Parimatch Foundation, together with the Israeli Trauma Coalition, has launched a training course for the IRC psychologists in the Lviv region, specializing in «Psychological Support in Crisis». The project was implemented with the support of the Department of Education and Science of the Lviv Regional Military Administration.
49 psychologists of 34 Inclusive Resource Centers of the Lviv Region have access to the course. Therefore, that will be two groups in June.
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.
— We are aware that there is a need to train psychologists to work with people in wartime. We are all experiencing this difficult situation. More than 60% of Ukrainians need psychological support. And given that the Lviv region accepts a significant part of IDPs, we interact with them, and we need to understand how to communicate and treat people traumatized by the war. That is why we know how vital the courses for psychologists are, especially those provided by the Israeli Trauma Coalition specialists. IRC psychologists work with the mental health of children and their parents forced to move to the Lviv region because of the war first. We hope it is the first step to restoring the mental health of internally displaced persons and Lviv residents,
said Olga Kotovska, Deputy Director of Education and Science of the Lviv Military Administration.
The Lviv region has become one of the vital Ukrainian regions that provide shelter to internally displaced persons who have fled their homes due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to general estimates, about 450-500 thousand people have been sheltered in the Lviv region since the war.
— The regulations on the work of the IRC have been changed. Psychologists can also help people with mental trauma and war trauma. But being able to help people, including internally displaced persons, professionally requires quality training. That’s why we were pleased with the Parimatch Foundation’s initiative. Our psychologists are a fertile audience. They have already worked with internally displaced persons. Since the beginning of the war, we have decided that the IRC will become the center for providing psychological assistance to people. In three months, about 1,000 children and 900 adult IDPs got counseling. The course «Psychological Support in Crisis» will allow psychologists to be even more effective in their work
— summed up the chief specialist of the Department of Education and Science of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maria Vasyunyk.
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 Lviv 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 pilot project started in the Ternopil region, where 30 psychologists from the Inclusive Resource Centers already work with IDPs.
