Life skills cover a wide array of abilities and knowledge that empower individuals to
navigate the challenges of daily life successfully. In the context of psychosocial rehabilitation, these skills play a crucial role in building independence, self-confidence, and resilience. At the life skills workshops, association users are taught skills such as cooking, cleaning, time and budget management, and personal hygiene.
(Milica Milović)
Life skills workshops are organized once a week with the aim of strengthening the self-confidence of users of psychiatric services as well as education in order to improve the quality of life and the eventual acquisition of skills that would have economic profitability.
The workshops teach skills such as knitting, sewing, cooking, embroidery, plant care, living space maintenance, etc. The workshops are led by two experienced users as well as volunteers.
Users of psychiatric services often express the belief that they are not functional enough to do something useful. These workshops help them overcome that belief.
Knitting represents a rhythmic and repetitive action, it helps us to even out and calm our breathing, and focus on hand movements. Now it is already popular as a form of meditation. Users are happy to participate in this activity because they shift the focus from negative thoughts to monitoring the work of the hands.
Sewing and embroidery are somewhat easy activities where users create usable items that are displayed at sales exhibitions organized by the Association and bring users not only income, but also confirmation of their own abilities.
The most popular segment of our workshops is cooking. Users jointly participate in the preparation of healthy meals, learn about the correct choice of food and that cooking can be creative, freeing themselves from the fear of making mistakes. At the end of the workshop, the prepared meals are consumed together with great satisfaction and additional confidence.
(Maja Glušica)
