UKRAINIAN CIRCLE

The "Ukrainian Circle" project ran from June to August 2023. It was created for Ukrainians affected by the war to help them restore mental health, improve well-being, and develop skills for psychological self-help. The "Ukrainian Circle"project is based on the practical experience of 200 individual crisis consultations and two years of psychotherapeutic work by psychologists.

Key Principles

Most of those who reached out to us were women with the following concerns:

Effective Self-Help Exercises

Supporting psychological health and resilience

Preventing Transgenerational Trauma

Stopping the transmission of war trauma to future generations

Ukrainian Architecture

History, art, culture, values, and identity

Promoting Unity

Overcoming the existing divide in Ukrainian society

Post-Traumatic Growth

Theory and best practices

Wave Impact Effect

Creating mentally healthy families, communities, and a nation by working at the personal level

Presentation of the Psychological Recovery Program "Ukrainian Circle"
By the founders of the Center – Oleksandra Shymanova and Maria Vinnytska

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Structure

Goal – To become aware of one's states and avoid directing emotions towards self-destruction or harming others. To learn how to deal with them and transform them, like in a transformer booth. In reality, the Program itself became such a "transformer booth."

Report Module 1

Goal – To build self-love, learn and know oneself. Then, to examine relationships honestly, without embellishment, and either accept a partner or make a decision to part ways, searching for new ways to be together and support each other.

Report Module 4

Goal – To better understand one's feelings, stereotypes, beliefs, and psychological blocks related to money. To recall and expand on one's resources, strengths, talents, and skills. To become aware of current income and determine the desired income, and begin taking real steps towards it.

Report Module 7

Goal – To learn relaxation techniques and stress reduction through physical exercises. The body should help us cope with everything we experience, and we must support the body.

Report Module 2

Goal – To explore the concepts of dependency on others and interdependence, and to learn to distinguish between them. To differentiate between freedom FROM and freedom FOR. To work on separation from parents and old beliefs about oneself.

Report Module 5

Goal – To overcome the divide at the level of Ukrainian society and within one's own soul. To find what unites us and apply it to ourselves and our relationships with others.

Report Module 8

Goal – To explore one's aggression and learn how to handle it constructively – channeling it into creativity, actions, or work. This was the most relevant request from participants.

Report Module 3

Goal – To find and build one’s own refuge in the soul, safety, and then find it in life, to walk the hero's journey back to oneself. Participants can discover a safe space within themselves, reflect on the meaning of the concept of "Home" and what it means personally to each one, and how to recreate that feeling of home regardless of current circumstances and location.

Report Module 6

Goal – To overcome the consequences of trauma and assess how much the 5 main signs of post-traumatic growth have manifested. The ability to see the future is a characteristic of a stable psyche.

Report Module 9

We also offer to familiarize yourself with the General Report of the Ukrainian Circle 2023 event, available in either Ukrainian or English

Звіт 2023

Report 2023

Participants

During registration, participants completed a form that allowed us to get to know each individual better. The war forced many to leave their homes, so our program included participants from all over the world and Ukraine—29% are located outside Ukraine, spread across Europe and other countries, while 71% remain within Ukraine.

AGE OF PARTICIPANTS

47%
Women aged 36–50
20%
Women aged up to 35
13%

Women aged over 50

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF PARTICIPANTS

All participants are individuals affected by the war. They have experienced a loss of psychological well-being and are prone to traumatic conditions. In the registration form, they indicated their primary concerns.

Participants described their state in their own words, sharing their feelings, experiences, emotions, thoughts, and moods.

It was important to identify what people aspired to at this stage, so each participant answered the following question:

What changes would you like to see in your life after completing the Mental Recovery Program?

Results

During the implementation of the Program, the following key results were achieved:

Participants' Feedback

Thank you, Maria, for your detailed response and helpful advice. I’ve taken everything to heart and will try to feel which option is best for me. Thank you, it means so much to me!

Alla

Slipsk, Poland

Partners