Gradually I began to feel stronger”: An IDP writes to thank for psychological support

Publication date: August 8, 2024

Olha*, 55, lived most of her life in a town in eastern Ukraine that is now occupied. The war forced her to leave everything she loved and move to the country’s west for safety. Her family remained in the occupied territories. But Olha prefers not to talk about it because it hurts her.

“I have always felt close to my home and my family. Leaving my home and the city where I grew up was a big emotional challenge. Everything changed so quickly, and I felt very lonely and abandoned. The first few months in the new place were the hardest. I often woke up at night with nightmares about the past and fears for my loved ones who remained in the conflict zone. It all ate away at my heart and soul,” Olha described her condition in a letter that we will discuss below.

She had experienced a lot and realized that she could not endure all the trials and tribulations of being a displaced person during this war alone. In the spring of 2024, in Zaporizhzhia, fate brought Olha together with Halyna Batrakova, a volunteer with the NGO “Agency for Democratic Development of Donbas” and a crisis psychologist**.

She offered the woman psychotherapy sessions. After several such sessions, Olha wrote a letter to the organization thanking them for the psychologist’s help: for listening to her, helping her understand and accept the complicated feelings she was going through, restoring her emotional stability, and finding ways to cope with stress.

“Her support was precious to me as I tried to rebuild my life. Gradually, I began to feel stronger…” Olha writes.

In June this year, according to Tetiana Pliasunova, a lawyer with the NGO Agency for Democratic Development of Donbas, Olha found a job as a seamstress, her specialty.

• “Now the woman feels more or less normal and often attends our meetings. And although she is sometimes a little sad, she is always in contact with a psychologist,” adds the lawyer, quoting lines from a letter written by an IDP.

“Although the memories of the past still cause pain and longing, I am learning to live in new conditions and find joy in simple things. I am grateful to the volunteer and the entire organization for their understanding and help, which allowed me to feel a little more at home again”.

*Name changed for ethical reasons.

** Crisis psychology is immediate, short-term psychological assistance designed to help people in crises and minimize the potential for long-term psychological trauma.

The main photo for the article: shotam.info

The material was created with the support of GlobalGiving, an international charity platform, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The Legal Development Network is solely responsible for the publication’s content.

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