Those who help others to overcome the crisis daily also need time to pause, recharge, and
feel supported by those around them. That is why staff of the program Safe migration and counter
trafficking from national office Caritas Ukraine and seven local organizations came together for a
joint working meeting and supervision. The employees discussed what troubles them and what
inspires them: they shared successes, discussed complex cases, analyzed challenges, and sought
solutions for future work with vulnerable people affected by war in Ukraine.
Special attention was given to supporting the mental health of specialists, as working in the
context of war in Ukraine is an enormous burden. During a supervision session with the
supervisor-psychologist, participants learned self-regulation techniques, practiced stress-reduction
exercises, and identified personal sources of resilience to protect themselves from professional
burnout.
Working together, informal communication, and the opportunity to spend time in beautiful
mountainous and calm location helped colleagues from various regions of the country helped
Caritas caregivers to strengthen their resilience, trust and teamspirit. This meeting served as a
reminder that to support others, it is important to find time and resources for oneself, maintain
inner resilience, and be a source of support for one another.
Iryna Boyko from Caritas Kyiv says:
“Despite the challenging commute and what felt like a real adventure with five transfers due to the
lack of direct connections, it was definitely worth it. The location is incredible, the natural
surroundings are stunning, and the event itself was organized to a very high standard: the comfort,
service, learning opportunities, atmosphere, and chance to exchange experiences with colleagues
were all incredibly valuable!”
The most valuable thing was that we were able to combine working issues with caring for
the team’s psychological well-being. In wartime, supervision and burnout prevention techniques
are no less important than the numbers in reports. This event restored our sense of unity and
showed that trust within the team is our greatest strength, summarized project manager Ihor
Trydub.