Over two days, participants explored the challenges of reintegrating veterans into local community. The training brought together community representatives, psychologists, volunteers, chaplains, and veterans in a shared learning environment.
A key focus was reframing military adaptation – moving away from seeing it as a "problem" and instead recognizing it as a complex social process requiring collective rethinking. Discussions covered traumatic experiences, harmful stereotypes, societal responsibility, and practical support strategies. The program also included interactive exercises: a therapeutic circle, nonviolent communication techniques, active listening practices, and learning to simply be present without feeling compelled to "fix" anything.
"Meeting veterans of the russian-Ukrainian war not only as bearers of trauma, but as individuals returning to civilian life with the experience of war, pain, dignity, and the need to be heard and accepted became a point of rethinking," shared participant Nazar Dyatlyk.We extend our gratitude to the “Skelya” and “Shlyakh” churches for co-organizing the event. The training was developed and led by Olena Kopina, with coordination by Taras Dyatlyk and Diana Minaieva.
The practical guide “Defender at Home”, created by Olena Kopina based on this training series, is available by the link.
