The important role of art therapy and mental health sessions for displaced Ukrainian children

Lviv, Ukraine – “For us the war started in 2014”, says Olga. She sits in a small room at a day center in downtown Lviv. Next to her two other women sit quietly. They all come from different parts of Eastern Ukraine. They all had to flee in 2022 and never returned to their homes.

Olga, Yulia and Viktoria met in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine, hundreds of kilometers away from their hometowns. Two years on, they are still trying to adapt and learn to feel at home in this city. They stick together, bonded by their shared experience.

“The explosions were non-stop”, Olga describes life in the village of Novotroitske, Donetsk region in February 2022. “We could barely peak out of the basement. The shops were closed. No electricity, no gas, no water and no bread.” Olga’s eyes quickly fill with tears, but she continues, “We were evacuated by volunteers. The roads were deadly. There were bombed out cars everywhere. There was no road, really, it was all covered in craters from the shells."

Meanwhile their three daughters, all the same age, sit around a table next door. Next to them are half-a-dozen other children. The table is covered in crayons, toys and children’s drawings. The three girls at the head of the table are giggling and acting mischievously, as a 9-year-old should. They have been attending art therapy for almost a year now, and during the session there is no telling what they had to go through before coming to Lviv.

“Painting here makes me feel at ease and happy,” shares Ira, 9. “It's my favorite thing because I can make the world look however I want it to,” she adds.

Often, you’ll try to protect your children but have no one to share your own worries with. But if you just cry all the time, you’re no good at supporting your children. I used to cry, getting lost in the city. My memory worsened. The therapy and classes I took helped me out.

“Art therapy and psychology sessions are very good for Ira. They calm and soothe her. She doesn’t show any signs of distress anymore”, Olha says about her daughter. “She refuses to sleep alone, though”, the woman continues after a pause. “Our rented apartment has a kids’ room, but Ira only sleeps with me. That is the only way she feels safe. During air raids I make a bed on the corridor floor. She sleeps while I stay up next to her reading the news on the phone."

The facility is run by the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health (UFPH), World Vision’s local partner, and supported by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, ACTED Ukraine and the Ukraine Response Consortium. Here children and their parents have access to various mental health, educational, arts and crafts, and sports activities.

Next to Olha sits Viktoria, the mother of another 9-year-old, Veronika. They come from the city of Kharkiv in the east. In March 2022, Viktoria says, they spent two weeks living in the basement of a nearby gym – the only place in their neighborhood safe enough to shelter from bombs.

“When we first moved to Lviv, I felt like Mowgli in a big city. It was such a shock after staying in a bomb shelter. Until now whenever I hear a loud noise, my heart stops. The children have adapted much better.”

Viktoria and her two children first stayed at a shelter for internally displaced people, but soon she decided to move to a rented apartment. “In the shelter they just give you everything. Living on your own forces you to make an effort, look for opportunities, like these classes, and not be in your head all the time. The rent is a big strain on our budget. It's so important that we can visit the center for free.”

“Don’t put your hands down, don’t feel sorry about yourself”, Olga adds. A mother of two, she is convinced that a parent’s own mental wellbeing is critical: “Often, you’ll try to protect your children but have no one to share your own worries with. But if you just cry all the time, you’re no good at supporting your children. I used to cry, getting lost in the city. My memory worsened. The therapy and classes I took helped me out.”

A long-time civil servant, Olga has a newly discovered passion for painting: “In the past when my kids asked for help with their arts and crafts homework I used to say, ‘Can I do some paperwork instead, anything, but not arts?", she laughs. “Now when I paint, I feel energized, I feel peace. I can dream again.”

To date, World Vision Ukraine Crisis Response has reached almost 1.9 million people, including more than 860,000 children. They were supported through basic needs assistance, mental health, protection, education, shelter, livelihoods, and cash and voucher programs.

Story and photos by Oleksandr Shpygunov, Communications Officer