Mental Health Team Medical Mission to Ukraine

Sponsored and hosted by Omaha Rapid Response (rapidresponseamerica.org), Steven Hamon, Lindsay Call, Jessie Miller, and Blake Muehlich will be flying to Ukraine as the mental health professionals inside a larger Medical Mission Team. Our work will be in the city of Ternopil (in West-Central Ukraine away from the fighting). This city has become “home away from home” to 85,000 refugees from the war.

What can you and I do?

• Pray for the safety of the innocents, and for a just peace to come to Ukraine.

• Write – a note with words of encouragement and loving wishes to a Ukrainian child, woman, or man.

• Give – In April our team of two adult and two children’s psychological trauma specialists will join surgeons, physicians, and dental team on a Medical Mission to Ukraine.

Who Are We?

Lauri Budzynski, MA, LPC (last picture)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Specializes in: Treatment of Trauma, Adoption, Foster Care, Grief and Loss, Anxiety, Depression, Family Issues

Lauri received her Bachelor of Arts in Art (Painting) from Kansas State University and Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Bradley University. Lauri is trained as an adoption competent therapist (Training for Adoption Competency Course through CASE). Lauri works primarily with children, teens, and families, but has worked with college students and adults throughout her years as a professional counselor. Lauri has worked in a variety of settings including foster care agency, college counselor, and private practice. Lauri is passionate about helping kids and families find hope in the midst of trauma and crisis situations.

Lindsay Call, LCPC (top left)

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor

Specializes in: Treatment of anxiety, depression, stress management, anger, trauma, family issues, grief and loss

Lindsay received her Bachelor of Social Work degree at Illinois State University and Master of Arts in Counseling at Lincoln Christian University. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois. Lindsay is a certified grief counselor through The American Academy of Grief Counseling (AAGC). Lindsay has served children, adolescents, adults, and families in a variety of settings including residential treatment, transitional living, and community-based programs. She values creating a safe and validating space that promotes healing for her clients.

Jessie Miller, LCSW (top right)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Specializes in: treatment of anxiety, depression, ADHD, stress management, anger, trauma, grief and loss

Jessie completed her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Illinois State University and her Masters at the University of Illinois. Jessie has worked with children, adolescents, young adults and families in settings such as intact services, foster care, adoption, crisis management, and community-based programs. She values creating a safe place with clients to encourage healing and restoration.

Blake Muehlich, LPC (bottom left)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Therapy Focus: Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, Spirituality

Blake received his B.S. in Psychology from Bradley University in 2014 and his M.A. in Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2021. Prior to joining Antioch, Blake has worked as a pastor, musician, crisis counselor, college resident director, and teacher. Blake’s work is with ages 14 and up.

Steven Hamon, PhD (bottom right)

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Specializes in: Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, other stress disorders (e.g., work stress)

A co-founder and former president of The Antioch Group, Dr. Hamon completed his Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology/Behavioral Medicine at the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Dr. Hamon has worked for 46 years in individual and marital therapy, and in treatment of traumatic stress disorders.

What Will We Do?

Although we are going to be of help in any way needed, our objective is to offer healing and hope to persons young and old who have been traumatized by war and by displacement from their homes.

Many nights Ukrainian children go to bed with stomach aches or headaches, or they go to bed, but can’t sleep. These are all signs of the load of fear and uncertainty they are carrying. Our child specialists will work with kids using a workbook called “There is Hope For Me” translated into Ukrainian. This workbook provides fun activities which also offer children ways to talk about trauma and loss-related feelings.

Parents, of course, care about their children’s needs. However, as with almost all adults faced with on-going trauma, Ukrainian adults are very hesitant to acknowledge that they, too, have feelings and reactions that result from their trauma and loss. Adults find meaning in being “strong” for their children and their Country, so rather than talking about processing trauma, our adult therapeutic team will focus with adults on building resilience-on adapting well in the face of adversity.

What Do We Need?

Our team needs to raise $8,000 by January 31, 2024. This Go Fund Me is a request for help to raise the funds to enable us to help Ukrainian kids, teens, moms and dads. Each of us is committed to forgoing our own incomes for the 10 days we will spend on this medical mission. We each really want to do whatever we can to help these people from whom death, loss, destruction, and displacement have robbed so much. We need your help, please. None of us can both forgo income and pay out the money it will take to spend the time in Ukraine.

Your investment in use is your statement of love and care for a brave, spiritually deep people – the people of Ukraine!

(Sincere Thanks from Steve, Lindsay, Jessie, and Blake)

FAQs

1. How will you communicate with Ukrainian kids and adults? Besides a crash course in Ukrainian on DuoLingo we will have interpreters available to us.

2. How do you determine where/what the needs are in Ukraine? We have the benefit of Omaha Rapid Response having been in Ukraine previously. They have an established connection with Ukrainians, including a long-term National who serves with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We will have a Zoom meeting with this person. This contact will have us sharpen and focus our interventions to better match the need on the ground as we approach our April Mission.

3. Who are you actually affiliated with? Though we are each clinicians, or are affiliated with The Antioch Group, a private practice in psychology and counseling, for the purpose of this medical mission we’ll be working with Omaha Rapid Response (rapidresponseamerica.org) due to their years of experience in disaster relief and their prior experience in Ukraine.

4. Will I be able to track how my donation is being used? Yes. We’re told that WiFi exists throughout Ukraine. In addition Omaha Rapid Response posts on Facebook often to chronicle our activities with photos and text.

5. I do want to send a message of encouragement/hope to a Ukrainian. How do I do so? Please compose a short (1-2 paragraphs) message marked:

• Ukrainian boy or girl

• Teen boy or girl

• Dad or Mom

• Single mom (Adults)

• Single woman (Adults)

Send these messages to The Antioch Group ([email redacted]).

We will print and carry with us for use during the mission.

6. I want to support you financially in this medical mission. How do I do so?

• Donate to this Go Fund Me* https://gofund.me/ff1e63af

• Donate to a specific mental health team member by earmarking your check with “for the account of (Lindsay Call, Jessie Miller, Blake Muehlich, Steven Hamon)*

• Donate to the General Fund at Omaha Rapid Response, earmarked “For April Mission: Mental Health Team”**

*Go Fund Me is not tax deductible

**Omaha Rapid Response is a 501c.3 organization so any donation direclty to them is tax-deductible.

Mail donations to:

Rapid Response

P.O. Box 53

Boys Town, NE 68010

(Be sure and designate a specific Mental Health Team Member or General Fund, April Mental Health Team to Ukraine)