The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), with the support of UNESCO, is launching a program of psychological support for journalists and their family members. As part of the program, Ukraine’s first 24-hour hotline for media professionals will operate and webinars with psychologists will be held.
Any journalist, as well as their relatives, can contact the hotline 24/7 and receive assistance from professional psychologists. The service is free, confidential, and accessible from any region or country media workers stay in. You can contact a psychologist by phone or via a messenger.
“The request for psychological support is becoming one of the most important needs for Ukrainian journalists now, ten months since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The union already had the experience in providing individual psychological counseling in a network of journalist solidarity centers operating in six regions. Now, thanks to the support of UNESCO, we are launching a large-scale support program from professional psychologists. It can be addressed by any journalist and their family members, regardless of the region of residence. This will help colleagues to recognize and overcome the consequences of stress and trauma in time, prevent professional burnout and preserve mental health,” says Sergiy Tomilenko, the president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
The psychological support line is an initiative of the Journalists Solidarity Centers of the National University of Ukraine, a network supported by the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. IN-Person Corporate is the Union’s partner in the implementation of this program – a leading Ukrainian company with extensive experience in providing various types of psychological assistance, including crisis assistance. The company is a privileged partner of the ICAS International association and was the first in Ukraine to introduce comprehensive psychological support for employees of organizations, volunteers, and the public in 2014. Currently, the company provides services to 66 international and Ukrainian enterprises.
Psychologists on the hotline will help those journalists who:
- highlight the events of the war, shelling consequences, facts of violence;
- face risk at work;
- constantly communicate with victims and their relatives;
- were forced to urgently leave for another region or abroad;
- experienced a personal loss;
- have problems in communicating with other people or family conflicts, etc.
“The profession of a journalist in the conditions of a full-scale war is an activity with a high degree of risk. Constant contact with psycho-traumatic events leads to the fact that journalists are one of the most affected groups of the population. At the same time, only a small percentage of Ukrainian media workers seek professional psychological help. We are happy to join the project to support Ukrainian journalists and introduce a culture of caring for mental health in the professional environment. Our psychologists have extensive work experience, including in crisis psychology and psycho-trauma, and will be able to support Ukrainian media workers,” stressed the founder of IN-Person Corporate Nataliya Nalyvaiko.
Part of the program will be monthly webinars dedicated to issues that concern journalists today: the consequences of stress; professional burnout; decision-making in conditions of uncertainty; working with grief; management of negative emotions; other problems related to the profession. Webinar participants will be able to learn more about how to cope with the negative consequences of working in war conditions, regain emotional stability, and the ability to adapt to changes.
How to contact the hotline?
- Call 0 800 501 594 (free of charge from fixed numbers throughout Ukraine; calls from mobile phones – according to your operator’s tariff plans).
- Write via Viber or WhatsApp on 067 861 97 92.
Where can I learn about webinars with psychologists?
- From announcements on the website www.NUJU.org
- On SpilkaNews Telegram channel https://t.me/spilkanews
- From the NUJU Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NUJU.org
For reference.
About the NUJU
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine is the largest journalist organization of Ukraine, which unites 18,000 members and has its organizations in each region. With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the NUJU directed its actions to help Ukrainian journalists. In particular, Ukrainian media workers can receive protective equipment for work in the combat zone, as well as financial and psychological assistance.
About the network of Journalist Solidarity Centers
Centers of journalist solidarity are an initiative of the NUJU, which is implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists, as well as UNESCO. It is designed to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro, and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological and other types of assistance.
About IN-Person Corporate
IN-Person Corporate, a privileged partner of ICAS International, is the first in Ukraine to introduce a psychological support service for employees of organizations, volunteers, and the public in 2014, which includes, among other types of psychological assistance, crisis interventions, work with trauma, webinars/seminars /trainings and other measures aimed at supporting mental health. The founder of In-Person Corporate is Nataliya Nalyvaiko, a psychoanalyst / training analyst / European Confederation of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies (ECPP) supervisor. She has master’s degree in psychology in the field of psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, psychopathology (University of Strasbourg, France); PhD student at UVU (Munich, Germany); member of USP (Kyiv, Ukraine); member of the National Psychological Association (Kyiv, Ukraine); member of the Board of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (Andijk, the Netherlands); a teacher at the Institute for the Training of Personnel of the State Employment Service of Ukraine.
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity , which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.
