THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The fifth, final training within the project Expanding Strategies, Networks and Tools in the Field of Mental Health and Burnout Prevention for Civil Society in Ukraine, for journalists of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region, became especially warm and deep. Perhaps because it brought together everything experienced during previous meetings: trust, sincerity, inner strength, and willingness to look at ourselves more honestly.
This time, we talked about our values and our life balance, depicted it in the form of a diagram, and boldly determined which areas of our lives actually give us the most strength and, at the same time, require our special attention and care. We drew, discussed many emotional and important topics, performed a projective test task on the general condition and level of resource, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a pause, in which we could finally breathe. We added active movements so that the body could keep up with the thoughts, and the thoughts with the heart.
We did the tasks and summed up the year – without pathos, but very genuinely. Each participant brought with them their victories, fatigue, hopes, and ended the meeting with a small but significant resource wish for the new year – personal, warm, from a psychologist, and first of all, one that is suitable, in fact, for each person personally.
“All five training sessions, which I conducted at the suggestion of the Ivano-Frankivsk Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC) of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), were different in topics: about balance, emotions, sleep, communications and conflicts, about resilience and resources. But they all had one goal: to support and empower people who learn a lot, who bring information to the world every day, and remain honest with the truth even when it is difficult.
As a coach, I feel deep gratitude to the participants for their professionalism, for their openness, concern, and genuine curiosity – both for the subject and for themselves. This is a rare value that creates both professionalism and humanity at the same time.
And special thanks to our Armed Forces, who make any of our actions here, in the rear, possible, and to all Ukrainians for their resourcefulness and resilience, which have already been inscribed in the history of the world and will, I believe, become its bright page.
This last training was another reminder: journalists are people with a glow inside. And sometimes one and a half to two hours is enough for this glow to become very visible and bright again.
I wish all participants of the events to draw maximum inspiration and optimism from all the events of their lives, to have reliable and caring people around them, to use the acquired knowledge and skills on a daily basis, to maintain critical thinking, and at the same time, the ability to be warm and altruistic despite all the trials that fall upon our lot. Take care and value yourself, because you are worth it!” said Tetiana Beliavtseva, a psychologist and IDP media worker from the Kharkiv Region, who temporarily lives in the Carpathian region.
The coordinator of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC, Viktoriya Plakhta, summing up the training sessions on psychological support for media workers in the profession and future journalists, emphasized that such support is now very important, because we work in conditions of information pressure, war, and social upheavals.
“Journalists, who work with war topics, have to work with sensitive topics and experience the emotions of other people. In order to be ready to fulfill your current task in such difficult conditions, it is worth, first of all, listening to yourself and other people,” noted Viktoriya.
The event took place in the reading room of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Library for Youth, good friends and partners of the JSC and the Regional Union of Journalists, who always willingly support our initiatives.
The network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, implemented in collaboration with the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO, and with the support of the People of Japan. Our primary goal is to assist media professionals working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers are active in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The project is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to support the Safety of Journalists and Freedom of Expression in Ukraine.
Contact the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC at 066 677 0726 (Viktoriya Plakhta, the coordinator of the Ivano-Frankivsk JSC). The Center’s address is 25 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street.
Viktoriya Strilchuk
Photo by Mariya Melnykovych
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