Western University prof helps develop mental health support program for Ukrainian children

Claire Crooks, director of Western’s Centre for School Mental Health (CSMH) recently went to the Czech Republic for five days to train social workers and psychologists.

As Ukraine continues to battle through attacks nearly eight months into Russia’s invasion, a Western University professor is working with a team in the development of a school-based mental health program for Ukrainian children fleeing the war.

Since February, researchers estimate roughly 130,000 school-age children have entered the Czech Republic from Ukraine, reportedly suffering from “varying degrees of psychological distress” due to the invasion.

Claire Crooks, director of Western’s Centre for School Mental Health (CSMH) recently went to the Czech Republic for five days to train social workers and psychologists in STRONG (Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups).

Crooks, along with Sharon Hoover of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Dr. Jeff Bostic from Georgetown University, shared details of the program during their travels with 34 professionals from over 20 different organizations.

“It really hit home for me that 10 of the folks we were training were actually Ukrainian psychologists who had fled Ukraine,” she said. ” So, they’re there as psychologists and trying to support Ukrainians in Czech Republic, in Ukraine, and all over the world, and yet they’re there as mothers, family members and trying to get their own children settled.”

Crooks highlighted the mental health effects of war alone can have on a child, explaining the difficulties it can have on their school attendance, learning and social adjustment.

“Fleeing war is not a normal childhood experience,” said Crooks, who is also a professor in Western’s Faculty of Education. “Children are developing self-regulation, coping skills, and problem-solving all through their childhood, you develop these capacities, but something like what these kids are going through just totally overwhelmed them.”

She explained that STRONG provides effected children with a toolkit that works from a “strengths-based perspective” to help them cope with stress while simultaneously building those important problem-solving and goal-setting skills through 10 available sessions.