Ukrainian civil society faces many challenges related to the consequences of the war. One of the most important is people recovery after experiencing crises, because we critically need to have human resources for the reconstruction of the country not only in the future, but also today.
Such approach as a Community-Based Psychosocial Rehabilitation has repeatedly proven its effectiveness in Ukraine. The methodology helps people affected by Russia’s aggression to deal with traumatic experiences, adapt to changes, and return to normal life.
GURT Resource Center, with the support of Swedish Government (Sida) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), has been developing a network of organizations which provide a Community-Based Psychosocial Rehabilitation for people affected by Russia’s aggression since 2014. In 2024, we continued this work and expanded the circle of our partners. Self-help groups work in Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytsky, Kropyvnytsky, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Volyn, and Zhytomyr regions. Since 2022, more than 10,000 people (about 80% are women) received a psychosocial support attending self-help group meetings. Our main target audiences are veterans, relatives and family members of Ukrainian defenders, and IDPs.
Elizaveta M., 20 years old, IDP from the Luhansk region, lives in Poltava
“War forced my family to leave our home twice; first in 2014, the second time was in 2022. Our house in the Luhansk region is destroyed. My parents have severe hearing impairment, and they cannot hear. Self-help groups helped us adapt to new life circumstances. I discovered that groups were organized at my university and started attending one. I needed not the professional help of a psychologist but rather the understanding that I am normal, there are people around me, and life goes on. In the group, we talk a lot about our emotions and feelings, which are sometimes difficult to identify, even for ourselves. This is a safe space where I am accepted and understood.
I offered my parents to work in a mini-group using the same principles as a classic self-help group. It allowed us to reveal and talk about our feelings, and we became closer.”
Read Elizaveta’s store via link
More stories of self-help groups participants are here
In 2023, two Conferences of Self-Help Practitioners took place, in July and in November. The participants of the events were specialists who provide Community-Based Psychosocial Rehabilitation services to war victims and activists who understand the importance of such work in Ukraine. Such meetings are held to discuss problematic methodological issues, search for effective solutions in providing assistance to victims through the work of self-help groups, and the most importantly, to share valuable practical experience.
Andrii Kinash, self-help group facilitator
“We work with IDPs, many of them are family members of our soldiers. According to the feedback of the participants, the value of self-help groups for them is that it is an opportunity to communicate on equal terms with those who have similar problems and a similar internal state. We see that a Community-Based Psychosocial Rehabilitation is very relevant, and this activity become more and more popular. It is important to understand that this is work for the future: we are now starting the processes, and the results will appear gradually. The longer we work, the more important they will be.”
GURT continues to work on promoting a Community-Based Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Ukraine. More about this work you will find on our portal gurt.org.ua.
