The new stage of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s project providing psychological assistance to those affected by the war continues as mobile teams of psychologists are travelling across Ukraine, helping people experiencing heightened psycho-emotional stress during wartime. Students of a vocational college in Kryvyi Rih who attended a group lecture How to Cope with the Trauma of War received psychological support and learned practical tools for combating stress.
"I'd like to thank the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for this training. Our students learned a lot about how to deal with stress and how to act in different situations. I believe this is very important now. The lecture was very exciting, emotional, and interesting," said Iryna Borysova, head of one of the college departments.
Young attendees admitted that the war brought a lot of stress and sadness into their lives. Most of the students had not known about the exercises suggested by the Foundation's psychologists but now they can use them for self-help.
"It was useful, and we learned a lot of new things. I wish there were more events teaching how to deal with stress," said Maksym, a college student.
The Foundation’s mobile psychologist teams work with residents of frontline territories, medical and social workers, as well as high school students. Fourteen more such meetings are planned for the near future.
"The danger of war trauma is that if you do not seek professional help in time, it can develop into a complex set of issues that are very difficult to resolve. Breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and art therapy methods can help people cope with it. It's very important to remain a person who can act during this time," explained Tetiana Kovalska, a psychologist of the Foundation.
More than 1,075,000 Ukrainian residents have already received psychological assistance from the Foundation during the war. In preparation for this effort, 250 psychologists were trained in the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s War Trauma course.
