Before 2022, Yaroslav lived in Boryslav and worked as a high-rise construction worker.

When the full-scale war began, he and his brother spent two months knocking on the doors of the recruitment office to enlist as volunteers. This was followed by fierce fighting in the East and the Zaporizhzhia direction. In March 2023, the war caught up with him in the form of a severe injury near Bakhmut and Opytne, resulting in a disability classification and discharge from service. However, the hardest part wasn't the hospital, but the return to civilian life: flashbacks, constant pain, and insomnia. For the first three months, he tried to run from this reality. Eventually, he realized he was losing himself and underwent 13 months of rehabilitation. He ended up staying there to work as a consultant for his fellow veterans. Today, he is a lead facilitator for veteran groups, coordinating work in dozens of cities across Ukraine. Although he is already studying to be a social worker at university, the increasing complexity of requests from veterans led him to seek additional, more in-depth training. This strengthening phase came in the form of an offline intensive from the "Psychologist Support" project, implemented with the assistance of World Jewish Relief.

This training became another starting point for Yaroslav’s professional growth. The project expanded his toolkit, supplementing his practical veteran experience with in-depth knowledge of the medical and psychological aspects of trauma. Since the training was held exclusively in person, it addressed Yaroslav’s primary need: the need for live discussion. In a safe space, he was able to ask trainers tough questions, analyze real-life cases on the spot, and exchange experiences with colleagues. The project didn't just provide a theoretical foundation; it helped him hone specific facilitation skills—the ability to maintain the structure of "peer-to-peer" veteran groups while remaining flexible, empathetic, and adaptive to the pain of each participant. Thanks to the high intensity and sincerity of the interaction, participants and trainers from various fields synchronized over those few days, forming a strong community where everyone's experience became a valuable part of the learning process.

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Now, Yaroslav integrates all these additional methods and approaches into his daily work with groups and consultations. "I came here for professional development to gain new knowledge, and I don't regret it," he shares. "Even the methods I already knew were explained from a completely different perspective here, and it works. We, as veterans, have new bodies and don't know what tomorrow will bring. But I’ve become convinced that by helping others cope with crisis, I am primarily helping myself." We continue to train and support the specialists and veterans who help others on their path to recovery!