“Wayfinding” is an empowerment training created with and for Ukrainian people who had to leave their homes because of the war and have found refuge in the Netherlands and Lithuania. The project aims to help them to cope with the challenges of adaptation to new contexts, increase their psychological wellbeing and support their agency.

It includes a series of workshops based on the community psychology principles and a variety of creative methods, that are focused on building strategies for coping and adaptation, nurturing community leadership skills and helping people to form an active position and a vision for the future. Participants also learn to set up and facilitate self-support groups that can become a source of continuous social and psychological support long after the end of the project. The groups are supported by dedicated online resources and have links to local organizations involved in social work, adult education, and mental health care.

MORE ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:

Objectives:

• co-develop strategies of coping with stress of forced migration
• improve mental health, wellbeing and self-esteem
• boost resilience and creativity
• formulate long-term goals and the vision for the future
• expand social network and promote agency
• establish self-support groups
• orient and get more comfortable in new environments
• formulate participants’ needs and find ways and places that can meet them in the new contexts

Participants:

• Ukrainian refugees staying in the Netherlands and Lithuania, including women 18+ and senior people of both genders (65+)

Format:

• Six free weekly sessions for 2 hours, 10 to 15 participants

Locations:

• Netherlands (The Hague, Beverwijk), Lithuania (Kaunas)

Planning:

• June - November 2023 (The exact dates in countries will be announced later. Please, write us directly.)