Fairy tales for the military. How does a fairy tale help to rethink the world of life, find new meanings and important decisions in difficult circumstances?

Russian missile terror and loud shelling day and night, constant fear and danger, longing for family, loss of home. The war leaves a deep traumatic mark on the souls of children

Severe injuries, amputations, post-traumatic stress disorders, combat psychological trauma among soldiers fighting in the hot spots.

In Kharkiv, they started treating such traumatic psychological conditions caused by the war with fairy tales. Not the usual well-known ones, but specially created ones.

The Department of Psychology and Pedagogy at the National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine in Kharkiv created a fairy tale therapy methodology that is effective in dealing with trauma.

Fairy tale therapy has become an effective tool for military psychologists in the rehabilitation of soldiers, as well as in the rehabilitation of military personnel, veterans and their families. In particular, children.

How do fairy tales “work” on the new front? How does it get to the subconscious and turn on the defense mechanisms of the psyche? How does it affect a person, his or her present and future?

This is the topic of the conversation with Natalia Kryvokon, Doctor of Psychology, Professor of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy at the National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine, co-chair of the NGO Warriors of Good.

Collage by Olena Zelenina.

Read more in the Ukrainian edition....