hope: Prevent

Children and adults in Ukraine are current­ly at high risk of expe­rien­cing trauma­tic events, which can serious­ly impact mental health. Adequate psycho­logi­cal support hast been shown to signifi­cantly miti­gate adverse conse­quences. A group of Ukrainian and German psycho­logists therefore initi­ated the project hope, which is led by Prof. Dr. Johanna Böttcher (PHB) and Prof. Vitalii Panok. The project consists of two subpro­jects: Prevent and Inter­vene.

PREVENT focuses on provi­ding psycho­logi­cal support for those indivi­duals who are affec­ted by mental distress or who expe­rienced trauma­tic events. First and second-aid psycho­logi­cal support aims to prevent long-term conse­quences such as mental disor­ders or relatio­nal issues, like impaired parent-child inter­actions. Therefore, experts in the field of emer­gency psycho­logy offer trainings in psycho­logi­cal support for children and their fami­lies in the days and weeks after trauma­tic expe­riences.

Educa­tional groups of 20 Ukrainian (school) psycho­logists are trained in seve­ral online modules. Each course covers topics such as war-related stress reactions, psycho­logi­cal first and second aid, phases after trauma, care chains and profes­sional self-care. Further­more, aspects of collec­tive trauma and social cohe­sion are considered. Overall, this project provides scienti­fic monitored psycho-social assis­tance to Ukrainians who are affec­ted by mili­tary actions.

Photo: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid via flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0