On June 4, 2025, at the dormitory of the Poltava Oil and Gas College (a separate structural unit of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”), an art therapy session was held for internally displaced children. Lesia Klevaka, PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, and Acting Head of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, conducted the session.
The event aimed to help children recognise and understand their emotions, learn self-soothing techniques, and restore their emotional resilience.
During the session, the children participated in the art therapy exercise, “Painting a World Without Worries”. Through creative expression, they were able to externalise their inner states, release emotional tension, and focus on a positive vision of the future. This process promoted emotional balance and activated their internal coping resources.
Special attention was given to the constructive expression of negative emotions. The ability to process and express emotions without suppressing them is a cornerstone of emotional maturity, which contributes to greater stress resilience and adaptability in the face of new circumstances.
The program also included psychogymnastic activities accompanied by calming music, helping the children relax physically, lift their spirits, and feel safe.
The event concluded with lively games that brought genuine smiles to many faces. Ultimately, all participants received treats.
The session was held in a warm and supportive atmosphere, becoming an essential step toward the psychological recovery of children affected by the war.
This session marked another meaningful step in the implementation of the Erasmus+ KA220-ADU TRUST project – Trauma of refugees in Europe: An approach through art therapy as a solidarity program for Ukraine war victims (Grant No. 2024-BE01-KA220-ADU-000257527). The project is co-funded by the EU and led by the Centre Neuro Psychiatrique St-Martin from Belgium, in partnership with the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” (Ukraine), Greek Carers Network EPIONI (Greece), Fondazione Don Luigi Di Liegro (Italy), Lekama Foundation (Luxembourg), EuroPlural Project (Portugal).
Additionally, Poltava Polytechnic is currently conducting a series of art therapy sessions as part of the TRUST project. These sessions have included symbolic activities such as designing personal coats of arms to represent inner values, sources of strength and hope; associative drawing exercises; the “Relationships” activity aimed at reflecting on personal connections with loved ones, community, and country; discussions around “What does mental health mean to me?”; neurographic drawing; and immersion in body-oriented therapy where movement, dance, and physical expression become key tools for emotional release and recovery, worked with metaphorical associative cards, practiced associative reflection of thoughts on paper and explored the symbolism of the elements of nature and their direct impact on the human psyche and emotional state, plunged into music and daram therapy and took part in a unique art therapy session on neurography titled “My Tree of Life”, worked with metaphorical cards and the Nossrat Pezeshkian psychotherapeutic model, сreated drawings depicting a personal “Tree of Power”, did the art therapy exercise “My superpower”.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
