E-learning course on trauma-informed approach in helping children in the perceptions of target groups (based on focus group interviews)

Abstract

In the article, the authors raise an extremely important problem in today’s conditions – the problem of providing psychosocial support to children who are currently in Ukraine and who, as a result of the war that has been going on for three years, have a significant level of psychological disorders and traumatization. The definition of the concept of «psychological trauma» is given, and its main varieties are considered: acute trauma, chronic trauma, complex trauma. It is emphasized that an innovative model for providing psychosocial assistance to children in conditions of military operations can be a model built on a trauma-informed approach. Therefore, there is an urgent need to create an electronic training course that would highlight the issue of providing assistance to children who have experienced traumatic events. Both practitioners, given the professional challenges associated with social work with children in conditions of war, and higher education students in the specialties «Social Work» and «Psychology» and educators who teach in relevant educational programs are interested in creating such a course.

The publication presents the results of a study conducted within the framework of the international project «Trauma-Informed Approaches to Improved Care and Mediation», during which the informants were representatives of three interested groups: social work specialists and psychologists representing social services of the city of Kharkiv and five territorial communities of the Kharkiv region, students studying at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in the specialties «Social Work» and «Psychology», as well as scientific and pedagogical workers of the Faculty of Sociology and the Faculty of Psychology. Based on the generalization of the data obtained, the authors conclude that the electronic course should meet the following criteria: accessibility for everyone who works with traumatized children (psychologists, social workers, teachers, parents, students); clear structure and complexity of the educational material; practical orientation with the use of real cases and exercises; combination of classical and game approaches for better assimilation of the material; long-term access to course materials and the ability to download them; the possibility of supervision, which provides consultations and support from experts; the availability of both mobile and desktop versions for convenient learning; certification, which will certify the acquired knowledge and skills.