In the summer of 2024, “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” Therapy Courses Took Place in the “Training project “Caramel” children’s camp near Kyiv in Nemishayeve village, Bucha district.
The atmosphere of the camp was very warm and resourceful, the program was interesting and rich. Children who survived the occupation and terrorist attacks, who are waiting for their father from the front or who already have an irreparable loss in the family, came to the camp. The “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” were conducted for them
A total of 633 children attended therapy courses. Young trainers – Marharyta Polyakova, Hanna Vlasiuk, Darya Tretyak and Yuliya Kalenyk – worked with them. They are students of the Volyn National Lesya Ukrainka University, who already have experience working with trauma and conducting therapy sessions.
This is how the trainers commented on their work at the camp:
Yulia Kalenyk: “Working as a psychologist in the camp has been an incredibly enriching and valuable experience for me. And the “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” program has proved to be extremely useful and allowed me to better understand how to support children who have experienced traumatic and challenging events. These sessions provided an opportunity to create deep emotional contact with the children, helping them to open up and share their fears and experiences. I am very grateful for the cooperation.”
Marharyta Polyakova: “I am very grateful for the opportunity to work as a psychologist at the “Caramel” camp. This is an invaluable experience. Conducting therapy sessions on the topic of war and traumatic events, teaching children the self-help and self-calming techniques is very important. It was very nice to hear from the children that they were getting better after meeting with us.”
Hanna Vlasiuk: “The first session is always the most difficult for me, because you get to know everyone and you want to explain what our therapy sessions are all about. However, it was easy to carry out all the following ones. It was nice to see how children who were closed during the first meetings opened up and took an active part in the discussions.”
Darya Tretyak: “The participants expressed their thoughts on the therapy sessions’ topic beautifully and accurately, and during the exercises they were very focused on what they did. So, they liked to share their emotions and impressions. I have been working with the “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” program in the “Caramel” camp for the second year, and I already felt that I want to grow further to help others more.”
After the camps, Iryna Zavalna, director of the “Caramel” Training Project, shared her impressions: “Thank you for our cooperation and your attention to our project. This year, the experience of our joint work was especially felt. Psychologists in both camps are already part of our team and project family. We received a lot of positive reviews. Once, I dreamed that the children in the camp would have professional psychological support. And thanks to your work, my dream came true for more than one year in a row. Thank you! It is very nice to know that the children had a good rest.”
We also sincerely thank our long-term partner and good friend “Caramel” Training Project” and especially its director Iryna Zavalna for their cooperation.
The “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” therapy courses took place with financial support of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. We sincerely thank our partner.
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