• Drawing aids trauma recovery

Children and young people in Ukraine are experiencing social and emotional benefits from the drawing classes offered in different corps.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, The Salvation Army in Ukraine runs a range of programs to help traumatised children maintain their mental health.

The Dnipro Corps offers drawing classes, a type of art therapy, which are popular with children and teenagers.

“Drawing is one way to distract a child from the source of stress, to shift the attention to the process itself,” explains Natalia Rak, corps leader. “Drawing also produces stress resistance in children and increases their attention span, endurance and concentration.”

Natalia and the team shared that young people have been able to express themselves through their creativity. “Through the colours of the paints and what they are drawing, they find their own internal resources to help them deal with the problems that bother them inside.”

The classes are also a good opportunity for the children and youth to socialise and make friends – another important factor in trauma recovery.