Introduction

Where it began

Safe Space was not born in an office, through a donor fund, or as a project of some large institution. It was born from pain, from personal loss, and from the need for something to change.

In 2020, two of my close friends died by suicide. Their departure left a void in my life and opened a question that is simultaneously simple and terrifying: how many people suffer in silence, with nowhere to turn for help? How many lives are extinguished because the system is too slow, resources too scarce, and stigma stronger than the need to ask for support?

Two years later, in April 2022, Safe Space was born. What began as a small initiative quickly became a global volunteer movement. In three years — from April 2022 to April 2025 — Safe Space delivered 30,000 free psychotherapy sessions in 12 languages, supported by more than 150 volunteer psychotherapists in their final years of training and licensed professionals.

This story is a testament to what can be achieved when there is trust, solidarity, and the human need for no one to be left alone.

Context

Why Safe Space was launched

The initiative was born during a time when people were especially vulnerable. We were still living through the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic — isolation, job loss, fear, uncertainty, the loss of loved ones. At the same time, societies worldwide faced growing insecurity, crises, and economic pressure.

Mental health remained on the margins. In many countries, waiting lists for therapy stretched for months. In Serbia, where Safe Space was founded, there is an additional specificity: there is no law regulating psychotherapy, and therapists in training often cannot access the clients and experience required for licensure.

In that, I saw an opportunity: to connect those who need help with those who want to help but lack the opportunity to practice. The result was a dual benefit — users received free support, and therapists gained invaluable experience and a pathway to their license.

The Model

How it worked

• Volunteer verification — Every psychotherapist who applied had to submit proof of completed training hours, diplomas, and supervision. Only verified professionals could volunteer.
• School partnerships — Psychotherapy schools recognized volunteer hours as part of practical training, motivating students and trainees to participate.
• Multilingual support — From the start we offered support in the languages of the Balkans; soon volunteers joined speaking English, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Norwegian, and Setswana.
• Digital accessibility — The platform allowed people to reach out, choose a language, and receive an appointment. Sessions took place online via secure video calls.
• Anonymity and trust — Users completed entry and exit questionnaires. Questions were anonymous and served only for general needs assessment and experience evaluation.
• Volunteer spirit — Everything was built on goodwill. There was no funding, paid positions, or projects. Therapists worked for free, users received free help, and coordination and promotion were done from the heart.

Impact

Results

Over three years, we achieved far more than we could have imagined at the start.

Gender breakdown of users: 73% women, 25% men, 2% unidentified. Primary reasons for seeking help: 56% anxiety, 37% depression, with the remainder presenting various forms of stress and difficulty.

Languages supported:

Key Insights

Three things we learned

• People often suppress emotions out of fear of judgment and stigma.
• Overthinking and rumination are among the most common complaints that exhaust daily functioning.
• Many had tried self-help techniques — affirmations, surface-level positive psychology — but their symptoms actually worsened because they lacked professional support.

Voices

What users said

Why It Matters

The significance

Safe Space demonstrated that parallel, volunteer-driven, digital models can fill the gaps left by official systems. The most vulnerable people — those who could not afford private therapy, those who could not wait months for an appointment, those who felt completely alone — received at least one chance to be heard.

• Speed is crucial — while waiting lists in Europe stretched for weeks, our users spoke with a therapist within days, sometimes the same day.
• Language and culture matter — speaking in your own language makes you feel safer and more understood, especially for people from minority and vulnerable groups.
• Presence and empathy make the difference — users valued the feeling of being heard and genuinely cared for, more than any technique.
• Volunteerism works — with coordination and clear purpose, volunteers can sustain a large-scale project for years.

Gratitude

Thank you

This project would not have existed without the people who carried it.

To the therapists: Thank you for giving your time, knowledge, and empathy to people you had never met, whose lives you changed.

To the users: Thank you for your trust. We know how difficult it is to open one's soul and share pain with a stranger. Your courage made Safe Space what it is.

To the schools and supervisors: Thank you for believing in this idea and recognizing the value of volunteering for future therapists.

To the media, conferences, and communities: Thank you for amplifying the voice of Safe Space and helping us reach the people who needed us most.

Closing

The end of a chapter

In April 2025, we closed this phase of Safe Space. The decision was not easy, but it was clear that we had fulfilled our mission in this format. Our goal was to give at least one session to everyone who reached out — and we succeeded.

This website remains as an archive and a testament to what can emerge from trust and the will to help.

Although the platform is no longer actively functioning, the idea lives on. Academic papers, books, and new projects are emerging from this experience, carrying the same values: that support can be possible, fast, and humane.

We learned that systems can be faster, that help can be boundless, and that the most important thing is that everyone has the right to be heard and seen.

Final Words

A closing reflection

Between 2022 and 2025, 30,000 people found their Safe Space. These are not just numbers. They are lives, stories, and moments in which someone felt relief, hope, and safety.

Thank you to everyone who was part of this story.

Safe Space will forever remain proof that even small movements, guided by solidarity rather than money, can change the world.

Uvod

Početak

Siguran Prostor nije nastao u kancelariji, kroz donatorski fond ili kao projekat neke velike institucije. Nastao je iz bola, iz ličnog gubitka i iz potrebe da se nešto promeni.

Godine 2020. dvoje mojih bliskih prijatelja izvršilo je suicid. Njihov odlazak ostavio je rupu u mom životu i otvorio pitanje koje je u isto vreme jednostavno i zastrašujuće: koliko ljudi ćuti i pati, a nema gde da potraži pomoć? Koliko života se gasi jer sistem kasni, jer nema dovoljno resursa, jer stigma i sram jači su od potrebe da se zatraži podrška?

Dve godine kasnije, u aprilu 2022, rodio se Siguran Prostor. Ono što je započelo kao mala inicijativa ubrzo je postalo globalni volonterski pokret. U tri godine, od aprila 2022. do aprila 2025, kroz Siguran Prostor je prošlo 30.000 besplatnih psihoterapijskih seansi na 12 jezika, uz podršku više od 150 volonterskih psihoterapeuta u završnim godinama edukacije i licenciranih stručnjaka.

Ova priča je svedočanstvo šta se može uraditi kada postoje poverenje, solidarnost i ljudska potreba da niko ne ostane sam.

Kontekst

Zašto je pokrenut Siguran Prostor

Inicijativa je nastala u vremenu kada su ljudi bili posebno ranjivi. Još smo živeli posledice pandemije COVID-19 — izolacija, gubitak posla, strah, nesigurnost, gubici dragih ljudi. Uz to, društva širom sveta suočavala su se sa rastućom nesigurnošću, krizama i ekonomskim pritiscima.

U isto vreme, mentalno zdravlje ostajalo je na margini. U mnogim državama liste čekanja za terapiju bile su duge mesecima. U Srbiji, gde je Siguran Prostor osnovan, postoji i dodatna specifičnost: zakon o psihoterapiji ne postoji, a psihoterapeuti u edukaciji često ne mogu da dođu do klijenata i iskustva potrebnog za licencu.

U tome sam videla priliku: da povežemo one kojima je pomoć potrebna i one koji žele da pomognu, ali im nedostaje prilika da rade. Rezultat je bio dvostruki dobitak: korisnici su dobijali besplatnu pomoć, a terapeuti dragoceno iskustvo i put ka licenci.

Model

Kako je sve funkcionisalo

• Provera volontera — Svaki psihoterapeut koji se prijavio morao je da pošalje dokaze o završenim satima, diplomama i superviziji. Samo provereni stručnjaci mogli su da volontiraju.
• Saradnja sa školama — Psihoterapijske škole priznavale su sate volontiranja kao deo praktične nastave, što je motivisalo studente i edukante da učestvuju.
• Višejezičnost — Od samog početka pružali smo podršku na jezicima Balkana, a ubrzo su se priključili volonteri koji govore engleski, nemački, ruski, ukrajinski, grčki, norveški i setsvana jezik iz Bocvane.
• Digitalna dostupnost — Platforma je omogućavala ljudima da se jave, izaberu jezik i dobiju termin. Seanse su se odvijale online, putem sigurnih video poziva.
• Anonimnost i poverenje — Pre i posle seansi korisnici su popunjavali upitnike. Pitanja su bila anonimna i služila su samo za opšte razumevanje potreba i evaluaciju iskustva.
• Volonterski duh — Sve se zasnivalo na dobroj volji. Nije bilo finansiranja, plaćenih pozicija ni projekata. Terapeuti su radili besplatno, korisnici dobijali besplatnu pomoć, a koordinacija i promocija rađene su iz srca.

Uticaj

Rezultati

Za tri godine rada postignuto je mnogo više nego što smo u početku mogli da zamislimo.

Polna struktura korisnika: 73% žene, 25% muškarci, 2% neizjašnjeni. Glavni razlozi obraćanja: 56% anksioznost, 37% depresija, ostali različiti oblici stresa i teškoća.

Uvidi

Tri ključna uvida

• Ljudi često potiskuju emocije iz straha od osude i stigme.
• Overthinking i ruminacija predstavljaju jednu od najčešćih tegoba koje iscrpljuju svakodnevno funkcionisanje.
• Mnogi su pokušavali da se pomognu samopomoćnim tehnikama, ali su im se simptomi zapravo pogoršavali jer im je nedostajala stručna podrška.

Glasovi korisnika

Šta su rekli

Značaj

Zašto ovo ima značaj

Siguran Prostor je pokazao da paralelni, volonterski i digitalni modeli mogu da ispune praznine koje zvanični sistemi ostavljaju. Najugroženiji ljudi dobili su bar jednu šansu da budu saslušani.

• Brzina je presudna — dok su liste čekanja u Evropi trajale nedeljama, kod nas su korisnici razgovarali sa terapeutom u roku od nekoliko dana, ponekad i istog dana.
• Jezik i kultura su važni — kada pričate na svom jeziku, osećate se sigurnije i shvaćenije. To je posebno značilo ljudima iz manjinskih i ranjivih grupa.
• Prisutnost i empatija čine razliku — korisnici su vrednovali osećaj da su saslušani i da neko iskreno brine, više nego bilo koju tehniku.
• Volonterizam funkcioniše — ako postoji koordinacija i jasna svrha, volonteri mogu održati projekat velikih razmera više godina.

Zahvalnost

Hvala

Ovaj projekat ne bi postojao bez ljudi koji su ga nosili.

Terapeutima: Hvala vam što ste dali svoje vreme, znanje i empatiju ljudima koje nikada niste upoznali, a kojima ste promenili život.

Korisnicima: Hvala vam na poverenju. Znamo koliko je teško otvoriti dušu i podeliti bol sa nepoznatom osobom. Vaša hrabrost učinila je Siguran Prostor onim što jeste.

Školama i supervizorima: Hvala vam što ste verovali u ovu ideju i prepoznali vrednost volontiranja za buduće terapeute.

Medijima, konferencijama i zajednicama: Hvala što ste širili glas o Sigurnom Prostoru i pomogli da dođemo do ljudi kojima smo bili najpotrebniji.

Zatvaranje poglavlja

Kraj jedne faze

U aprilu 2025. zatvorili smo ovu fazu Sigurnog Prostora. Odluka nije bila laka, ali bilo je jasno da smo misiju u ovom formatu ispunili. Naš cilj je bio da damo makar jednu seansu svakome ko se javi — i u tome smo uspeli.

Ovaj sajt ostaje kao arhiva i svedočanstvo o tome šta može da nastane iz poverenja i volje da se pomogne.

Iako platforma više ne funkcioniše aktivno, ideja živi dalje. Na osnovu ovog iskustva nastaju akademski radovi, knjige i novi projekti koji će nositi iste vrednosti: da je podrška moguća, brza i humana.

Naučili smo da sistemi mogu biti brži, da pomoć može biti bez granica, i da je najvažnije da svako ima pravo da bude saslušan i viđen.

Završna reč

Na kraju

Između 2022. i 2025. godine, 30.000 ljudi pronašlo je svoj Siguran Prostor. To nisu samo brojevi. To su životi, priče i trenuci u kojima je neko osetio olakšanje, nadu i sigurnost.

Hvala svima koji su bili deo ove priče.

Siguran Prostor će zauvek ostati dokaz da i mali pokreti, vođeni solidarnošću a ne novcem, mogu da promene svet.