APPLICATION OF A TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH IN SOCIAL WORK WITH CHILDREN DURING WAR

Abstract

Introduction. The Russian-Ukrainian war has brought new, large-scale challenges for Ukrainian society. Unpredictable and rapid events are radically changing the lives of not only society as a whole, but also its separate citizens, who regularly face phenomena such as the usual life and health loss, constant stress, and severe emotional experiences in their daily lives. All this results in a significant level of individual and collective psychological traumatization that cannot be ignored. Therefore, providing quality and accessible psychological assistance to all those who need it is an important priority for society, which can be realized, in particular, by social work professionals. They could offer to clients who have experienced traumatic events, both adults and children, such support based on a trauma-informed approach. Purpose and objectives of the paper are to substantiate the possibility of applying a trauma-informed approach in the practice of social work professionals who provide assistance to children. Results. The publication presents the results of a study conducted as part of the international project “Trauma-informed approaches to improved care and mediation”, during which the informants were social work specialists and psychologists representing social services in Kharkiv and five territorial communities of the Kharkiv region. The study showed that most practitioners had not encountered the term “trauma-informed approach” in their professional activities and could not say anything about it. At the same time, they have some experience in working with psychological trauma, but it was associated with the use of other approaches, techniques, and methods. The author concludes that it is important to disseminate at least general ideas about the trauma-informed approach among professionals working with children in social services, and secondly, the skills of its application in practical situations.