Parimatch Foundation, together with the Israeli Trauma Coalition, has launched a training course for IRC psychologists in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, specializing in «Psychological Support in Crisis». The project was implemented with the support of the Department of Education and Science of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration.
28 psychologists of Inclusive Resource Centers of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region will have access to the course in July.
The project aims to share with Ukrainian psychologists the latest techniques of crisis assistance that are needed when working with internally displaced persons of different ages during the war.
— This initiative is essential for today. Sometimes the State cannot react to changes quickly, while public organizations and charitable foundations take important and timely steps, and we are grateful for that. The war and its consequences are a big challenge that we will have to live with for a long time, and learning from the experience of countries like Israel, which has been living in a state of war for a long time, is invaluable. Therefore, I again want to thank the Parimatch Foundation for including our region in this initiative. Now we are talking not only about children’s health but actually about their future and our future, that is why we supported the project of the Foundation and are ready to join other initiatives of its team,
— said Viktor Kimakovich, director of the Department of Education, Science and Youth Policy of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration.
It is to be noted, that the Ivano-Frankivsk Region, like other regions in the West of Ukraine, has been receiving internally displaced persons from the areas of active hostilities since the first days of the full-scale invasion of Russia. Thousands of Ukrainians have found shelter in the region, most of them are families with children. They are the ones who need the qualified help of specialists who could console and help them survive the traumatic experience.
«Psychological Support in Crisis» course was developed by experts of the Israeli Trauma Coalition. ITC has been operating in Ukraine since 2014 and supports a virtual community of approximately 1,600 trauma professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, offering dozens of online lectures and small groups of therapists.
Parimatch Foundation Program Manager Anna Mazarchuk notes that in the face of the shocking and traumatic experience of the war, psychologists can play a crucial role in restoring the peace and happiness of our children.
— We fully support the professional development of psychologists, and together with the state and experts from the Israeli Trauma Coalition, we are ready to create conditions for their professional training. We are grateful to the IRC psychologists of the Ivano-Frankivsk region for the incredible motivation to acquire new skills. Parimatch Foundation will continue to expand the geography of the psychological support program, moving from area to part.
The training course has been initiated as part of the Parimatch Foundation’s psychological rehabilitation strategic program for children and adults affected by the war. The project started in the Ternopil region, where 30 psychologists from the Inclusive Resource Centers already work with IDPs. The Lviv region became the next one to join the project, 49 specialists have been trained there.
«Psychological Support in Crisis» course was developed by experts of the Israeli Trauma Coalition. One of the lecturers of the course is Denys Denysenko — psychologist, master of health care management, and certified Gestalt therapist, who helps to organize humanitarian aid to the population in crisis. The course materials include psychological and emotional first aid protocols used in Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom, including self-help and assessment techniques, assessments, and acute reactions and trauma.
— Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) is a non-profit organization with over twenty years’ experience in trauma care, psychosocial training, resilience and emergency preparedness. Facing a complex reality of ongoing terror and the ever-present potential of war, Israel is a country on high alert. This long experience preparing for and coping with crisis makes ITC experts among the most knowledgeable on the global map. Given these hard-earned lessons, it is fitting that ITC is willing to share its expertise with the Government of Ukraine and Ukrainian people in a time of such a dire need,
– commented Max Goldenberg, Director of the Israeli Trauma Coalition’s International Training Program.
