Best birthday gift

Psychological problems are one of the most serious consequences of the war in Ukraine. The mental health of Ukrainian people, and especially of the children, is deteriorating by the endlessness of the reckless Russian aggression, the intensification of fighting on the front and the personal and material losses. Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression and, especially in children, sleep disorders are manifesting themselves in children and adults. Even those who help the victims, including psychologists, experience exhaustion and their own traumas. Neglecting to address these psychological problems could lead to extreme deterioration in psychological health, especially in children.

Your donation will be used for:

• funding psychological assistance to children from Ukraine residing in the Czech Republic - this is a continuation of the 2022 project, which has so far provided individual psychological support to 1,150 clients and also implemented group activities for more than 3,700 children in need;
• assistance to Ukrainian children illegally detained in the Russian Federation - this mainly concerns financial assistance for their return to Ukraine and subsequent psychological care.

• war trauma
• loss of security (loss of loved ones, friends, pets, forced change of living place, kindergarten, school) 
• loss of identity (personal, national, linguistic)
• perceived insecurity and fear of parents
• living a double life - here and there in Ukraine
• new roles for children, more responsibility (especially for sons towards their mother)

• restoring points of support
• a sense of security 
• greater self-confidence 
• improved communication skills

A mother of a 10-year-old boy from Kharkiv contacted us. They moved to the Czech Republic at the beginning of the war, and the mother is struggling with the fact that the boy has become aggressive, short-tempered, but also tearful - it is difficult to communicate with him, and communication is completely different than it was at home in Ukraine. After several conversations with the boy, the psychologist found that he was experiencing great fears due to the move, the war, and his inherently unstable nervous system. The psychologist used art therapy in order to reduce stress, practicing various methods of relaxation. The psychologist also had a meeting with the mother in which she suggested some changes in her daily routine and other ways to support her son's healthy nervous system. The boy left after ten sessions less aggressive and free of fears. The relationship between mother and son also improved.

 The first contact was from the grandmother who left Eastern Ukraine in the first days of the war. They were leaving the war with her daughter, grandson and son-in-law and their car was shelled by the Russian army. Her daughter was killed in the attack and her grandson (8 years old) was seriously injured. The three survivors came to Prague where the grandson underwent brain surgery. They lived in a hostel. The grandmother began working with a psychologist and asked a child specialist to visit her grandson, who had barely spoken since the attack. The father resisted the idea, but then brought his son to the psychologist. After a few sessions, the boy began to speak normally, talked about the loss of his mother for the first time, started drawing, and was happier. The father, who was also attending sessions, asked to see the psychologist himself, and had several separate sessions to deal with his grief. Eventually the family returned to Ukraine, attending their last session with a psychologist online from there. The father said he would find another psychologist for himself and his son in Ukraine.