On June 4, 2025, at the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” (Room 318c), another art therapy session was held, aimed at the emotional healing of children, particularly those who have experienced forced displacement or are in a state of psychological stress.
The session was centred around two metaphorical practices – “The Tree of Strength” and “The Bird of Our Dreams”. The aim of such sessions is to help children better understand their emotions, master self-soothing techniques, identify inner resources, and develop a positive self-perception and outlook for their future.
The moderator of the session for 5th–6th grade students from one of the Poltava lyceums was Associate Professor Viktoriia Shevchuk, PhD in Psychology and lecturer at the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy.
The exercises “The Tree of Strength” and “The Bird of Our Dreams” carried deep symbolic meaning, enabling adolescents to rethink their life experience creatively, find new internal supports, and dare to dream freely – something particularly crucial in times of emotional stress.
In the first stage, children focused on creating drawings of their personal “Tree of Strength”. This became a personal symbol of inner resilience, a visual representation of their energy sources and fundamental supports. Participants received a variety of materials – paints, markers, colored paper – which allowed them to express their inner images freely. Each element of the tree carried symbolic significance. The roots represented sources of support – family, loved ones, hobbies, beliefs, and values that form a solid foundation in an adolescent's life. The trunk symbolised character traits – inner qualities, acquired skills, and life experience that shape their unique personality. The branches personified dreams, goals, and aspirations reaching toward the future like sunlight. The leaves and fruits decorating the crown reflected achievements, positive life events, and personal strengths that the children could already be proud of. This drawing process was not just a creative act, but a deep dive into their resources, helping them recognise and visualise their inner sources of strength.
During the drawing activity, calm music played in the background, while the psychologist asked reflective questions: “What keeps you afloat in hard times?”, “When was the last time you felt proud of yourself?”, “What inspires you to move forward?”. These questions supported deep self-exploration and honest inner dialogue.
During the discussion, participants shared their thoughts, experiences, and discoveries. Many were surprised to discover the presence of their inner strength and support that they had previously overlooked, particularly in small things, such as hobbies or a heartfelt conversation with a friend.
The second stage focused on the exercise “The Bird of Our Dreams”, which aimed to awaken hope and highlight positive expectations for the future. Each adolescent created a symbolic bird – with open wings and vibrant plumage – that carried a personal message.
On the bird’s body, participants wrote their dreams, wishes for themselves or others, and drew symbols evoking pleasant emotions – sun, sky, hearts, rainbows, stars. This creative act helped the adolescents connect with what they truly desired, even if they couldn’t always articulate it aloud.
The session concluded with a symbolic visualisation, where the “dream birds” took flight into an imaginary sky, representing the release of fears and doubts and the opening to new beginnings. The children felt they had the right to dream and be happy, even in the face of challenging life circumstances.
Among the dreams written on paper “birds of dreams” were: “preservation of the nation and people”, “peace”, “victory”, “end of the war”, “to be able to provide for my parents” “to graduate with honours”, “for my parents never to get sick”, “I dream of peace”, “peace in Ukraine”, “for the war to end”, “to be happy”, “peace in the whole world”, “return of all prisoners of war to their homes”, “victory”, “to live in peace”.
Both exercises integrated work with the past, present, and future. The image of the tree helped participants ground themselves and become aware of their existing values and resources, while the image of the bird allowed them to look toward the future with hope and lightness.
The art therapy approach used during the session was based on a combination of creativity, symbolism, and elements of psychotherapeutic reflection. It created a safe space where a child or adolescent could express emotions, reconsider their experience, and discover new internal supports.
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.
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