The Resilience Centre is running training sessions for educators in the Ternopil region on supporting children who are coping with loss
Tetiana Nadvynychna and Zoriana Krupnyk, associate professors at the Department of Psychology and Social Work at WUNU and specialists at the Education and Research Centre for Social and Psychological Support and Resilience, are running training courses entitled ‘Guidance and Support for Children and Classes During the Grieving Process’ for educators in the Ternopil region.
The sessions are designed to enhance professional competence in the field of psychological and educational support for children experiencing loss. The courses bring together educational staff from local communities who, in their day-to-day work, face challenges relating to pupils’ emotional wellbeing in the context of loss and crisis.
The programme for these training sessions has been developed by experts from the Israel Trauma Coalition and is designed to foster an understanding of the specific characteristics of children’s grief, its stages and manifestations. Participants learn the theoretical foundations of supporting children experiencing loss, as well as practical support tools that can be integrated into the educational process. Educators pay particular attention to creating a safe environment, developing empathetic communication, and responding to students’ complex emotional and behavioural manifestations.
An important component of the course is the discussion of real-life professional situations, the exchange of experiences, and the search for effective strategies for interacting with children and their families, which helps to foster a supportive community among educators. Particular emphasis is placed on preserving the teacher’s inner resources, developing self-regulation skills and preventing professional burnout, as effective support for children is only possible if the adult is emotionally resilient.
Conducting such training sessions helps to strengthen teachers’ psychological readiness to work in the face of today’s challenges and to foster a supportive educational environment for every child.
