Preconditions
The full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation led to serious psychological trauma to its citizens, especially among the military and their families.
Problem:
If we disregard this now, we may have an unpredictable effect in civil society after the end of hostilities, ranging from domestic and criminal violations of the law to civil war for social, economic and ethical reasons.
Taking into account the mentality of the Ukrainian people and the undeveloped culture of appealing to a psychologist or psychotherapist, we have a threat that the trauma of war remains with the person, will progress, create not only destructive strategies of thinking, but also behavior strategies. This will lead to alcoholism, drug abuse, chronic depression, psychiatric disorders, psychosomatic diseases, homicides, suicides, and other destructive behaviours.Consequenses:
The experience of the armed conflicts of the last century shows that, after the end of war, the number of suicides among veterans may equal or exceed the number of military deaths in war. In the United States, about 60,000 soldiers died in the war with Vietnam, and after the war another 150,000 committed suicide.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian veterans' families will be in danger of extermination after the war is over. And the civil society surrounding the veterans may find itself in a state similar to an internal civil war, due to the lack of understanding of the veterans who survived the war. To prevent this, to protect veterans, their families and society, we create a project for psychological rehabilitation of veterans - OTHER LIFE.
The OTHER LIFE project
Our mission
The OTHER LIFE project focuses on providing Ukrainian war veterans and their families with comprehensive treatment for psychological disorders associated with participation in hostilities (PTSD), and subsequent adjustment to civilian life after their return from the front.
To achieve this goal, the OTHER LIFE project has three main objectives:
Psychological support
Conducting psychological groups and individual counseling for Ukrainian veterans and their families.
Education
Training specialists in the skills and methods of working with veterans and their families. Creating a network of thousands of such professionals.
Recommendations
To familiarize Ukrainian citizens with the psychology of war veterans and provide practical recommendations for communicating with them.
These tasks are realized with the help of methods that have been developed since the First World War and have been improved to this day. These methods have been actively used since February 2015 while working with ATO veterans and have proven to be effective in rehabilitating Ukrainian soldiers who went to the ATO zone after the Revolution of Dignity.
The OTHER LIFE project
What will change
By implementing the objectives of the OTHER LIFE psychological rehabilitation project, we expect to achieve the following results:
Integrate experience
Veterans will be able to integrate their war experience into civilian life and achieve positive results in all areas of life.
Reduce the risk of negative effects
We will reduce the risk of negative consequences from destructive behavior caused by war trauma (reduction of crimes, suicides, murders, divorces, children of veterans with traumatized psyche, etc.)
To increase the number of psychologists
We will increase the number of professional psychologists, psychotherapists and other specialists who are able to provide high-quality assistance to veterans and their families.
Returning to the peaceful life of veterans
With a sufficient number of specialists, we will be able to provide quality assistance to veterans and their families throughout Ukraine.
Preparation of society
Citizens of Ukraine who attend our seminars will be able to build proper relationships with veterans and thus additionally help them in their process of recovery from war trauma and full return to civilian life.
Society will be ready to meet veterans when they return home and avoid many mistakes that can provoke conflict situations and lead to negative consequences.
ABOUT US:
experience and qualifications
The first step has been taken
We have already gathered the first group of 24 veterans and are ready to start a year-long rehabilitation program, instead of the occasional consultations that are currently being conducted
We already have psychologists who are willing to work with veterans' psychological traumas
We already have topics for training Ukrainian citizens to communicate with veterans
How much money is needed?
There are three areas of funding needs:
1. Conducting psychological groups and individual consulting for veterans and their families
The first group of 24 veterans was formed in this area. They will not return to the front because of their injuries and amputated limbs. All of them have different psychological traumas. Each of them has a 12-month rehabilitation program that includes weekly individual and group work with the veterans and their families. To launch this program, funding of $10,000 per month is needed. The program will last for a year, so the total amount needed is $120,000. These funds are needed to launch this first group, which will be used as a model for thousands more.2. Training of specialists in skills and methods of work with veterans and members of their families. Creation of a network of thousands of such specialists.
Monthly online and offline training with subsequent employment is planned for specialists who want to help with the psychological rehabilitation of veterans. It is planned to create an association of 1000 qualified specialists. Funds in the amount of $12,000 per month are needed to pay for the work of assistants and methodologists who will provide the training process. This amount also includes renting premises and purchasing technical equipment and materials.
3. To introduce the citizens of Ukraine to the psychology of war veterans and provide practical recommendations for communicating with them.
The company is planning to launch its own studio with a YouTube channel and accounts on national social media. The goal is to distribute educational materials to involve at least a third of the population of Ukraine. Funding in the amount of $8,000 per month is needed to pay for promotion specialists, purchase advertising, rent a premise, and purchase technical equipment and materials.