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From Trauma to Peace: Arts-Based Healing for Ukrainian Children

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Context

Ukraine’s children are in crisis. Years of war have left a generation struggling: nearly 1 in 3 adolescents show moderate or severe depression, and mental health has worsened significantly since the conflict began. Even children as young as 3–4 show signs of trauma. Meanwhile, mental health services across the country have been severely damaged.

Without targeted support, these children face prolonged distress that can follow them into adulthood. Arts-based interventions (ABIs) offer a proven, scalable alternative to traditional therapy which is effective in groups, deliverable by trained paraprofessionals, and adaptable to school and community settings.

Goals

  • Train Ukrainian professionals in WSI’s 12 Principles of Transformational Healing and the multimodal arts-based Growing Peace Warriors (GPW) program.
  • Deliver healing directly to children through 10 weekly sessions integrating visual art, movement, imagery, and nutritional psychoeducation.
  • Measure what works using validated tools to track emotional regulation, coping, and wellbeing.
  • Build lasting local capacity by certifying practitioners as Peace Growers, each equipped to train 5–8 more — creating a multiplier effect across Ukraine.

Activities

The Growing Peace Warriors program unfolds in three phases over eight months:

Phase I – Train (Months 1–2): A five-day in-person intensive in Lviv brings together 15–20 Ukrainian mental health professionals and WSI expert facilitators to learn the GPW model through teaching, practice, and supervision.

Phase II – Build (Months 2–4): Eight online sessions deepen practitioner skills across all GPW modalities, preparing them for independent facilitation.

Phase III – Go! (Months 3–8): Practitioners deliver GPW to two sequential cohorts of war-affected children, including those who have lost a parent, been displaced, or were repatriated from Russia with ongoing expert oversight throughout.

Each child cohort receives 10 structured weekly sessions. All sessions are trauma-informed, culturally grounded, and delivered in Ukrainian for children ages 6–17. Caregiver components are woven throughout.

The long-term vision: scale this model across Ukraine and eventually adapt it for conflict settings worldwide.

Key Performance Indicators

1. 15-20 Ukrainian mental health professionals complete the full GPW train-the-trainer program, demonstrating 70% improvement in knowledge of WSI’s 12 Principles of Transformational Healing and 80% improvement in applied ABI facilitation skills; all certified as Peace Growers ready to train and mentor additional providers.

2. Child beneficiaries demonstrate approximately 40% reduction in transdiagnostic distress (anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms as measured by RHS-15 and Youth Wellbeing Index) and approximately 40% improvement in internal peace measures (emotional regulation, felt safety, agency, and hope) from baseline to post-intervention.

3. Each certified Peace Grower trains 5-8 additional Ukrainian professionals or paraprofessionals during or immediately following the project period, with an estimated 75-160 total trained providers capable of independently delivering GPW by project end ensuring evidence-based ABI capacity continues expanding across Ukraine beyond the funding period.

Myriad Canada is working with War Survivors Institute on this project, a nonprofit whose mission is support war survivors and transform global health.

Myriad Canada’s role is to carry out charitable activities across the globe in accordance with its charitable purposes. We control and monitor the use of funds and the progress of charitable activities to ensure that donations made to Myriad Canada have the greatest impact in accordance with donors’ expressed wishes. As a member of the Myriad Alliance with offices in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia and Australia, Myriad Canada has a vast international network and extensive practical expertise.

How to support this project?

By credit card: At the top right of this page, indicate the amount you wish to donate, and make the donation online by credit card. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes by e-mail just a few minutes after making the donation. It is simple and quick!

By cheque:

  • Make your cheque out to Myriad Canada.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: We receive a lot of cheques! You must please indicate “Project D210 – From Trauma to Peace: Arts-Based Healing for Ukrainian Children” in the memo line of your cheque to ensure that it is allocated correctly.
  • Mail your cheque to: Myriad Canada, 1 Place Ville Marie, Suite 1670, Montreal, QC, H3B 2B6, Canada.

By Direct Deposit:

For Donation of Securities:

For Monthly Donations: 

  • We use CanadaHelps. Please find the link here.

If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

All donations are eligible for a tax receipt in Canada.

The projects are managed with the greatest care and professionalism.