It goes without saying that the war affects everyone in different ways, with children often being the most vulnerable. Separation from parents, loss of home and familiar environment, scenes of violence and other negative experiences do not go unnoticed by a tender child’s soul.
It is also known that art-therapy is one of the instruments that provide therapeutic support which can change the way children (and often adults) experience the war and give a sense of security.
Therefore, to meet this drastic need, UETS plans to launch a short-term program in art-therapy. The purpose of this program lies in training lay counselors who can bring God’s love and care into lives of war-traumatized Ukrainians through various art-therapy techniques.
Below you can read a testimony Anastasia Avramchuk, a UETS illustrator, about how helpful art-therapy can be in the work with children…
“At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, our family happened to be in Irpin under heavy fire. Later we managed to escape the warzone and eventually found ourselves in L’viv, Western Ukraine.
When we arrived in L’viv, we volunteered to help other evacuees at a church shelter. I saw scared children and exhausted parents who did not know what to do. So I found paper, paints, pencils and simply started entertaining children. We were drawing, painting and playing together. As a result, the children got calm, relaxed a little, started sharing their feelings. Then I bought more materials and started conducted classes for them, using art-therapy techniques.
After the liberation of areas around Kyiv, we returned home. We did not want to sit with our hand idle. We started looking around to see where we could be helpful. So, we went to the village of Bobryk which had been under occupation for a month and where many buildings had been damaged. I suggested leading a group session of art-therapy for children who seemed to be very scared.
We were very surprised when 24 children showed up on the first day! There was not enough space in a kindergarten classroom where we gathered, and we seated the children in neighboring classes and corridor. But the atmosphere turned out to be easygoing. The children were smiling and showing their genuine interest in what was going on.
We conducted many artistic experiments, learned to express emotions and overcome fear. During such sessions, children opened their hearts, shared their stories, expressed their emotions. They saw that their emotions and fears were accepted, no one condemned them. We studied our feelings together and sought healthy ways to live them through.
Therefore, I am very glad that Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary is about to launch a new program in short-term art-therapy. I am sure that it is very relevant today when so many war-traumatized children (and adults) need urgent psychological help. Moreover, I believe it can be a good evangelistic tool to reach out many people for Christ.”
