This year we at PETRI-Sofia celebrated  St. Valentine’s Day (14th February) with a fun, educational and interactive workshop that we called “PsychoPaths of Love”. In a pleasant environment filled with candle light, soothing music and snacks we invited young people to explore their intimate worlds by taking two guided psychological tests on the topics of  love and sex and then participate in group discussions.

The workshop consisted of two sessions were facilitated by two young and aspiring psychologists  who were open to provide feedback and answer any questions. Before handing out the tests they presented briefly valuable information on how the tests were designed and the meaning behind them.

 The “6 types of Love” session was guided by Viktorija Bondikjova,  EVS volunteer of the International Foundation for Y-PEER Development based at PETRI. and was designed to give participants an idea of the type of  love they look for in a relationship. Following the ancient Greeks who came up with the theory of having several different styles of love, the sociologist John Alan Lee devised a special test that can identify which one of the six broad styles of  love is yours. The styles are named with Greek words and are as follows: Altruistic Love (Agape), Ludus -Infatuated, Playful Love, Storge – Companion Love, Eros – Romantic Love,  Mania – Obsessive Love, Pragma – Practical Love. For more information on 6 types of love – click here.

After the participants took the test anonymously and got their love styles as results. Whoever wished to share it with the group was free to do so and engage in discussion. Viktorija was also opened for any questions. She noted an important fact – while those are considered primary love styles of our personality, we do not necessarily relate only to one of them – it is often a mixture of two or more. It is also possible that our love style changes throughout our lifetime.

The second part of the workshop was guided by Aleksander Tushevski – young psychologist from Macedonia interested in the topics of sexual psychology. He delivered a very interesting and informative presentation on the topic of sexual fantasies – how, why and what do we fantasize about. He also discussed the usual problems and social stigma that people encounter regarding their fantasies. After that participants took the test that was designed to give them an idea of how experienced  (and how much they let themselves be experienced) they are when it comes to sexual fantasies. A discussion on the risks and benefits of sexual fantasies and daydreaming followed.

Many thanks to our partners at Association Professional Forum for Education which were so kind to provide us with their cozy office for the event.

More than 20 young people showed up and filled up the space with good vibes. They took the tests, listened to the information with attention and had many questions afterwards. The event ended with a group discussion that included  important topics such as sexual orientation stereotypes and discrimination, prevention of sexually transmitted infections and other social taboo topics. Participants were invited to take our brochures with valuable information on prevention of STIs and all received small presents – a small box with condoms, because it’s always important to be on the safe side!