In their respective places: principles of providing psychosocial support under the martial law

On September 22-25, participants of the first part of the training course on anti-crisis psychological support and mental recovery of people suffered from the military actions gathered in the fine city of Ternopil. The event has traditionally brought together representatives from all over Ukraine: psychologists, employees of psychological centres, non-governmental organizations and hosting communities.

The first training day was full of lively discussions, participants got to know each other, exchanged expectations, opinions and first impressions from the event.

During the second day, trainers Olena Sudakova and Olesia Druzhyna introduced participants to the pyramid of psychological health concept and psychosocial support interventions. Participants had the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge on practice with the help of simulations and role-playing games, as well as during exercises in small groups.

The third day of the training was devoted to a multidisciplinary approach in mental health and psychosocial support. Participants learned that assistance should be provided by individual specialists in each individual case, which, in turn, will serve for establishing of a quality communication between all departments, ensure high efficiency of the provided support. "Everyone is in their respective places" is a position regarding the multidisciplinary approach, voiced by one of the groups.

During the training, participants developed their own support systems according to the main principles of the Interd-Agency Standing Committee and separated their own position and the position of their organization in the system of psychosocial assistance, taking into account the main postulates of the system of coordinated action.

On the last training day, consideration of practical work in crisis situations began with the Multidimensional BASIC Ph model, which aroused great interest among participants and enhanced their motivation to participate in the second part of the training-course that will be devoted to the practical work in emergency situations.

The event was held in the frames of the "Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Ukraine – Step Forward" project, implemented with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik.