Path to Recovery: Psychosocial Support and Sewing Skills Training

Our Public Organization "MARIMAX — WITH FAITH IN THE FUTURE" plans to implement the project "Path to Recovery: Psychosocial Support and Sewing Skills Training for Community Strengthening".This project aims to help women, internally displaced persons, military wives and youth find their place in a new community.

The prolonged war has significantly changed the lives of Ukrainian communities and become a serious challenge to people's psycho-emotional state, especially after occupation and living in combat zones.

Many women today face:

• constant anxiety for their loved ones' safety;
• forced displacement;
• loss of familiar way of life;
• uncertainty about the future.

Such circumstances lead to emotional exhaustion, feelings of loneliness and loss of inner support.

In small communities, access to professional psychological help is limited, so women often remain alone with their experiences.

As an internally displaced person and military wife, I personally went through the difficult process of integrating into a new community — with feelings of confusion, loneliness and emotional exhaustion, fears. It was participation in psychological support groups that helped me restore inner balance, find resources for life and become calmer in the family.

This experience became inspiration to create a similar safe space for other women going through similar difficulties.

The project plans to conduct:

• psychological support groups with professional psychologist;
• art therapy sessions;
• thematic workshops;
• training in social sewing workshop (materials provided free and women keep finished products).

One effective way of support is creating psychological help groups. Such meetings form a safe space where participants can:

• share their own experience;
• receive support;
• find new resources for recovery.

Group work promotes trust, mutual understanding and provides necessary support to each other.

The project combines psychosocial support with practical sewing training.

Practical activity, especially handwork, has therapeutic effect. It helps:

• focus on creative process;
• reduce anxiety levels;
• switch attention from negative experiences;
• feel stability and control over own actions.

Expected results:

• reduced anxiety levels;
• confidence in own abilities;
• strengthened emotional resilience and self-understanding;
• development of social connections and mutual support (new acquaintances, communication, helping each other);
• restoration of sense of control over own life;
• formation of positive vision of future;
• acquisition of new practical skills (sewing craft).

Thus a space is created where women can not only restore emotional balance, but also find new opportunities for self-realization, become active participants in community life, make new acquaintances, people who can support and help.

For our project the social sewing workshop provides its premises and equipment, but we need to pay for electricity, materials, fabrics for sewing. Women keep the finished products, this will also be help for them. We want to sell surplus products to continue the program for women in future.

The project is implemented in cooperation with:

• NGO "Mercy of Maloviskovshchyna"
• representatives of the House of Culture
• Head of Council of IDPs.
• Social Sewing Workshop

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