In December 2023, the project "Providing Psychosocial Support to the Population of Zakarpattia Oblast in War Conditions", which is being implemented by the NGO "Vigorous Moment" in cooperation with the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya and with the financial support of the Fondation de France, was launched. The aim of the project is to provide psychological assistance to people living in the Zakarpattia region.

"All the members of our NGO have been actively working with clients in Zakarpattia Oblast for the past three years, so they have a general idea of the psychological profile of the population. Now we see that there are more requests to work with psychologists – within the project, there is a queue for three months in advance", says Vitaliy Slyvko, Head of "Vigorous Moment".

The project involves a team of 11 psychologists covering all six districts of the region. At the same time, the war is making its own adjustments, so the specialists also counsel Ukrainians who initially lived in Zakarpattia and later went abroad or, conversely, returned home to Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions. Each of the 11 psychologists provides 10 free consultations per month. Among the team’s specialists is Yulia Sheverya, a psychologist from Khust. During the already implemented period of the project, about a dozen people have turned to her – children and adults, locals and IDPs.

"The most pressing problems we are facing now are PTSD, borderline disorders, suicidal thoughts, etc. We observe that the degree of requests has already increased. If earlier we worked at the first level of the pyramid, i.e. taught people self-preservation, now we see that the state of mental health in the third year of the war has deteriorated significantly, and the requests have become more narrowly focused. Therefore, as a psychologist, I have to improve my knowledge and skills, I have to learn how to use basic evidence-based methods with these different types of requests", says Yulia.

Another component of the project is the training of psychologists. Here, participants are taught the evidence-based CETA method, which is already well established in Ukraine. Specialists will have the opportunity to master the global protocol for 9 months, which protects the psychologist from professional mistakes.

"This project is not only about helping people who cannot consult a psychologist free of charge, but also about giving specialists in Transcarpathia an extraordinary chance to undergo expensive training. Supervision and involvement in a community where there are other psychologists to share experience and knowledge are important for development. We expect that in the next 5-7 years, Zakarpattia will have at least one qualified specialist in each district of the region who will know exactly how to work with different borderline states, how to cooperate with a psychiatrist, etc. And in the military realities, Ukrainians definitely need such help", adds Yulia Sheverya.

By the way, the project managers are already beginning to track the narrow specializations of each psychologist in the team and help them in every way possible. For example, two psychologists are starting to provide specialized, focused support for people with Parkinson’s disease, while the other two specialize more in child psychology, including inclusive and general psychology.

"In determining the priority area of joint work, we emphasize the cooperation of psychologists with the state, family doctors, and other public sector, which should improve psychological services in communities", Vitaliy Slyvko concludes.