Psychological assistance in conditions of war: the Ministry of Internal Affairs continues cooperation with the Israeli Coalition for Work with Trauma (ITC)
Employees of the psychological services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs continue to adopt the experience of Israeli colleagues in the use of models of coping with the consequences of traumatic events, which is especially important during the war.
Starting in April 2022, the organization conducts trainings for psychologists and social workers of the department to help master and adopt new models and protocols of support not only for servicemen, but also for their families.
According to the official representative of the Israel Trauma Coalition in Ukraine, Natalia Makienko, the main purpose of these trainings is to teach psychological service workers how to act in today's conditions in the issue of providing first emotional support:
“This training takes place with the support of a group of Israeli nongovernmental organizations that deal with issues of injury rehabilitation. The coalition in Ukraine has been working since 2014 and has intensified its activity since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Working with the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we pay attention to training Israeli emergency response protocols, namely, how to help others, what to do with an acute stress response, or how to support families who have lost a loved one.
In addition, the trainers of the course shared with those present experiences regarding emotional self-regulation.
“Since the beginning of the war, the employees of the social services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have had a great responsibility to work with the families of the wounded and the dead — both in the middle of the department and with civilians. Our main task as coaches is to convey to them the knowledge and tools that would help in today's conditions. First of all, it is knowing how to communicate with the victims and not burn yourself out, because the volume of tragedies, emotional reactions of people with whom you have to work daily is extremely large,” said one of the trainers of the course, the international expert of the Israel Coalition for Work with Trauma Igor Mishunin.
Today, representatives of the National Police, the State Emergency Service, the National Guard, the State Border Service and sectors and departments of social protection and support of victims and their family members of the State Department of TMO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from different parts of Ukraine received the relevant certificates of passing the courses.
According to the head of the Department of Psychological Support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Kostiuk, it is extremely important for the employees of the department to adopt the experience of international colleagues, because it helps to competently respond to challenges that they have not had to work with before.
Such classes for psychologists and social workers will be carried out throughout 2024.
“The trainers of the course managed to highlight important aspects for each of us, despite the fact that we are from different departments of the department. It was interesting to take over the experience of colleagues and share my own in the matter of social support. We have developed new methods that will definitely come in handy when working with the victims,” said Alina Bukach, senior officer of the service of the organization of social and memorial support of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
