Ecological psychological facilitation
Eco-Centered Psychological Facilitation – ECPF®
Ukrainian scientifically based approach and method of non-directive, systemic, short-term psychological assistance. Officially recognized and recommended method for working with veterans, their families, people after traumatic experiences, emergencies and captivity (CMU, 29.11.2022, No. 1338)
ECPF™ – a psychological modality, a method with proven effectiveness in the practice of psychological assistance, training, and advanced training of specialists at universities in Ukraine, the USA, and the Ukrainian School of Ecological Psychological Facilitation of Professor P.V. Lushin
History of ECPF
1994
First steps and ideas
Beginning of P.V. Lushin's work on his doctoral dissertation (1994); internship at Wayne State University, at the EMDR Institute (USA, 1996). The birth of the idea of non-deficit and post-traumatic development
2003
Scientific recognition
P.V. Lushin's defense of his doctoral dissertation “Psychology of Personal Change” at the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine — a scientifically based basis for ecopsychological facilitation as a method of psychological assistance
2005
Founding of the school
Teaching eco-facilitation courses at universities in Ukraine. Creation of the School of Eco-Psychological Facilitation of Professor P.V. Lushin, training of eco-facilitator psychologists
2011
Community of professionals
Founding of the Ukrainian Association of Ecological Psychological Assistance. Formulation by Professor Lushin of the Code of Environmentalism as the ethical basis for the activities of an eco-facilitator psychologist
2022
Official recognition
International integration, intensive training format using AI. Recognition by ECPF as a psychotherapy method with proven effectiveness (2025). Launch of a psychological assistance platform (2026)
About us
Pavlo Lushin
Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor,
Montclair State University, USA
Author of the eco-facilitative approach, the original theory of personal change, the method “Ecological Psychological Facilitation – ECPF”. Founder of the Ukrainian School of Ecological Psychological Facilitation of Professor Pavlo Lushin, the Ukrainian Association of Ecological Psychological Assistance (UAEPA).
A practicing psychologist and psychotherapist with many years of experience in research, consulting, and psychotherapy. Participant in programs at Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan, USA), Montclair State University (New Jersey, USA), EMDR Institute (Los Angeles, California, USA), Member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP). Author of over 260 scientific publications, monographs, textbooks, and popular books on helping people in difficult life situations. Consulting editor of Ukrainian and foreign scientific psychological publications.
Yana Sukhenko
Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor,
State Educational Institution “University of Educational Management”, Ukraine
Co-developer of the method “Ecological Psychological Facilitation – ECPF”, consultant, supervisor, ECPF teacher. Head of the Ukrainian School of Ecological Psychological Facilitation of Professor Pavlo Lushin, the ECPF psychological assistance platform.
Head of the Ukrainian Association of Ecological Psychological Assistance (UAEPD), member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP). Psychologist with over 20 years of experience in psychological assistance in transitional and crisis situations. Editor-in-chief of the "Living Book" project. Author of 130 scientific publications, monographs, textbooks on the issues of psychological assistance, individual educational trajectories, and integration of AI in psychology and education.
Presumption of development: if it is not proven that it is regression, then it is progress. It is more important to be surprised by people than to know them: a person is too changeable and unpredictable a system to reduce him to a set of stable properties and limitations!
— Pavlo Lushin
ECPF - a dynamic ecosystem
Scientific basis
constantly supplemented by research on eco-facilitation issues, the ECPF method, and intensive learning technology with AI
Preparation
Specialists in the ECPF method are trained using intensive training technology at the Ukrainian ECPF School of Professor P.V. Lushin, universities in Ukraine and the USA
Psychological practice
ECPF accredited psychologists on the psychological assistance platform, the psychological service "PSY-U2" in partnership with the Higher Educational Service of the UMO of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Professional community
The NGO UAEPD provides ethical standards, supervisory support, interdisciplinary support, and is a practice base for future psychologists.
International cooperation
includes research projects, interdisciplinary collaborations, participation in conferences, master classes, etc.
A psychologist is simply a person whose job is to be a psy-ho-log(er), where “psi” is soul, “ho” or “hol” is whole, to heal, healthy, “logos” is to know. Someone who knows how to heal the soul.
— Pavlo Lushin
The essence of ECPF from AI
“Create a video explaining the essence of eco-facilitation, an original Ukrainian psychotherapeutic modality developed by its author Pavlo Lushin 20 years ago. Its full name is Eco-Centered Psychological Facilitation. The main ideas are as follows: a person is born with the ability to be resilient, paradoxically stable. Paradoxically, it means that negative, as well as positive, experiences inevitably arise. They are the essence of spontaneous human development. Any of these states are also temporary and, therefore, have a transitional nature. Such states include traumatic states, post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic development. The task of the eco-facilitator is to maintain the rhythm of personality development: thesis-antithesis-synthesis. The latter means a transition to a level of new opportunities or, in a certain sense, the flowering of the personality, which is also temporary and associated with the full spectrum or internal ecosystem of sensations person. To eliminate negative feelings means to destabilize the ecosystem as a whole. So, in negative feelings there are elements of both a positive state, as well as development, and therefore, flowering.” (c) Pavlo Lushin
FAQ: Ecopsychological Facilitation (ECPF)
What is Ecological Psychological Facilitation (ECPF)?
Ecological psychological facilitation (eco-centered / eco-psychological facilitation) is a Ukrainian psychological modality and a scientifically based non-directive, systemic, short-term method of psychological and pedagogical assistance. The method is officially recognized as a method of psychotherapy (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, 2022; p. 23) and has its own technologies for teaching, training and supervisory support of specialists.
How and why did eco-facilitation arise?
The method was developed by Ukrainian psychologist, Professor Pavlo Lushin in response to Ukrainian social challenges of the late 1980s: Western approaches could not simply be transferred without adaptation to our realities. After an internship in the USA (1996) and scientific substantiation in a doctoral dissertation (2003), the modality has been developing for over 30 years; since 2021 - in collaboration with Yana Sukhenko; confirmed by 260+ scientific publications.
How is ECPF different from other approaches?
Ecofacilitation focuses not on “treating problems” but on supporting the natural development of people in transitional situations. What is experienced as a “deficit” or “limitation” is seen as a sign of transition, not a pathology: attention is directed towards possibilities, resources and an image of the future.
What is the contribution of ECPF to psychological science?
ECPF integrates the achievements of positive psychology and adds emphasis on the cyclical nature of crises (as natural stages of development), paradoxicality (the negative contains the resource of change) and the concept of the “development matrix” as a system of transition to new levels. In practice, the specialist does not “treat a deficit”, but catalyzes self-organization and the formation of an image of the future.
What techniques do eco-facilitators use?
Among the key ones are tactical and strategic reflection, positive confrontation, tolerating uncertainty in the “buffer zone”, facilitating the transition from the problem to the image of the future. The quality of work depends on competence, so training includes supervised practice from the first days.
How many consultations are needed?
ECPF is a short-term method: for most requests, 1–3 consultations (up to 50 minutes) are usually sufficient. The duration is determined jointly by the client and the psychologist.
Who is eco-facilitation suitable for?
The method is suitable for people in life/personal/professional crisis, with anxiety and uncertainty, when they need not “advice on how to live”, but support in finding their own solutions. There is a special focus on support in conditions of war and large-scale social and personal transformations.
How to become an eco-facilitator psychologist?
Training takes place at the Ukrainian School of Ecopsychological Facilitation of Professor P.V. Lushin: international intensive ECPF course — 10 weekends, 80 hours, remotely. Students observe real sessions of the author of the method, practice under supervision and gain client experience; upon completion, they can work on the ECPF psychological assistance platform.
How does the ECPF ecosystem work?
The ecosystem combines a scientific base, a training school (including innovative technologies and AI), a psychological assistance platform, ethical and supervisory standards, and international cooperation. For the client, this means assistance in a supportive professional environment, and for the specialist, development, supervision, and community.
What are the development prospects and how to get involved?
Among the areas of development of the ECPF ecosystem are AI-assisted learning (AI simulator, personalized trajectories and AI supervision), expansion of the assistance platform (including group formats and international integrations), as well as research into the effectiveness of ECPF in war and the digital age. You can join as a student of the School; consultant/client of the ECPF platform; member of the UAEPD.