Professional social counseling and solving social problems from the perspective of a counselor at the RUBIKON Center: in the field of resocialization of individuals after serving a prison sentence.

This thesis focuses on professional social counseling in the context of the resocialization of individuals after serving a prison sentence. The aim of the work is to compare approaches to social counseling for people with a criminal past in two European countries - Czech Republic and Portugal - through a case study of two specific organizations: RUBIKON Centrum and RESHAPE. The theoretical part defines the key concepts of professional social counseling and resocialization, examines the specifics of working with this target group, and describes the legislative and institutional frameworks in both countries. The empirical part is based on semi- structured interviews with counselors from both organizations who work directly with clients with a criminal background. The goal is to identify similarities and differences in working methods, values, approaches, and challenges faced by counselors, and to assess the potential for transferring good practices between the countries. Keywords: professional counseling, social work, resocialization, post-incarceration individuals