Staying Close When It Matters Most: Psychosocial Support for Evacuees by East SOS
Leaving the frontline is not the end – it is the beginning of a new chapter. A chapter of processing loss, facing the unknown, and slowly rebuilding inner strength.
For many, this journey starts at a transit center. In the first hours after evacuation, people respond in different ways: some speak without pause, while others sit in silence, holding tightly to a single bag – all that remains of what once was home.
Psychologists are part of the East SOS evacuation teams every step of the way. At first, they help people stabilize – to breathe, to ground themselves, even if just a little. Then, they provide support through the deeply personal process of coping with loss and uncertainty.
This support does not end with a single conversation. Evacuees can continue working with psychologists at the Zatyshno Space psychosocial and legal support center or receive online consultations – for as long as needed, until they feel ready to move forward again.
Nataliia Natina, Psychologist at East SOS, speaks about the most common mental health challenges faced by evacuees and the scope of comprehensive psychosocial support in a report by the online media outlet “Berdiansk 24”.
Read the full text version here.
You can receive in-person counseling at the Zatyshno Space psychosocial and legal support centers operated by East SOS:
Zaporizhzhia – 3 Pivdennoukrainska St. (Myr St. bus stop)
+38 (097) 021 41 53
Kharkiv – 11 Hohol St.
+38 (097) 384 97 35
Vinnytsia – 19 Vasyl Poryk St. (room 72)
+38 (095) 877 26 36
Mykolaiv – 79-A Marko Kropyvnytskyi St.
+38 (099) 790 00 70
The centers in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv operate within the project “Protection and Essential Psychosocial Support for War-Affected Residents in Frontline Areas,” with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. The center in Vinnytsia is supported by the Solidarity with Ukraine Program of Fondation de France.
Recently, we shared how East SOS supports veterans and their families.
