First psychological aid to participants of the educational process in the conditions of modern challenges

Abstract

The military intervention of the Russian Federation in Ukraine was the culmination of a long and exhausting aggression against our country, which entailed a number of acute challenges to the social and psychological state of participants in the educational process and Ukrainian society as a whole. The problem of the first psychological assistance to the participants of the educational process in the conditions of modern challenges, an example of which is the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of war in Ukraine is considered from the point of view of the compliance of the content of this assistance with the public demand for it. The psychological challenges caused by the war can be conditionally divided into the following four groups: challenges to Ukrainians as a community, challenges to the mental health of individuals, challenges to psychological well-being and human development, and challenges to Ukrainian psychologists as a professional community. Such events affect everyone to one degree or another, but the spectrum of possible reactions and emotions is very wide. Many feel overwhelmed, thrown off track, or don’t understand what’s going on. First psychological aid can be provided not only by a professional psychologist, but also by another specialist, a person who is familiar with providing psychological first aid. The way a person reacts is influenced by many factors, including: the nature and severity of the experienced event; experienced traumatic events in the past; physical health; age etc. Everyone has their own strengths and capabilities that help them cope with life’s problems. Psychological first aid is not professional psychological counseling, as it does not involve a detailed discussion, analysis or establishment of the chronology and essence of the events that caused the state of distress.