To comfort, to hug, to inspire hope, to charge with a thirst for life. How often this can be lacking for children who have faced all the horrors of war. If it were not for the help of real professionals, they would simply close in themselves, would not make contact, would not communicate, and would not be able to adapt to the new reality. Our today’s post is about the importance of helping such children and about Ulyana Belichenko – a body-oriented therapist and psychologist of the Maltese Relief Service, who made every effort to bring back the long-awaited joy to their sad faces.
Ulyana-Butterfly. This is how tenderly, reverently, and very lovingly Ulyana Belichenko was called in the camp “Order of the Skarbova Hora” by children who came from the war zone. The woman spent the whole summer together with special children in a picturesque village in the Lviv region. A popular exercise to stabilize their emotional state was the “Butterfly Hug”. That is why our colleague received such a special and symbolic nickname.
“These children were forced to become displaced and leave their homes. They were under stress, they saw explosions… To stabilize them, we did music therapy, art therapy, and breathing and body exercises. This way they gradually showed their emotions,” says Uliana.
She emphasizes that when we are scared, we often hide our true mental state: “Each participant of the camp came with his or her own fear and pain. When we are afraid, we block our emotions. Many children have not cried since the beginning of the war. And they say they are grateful to me that they finally had the opportunity to cry,” she says.
It is difficult for children to go through the challenges of war, and to cope with loss, grief, and pain. “I tried to feel each child and be extremely careful. First, when there is a loss, I say that I am with you. So, the child gradually begins to open up”, – Ulyana says.
The camp participants (there were 150 of them in total) usually opened up on the third lesson. An individual approach to each of them was very important.
“I want to see smiles on the faces of children, I want to help people who need it. It is extremely gratifying when a child sees hope in me, then he or she sees the light and chooses the vector of life”, – sums up Ulyana Belichenko.
