Therapy and Psychosocial Support in the Ukraine

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

 

My name is Eva Barnewitz; I am a trauma therapist, clinical psychologist and family therapist in Konstanz, Germany, and an international trainer for trauma therapy. For more than two years, I've been in touch with a team of doctors, psychologists and therapists at the Forest Glade Veterans' Hospital in the Ukraine (04075, m.Kyyiv, Obolonskyy rayon, PUSHCHA VODYTSIA, 7 LINIIA). We were organising a trauma therapy training through vivo international e.V. for the therapists working with veterans who have served in the war that started 2014.

 

In March 2022, the hospital had to be evacuated due to the escalation of the war, the patients had to leave the treatment facilities, the therapists have been displaced themselves, and their funding is at stake. Nonetheless, they tirelessly provide support to their clients and their families who are facing all atrocities related to war: Shelling, hunger, displacement, not knowing the whereabouts of family members, etc.

 

My goal is to secure the work of this team by providing them with a stable income at least for the next three months (that is, for eight doctors/therapists 1000€ / month x 3 = 24.000€).

 

Every Euro and Dollar will be forwarded to the NGO Doloni Dotyk (07253 Soborna Str, 55, v. Prybirsk, Vyshgorod Dsitr., Kyiv Region) that closely cooperates with the hospital and will forward all donations to the team. The funds will be used for laptops so online therapy can be provided, material for therapies, rent for the therapists and their families, water and electricity, and overall to ensure that the team can continue their work, supporting not only veterans but also their spouses, parents, and children.

 

Why I'm doing this?

Because it is always better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

 

The people on the ground are doing impressive work.

Let's support them.

And let's do it now.

 

 

If you want to find out more about the team and their work, watch our entire conversation on zoom here: https://youtu.be/bQkWiv6nFiY

 

The team members are:

Tetiana Sirenko - psychologist

Olena Myzuchuk - psychologist

Nina Tronenko - psychologist

Tetiana Pupunina - psychologist

Dmitriy Assonov - doctor

Andriy Poltavtsev - psychologist

Olesya Bondarenko - psychologist

Oksana Safronova - social worker

 

 

Credits:

Picture by tomch, Signature 938046634 at istockphoto.com

Video by Michael A. Tomis

Music by open source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOEcCV0x_zM&t=1564s