for the sake of ethical principles of psychotherapist's work, I kept patients anonymous)

“My daughter was deeply depressed. Individual therapy with Dr. Perkowska brought great results. Thank you, thank you, thank you ... ”
Mother of a 16-year-old
"We were at Monika's family therapy for two years. I highly recommend this experience. I did not know that our bonds - between me and my husband and our children can grow so much”
Mother of 9 and 11-year-olds
“My son suffered from selective mutism. Only Dr. Monika was able to reach to him, her cordiality was invaluable. Slowly, in small steps, my son started talking at school and getting on with his social life. We are eternally grateful for the help we have received."
Parents of a 7-year-old

Find out more about SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ method in Q&A about SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ below.

Therapy with a psychologist with a human face, or how SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ method will prepare your child for adulthood.

If I were to ask you right now what future you want for your child and how do you see them in their adult life, what would your answer be? I'm sure you just want your child to do well in this world they are going to live. But how to raise a child and prepare them for adult life? Today I will tell you about SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  method that will teach your child to do well in adulthood.

What is child autonomy?

Supporting your child's autonomy is nothing more than cultivating features that will make them autonomous and independent in adulthood. You put so much effort into their upbringing that this effort will pay off in their independent life. Am I right?

You want your child to be able to live independently in future, to find a good job and to do well in their life. You also want them to be able to relate to other people, to function well in society, and thus be happy.

What takes away your child's autonomy

"Stressful times" - this is the best way to describe the reality in which we live. You are not the only one feeling pressure in your life. Work, daily duties - all this makes even adults unable to cope with their emotions. And children, due to the fact that they do not have a mature personality, feel even worse. School, learning, pressure, rush, difficult experiences - all this makes children feel unsafe in today's world.

They lack self-confidence, they don't know who they are, they don't control their emotions. Every day they are exposed to stress and nervous atmosphere.

A path to your child's autonomy - what is SAFE RELATIONSHIP™

I start my psychotherapy with children and teenagers based on SAFE RELATIONSHIP ™  method by establishing a sincere and warm bond with each patient. Thanks to such closeness, your child will not come to a psychologist who makes them anxious, but as to a person whom they trust and to whom they can open up.

But this is not everything. Building a sense of security is an extremely important point in this therapy. Think about situations when you feel threatened and insecure? It happens when we are surrounded by an unknown and unpredictable space.

Therefore building a predictable space that your child knows perfectly well is essential to give them a sense of security. Thus, an important element of SAFE RELATIONSHIP ™ therapy is building a structure of work with your child. The patient knows a framework of meetings and knows what rules apply in the office. Thanks to this, they not only feel safe, but also learn to build such a structure in their own life, which will result in their autonomy in future.

My flexibility in selection of psychotherapy techniques will allow me to choose techniques of working with your child individually. This is  to treat not only symptoms, which are specific disorders or diseases, but also to support a general development of your child in a close, warm therapeutic relationship and improve your family functioning.

Did you know that depression, recognized as a disease of our times, is also increasingly affecting children? However, when treating depression itself, you only really treat symptoms which source lies deeper. Without getting rid of the source of this disease, the symptoms only get muffled. Such action is short-term and doomed to failure. Thanks to SAFE RELATIONSHIP ™  method, I can reach to the sources of a specific disease, because I combine scientifically proven psychotherapy techniques and draw out what is most important for your child and your family.

How SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ was developed

To become the therapist I am today, I spent many years studying and gaining psychological knowledge. I got to know theoretical foundations and various trends of psychotherapy that are useful in working with children and teenagers.

But I honestly admit that despite all the professional knowledge, trainings, my own psychotherapy and supervision, I felt that I was missing something in my work. Few more years of therapy with children passed, when I finally understood what I really needed to reach to my little patients.

I was missing a combination of all the approaches in psychotherapy I knew when working with children. And so, step by step, I created my own therapeutic method, which I called SAFE RELATIONSHIP ™ . This method allows children to feel safe in an office, work on symptoms, and later support patients self-advocacy.

What does a therapy based on SAFE RELATIONSHIP method look like?

Basis for a success of this method was working on myself. As befits a professional, I spent several hundred hours on my own psychotherapy. A healthy professional is the first step to your child's recovery.

The next step is to start therapy by a child. During our meetings, I build a safe and cordial relationship with the child. By showing my human face to a little patient, I can correctly diagnose and plan the entire therapeutic process.

My flexible approach to all known therapeutic theories will allow me to draw the most important assumptions from them, to adapt them individually to patient needs

Next, I will create a specific session structure. I will set clear rules and rules of conduct in the office so that our meetings are predictable for the child. This is the key to building a sense of security in them, which plays an important role in building their autonomy.

What are the benefits of SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ ️ therapy for your child

At the beginning, I asked you what future you wanted for your child. You will agree with me that all upbringing efforts lead to your child learning resourcefulness and independence in adulthood. Why? Because an ability to establish relationships with others and ability to find themselves in adult life is a guarantee of their happiness.

The greatest benefit your child will receive from SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  therapy is that I will help them build their autonomy. Thanks to this therapy, they will learn independence, self-confidence, and a sense of security in relations with others. And this is the best that you can give your child so that they can find themselves in a society and feel a part of it.

Raising your child looms large from the very first day they appeared in your world. You want them to navigate in the world in future and to be able to establish healthy relationships with other people, to become independent as well as a part of society ... Therefore the best you can give them is to prepare them for a resourceful, independent life in the world of adults. SAFE RELATIONSHIP™  therapeutic method will meet both yours and your child's desires.

SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ is not a regular psychotherapy. It is a therapy that, apart from helping a child to overcome psychological difficulties, supports their overall development. Thanks to a safe relationship and therapist predictable attitude, your child will learn how they can trust themselves and others, where their limits are and how they can protect them, what they need and how they can fulfill their desires.

Which patients is SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ method designed for?

SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ is a method designed for children, teenagers and their families. 21st century is a century of many challenges - electronic progress and digitization have many undoubted advantages, but they also carry real threats - lowering self-esteem or giving  sense of loneliness. In addition, modern people have to deal with the limitations associated with the pandemic, and also live in a world where bad, gloomy information about current situation is constantly being received. All this fosters a feeling of isolation and alienation, as well as a growing sense of fear and incomprehension.

SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ ️method has been designed so that it can be successfully used in case of children, teenagers and working with entire families. This method expects that a therapist also undertakes work on themselves and their own workshop. Properly engaged therapist is able to look at each patient individually, which allows to select appropriate therapeutic method, as well as adapt their behavior to the circumstances.

This method is intended mainly for children for a simple reason - the reality is created by adults. Children need a reality that is created by adults who will be in a close relationship with them and will treat them with due respect.

I am a parent. Can I also learn elements of SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ method?

Of course. As a parent, you are a co-therapist for your child, because you support their development every day. Soon you will be able to learn about SAFE RELATIONSHIP™ components for home use in a special training exclusively for parents. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a notification when it's ready.