MENTORING AS A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN LEFT WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE

Abstract

Relevance. The loss of parental care like nothing else affects the psychological well-being of the child and can have detrimental consequences for their further social adaptation and self-realization in adulthood. The emergence of effective mechanisms for child's social adaptation is the result of its productive interaction with a human social environment and an indispensable condition for successful socialization in society. The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of mentoring on the social and psychological adaptation of children left without parental care. Methodology. By means of theoretical analysis using the methodology of the systemic and cultural-historical approach, the article analyzes in detail the history of mentoring, its types and functions in working with children. Results. The paper proves that a child left without parental care faces a number of problems ( compensation for the level of mental deprivation, formation of basic trust in the world and gender-role identification, understanding ethical norms, and formation of relevant values), which negatively affect their ability to social adaptation. To solve them, she needs competent psychological support from adults. Mentoring is considered as an effective form of psychological support and guidance for children, which, by transforming and enriching itself in the processes of formation, has found due recognition in modern society and is widely used as a tool for the personal development of a person as a subject of activity. It is concluded that the psychological and pedagogical potential of mentoring should be used in the psychological support of children who were left without parental care due to military operations on the territory of Ukraine.