Thank you for the opportunity to study at Children Mission in the "Helping Children with Emotional Healing" course.
The full-scale invasion pulled the carpet from under my feet. For several days, I was in a daze. Next came the relocation abroad with my children, the search for work and housing and the challenge of adapting to a new life. There were constant worries: What if? What now? I experienced high anxiety, pain and disappointment. In the end, I decided to return to Ukraine with my children, where the sound of sirens still triggers fear.
I came to Children Mission because I needed emotional restoration – a place and time to gather strength – and because I wanted to serve children. The training became a special time for me. First, my personal healing began to address my childhood wounds (my mother left when I was 11 and my father was an alcoholic). Near the end of the training, my mother died. I was devastated. Later, during the "Free Sandbox" session, I was able to speak about it and cry out my pain.
After the training, my anxiety decreased. I can accept my emotions and allow myself to experience them. I also processed my grief over my mother’s death.
Now, I use practical tools to serve children in Ukraine. Thank you, Children Mission, for these instruments: the "Heart," "About Myself," and "Boat" drawings, the Sandbox, Therapeutic Stories, and Games for releasing aggression. I use all of these in my therapy with children: a boy whose father died in the war; a boy whose father is currently at the front; a boy who was bullied at school after surgery; a girl who stopped speaking when the war began. The children have become more open, and our relationships are warmer. They share their feelings with me. One boy even cried.