Psychological and Social Assistance to Affected People in Times of War and in the Post-war Reconstruction. Reference for Wide Circle of Experts in Social Support

This publication provides guidance for Ukrainian providers of psychological and social services with reference to legal framework, available resources and examples of best practices. It was elaborated based on experiences of local professionals and with due regard to realities and impacts of ongoing war on people’s well-being and mental health.

The reference describes legal and administrative framework for social and psychological services provided at different levels. Special attention is paid to basics of psychological knowledge needed for social service providers to establish and maintain contact with people affected by stress, grief or psychological trauma to enable provision of quality services, and refer them to long-term professional support. For that, it outlines principles for initial diagnostics and describes methods and approaches that can be instrumental for helping people in need to overcome challenging life situations.

The publication was elaborated  as part of project “Building the capacity of national stakeholders to provide social and psychological support to people in time of war and during post-conflict recovery”, implemented by the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine with extra-budgetary contributions from the Organization's participating States; see the full list of the Programme's donors.  

The publication is available in Ukrainian.