Mental health support for lawyers will be put on a platform

The project to support the mental health of Ukrainian lawyers during the war, implemented by the Ukrainian National Bar Association with the support of the International Bar Association (IBA), will get its own electronic platform.

The state of implementation of the project, launched in November last year for lawyers (primarily women, young lawyers, those in the area of active hostilities and military personnel), was discussed at the UNBA during a meeting on January 22.

Lidiya Izovitova, the President of the UNBA, BCU, thanked Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association (IBA), who came up with the idea of this project, and emphasized the urgency of the problem. After all, the work of a lawyer under normal circumstances has always been associated with stress due to the client's problems that need to be solved. And in the context of a full-scale invasion, the workload has increased many times over. Today, lawyers often do not even respond to air raid alarms anymore: instead of heading to a bomb shelter, they continue to work and participate in court hearings. This indicates a permanent state of emotional exhaustion and indifference to potential and real threats to their lives and health. We should also not forget about the lawyers who are currently defending the country in the Armed Forces - after returning from the war, they will need to restore not only their physical but also their mental health.

Project coordinator Hanna Udovenko said that a corresponding platform is currently being developed, which will include:

• providing promotional codes for individual sessions with psychologists and psychotherapists;
• registration for participation in psychoeducational events;
• a library with materials on psychotherapy.

To attend a therapeutic session, lawyers will fill out a form through the platform. After the application is approved, the lawyer will receive a promotional code for UAH 1 thousand, which he or she can use on the Rozmova platform to choose a specialist of his or her choice.

«A session with a psychologist in Ukraine costs from 800 to 1400 UAH. Therefore, if a person chooses a more expensive consultant, he or she will pay the difference, - the project coordinator explained the idea. - If there is enough money to continue the work, it will be necessary to provide for the person to be able to apply repeatedly. Because there are really difficult situations, they need to be considered individually».

The psychoeducational events are free of charge and will be held twice a month. The first of them was held on January 17 and was dedicated to the problem of stress management and stress resistance. «It was attended by about a thousand lawyers, and I consider it a success for the launch of the project, - said H. Udovenko. - This means that the topic is really necessary for lawyers, and the project really has a great future. In addition, all the videos of the events will be posted on the UNBA's official YouTube channel after their completion». The next event is scheduled for January 31. It will focus on how to prevent emotional burnout in the work of a lawyer.

In order to increase the coverage and improve the convenience of perceiving information, articles describing the issues will be prepared based on the results of the events. They will be published by the UNBA Bulletin and the UNBA's official website.

The platform's online library will collect articles and other materials on psychology and psychotherapy. The possibility of cooperation with popular book platforms is being considered.

Daria Korneeva, Rozmova's development manager, spoke about the platform's capabilities. «We are engaged in making the search for a therapist easy and effective for our users. Our mission is to make psychotherapy integrated into the life of every Ukrainian», - she said. According to her, since 2022, there have been about 200 thousand sessions. And as of today, the platform features nearly eight hundred psychologists, psychotherapists, sexologists, and psychiatrists. Korneeva also spoke about the selection of therapists. «All of them must have a university degree and more than a year of direct work experience. In addition, they have their own therapies, experience in therapy and supervision», - explained the Rozmova representative.

In connection with the topic of the meeting, Ihor Andreev, chairman of the UNBA NextGen, highlighted three problems that are currently characteristic of young attorneys.

First, a large number of them are now at a crossroads. They do not know how to realize themselves in such a difficult time. Most are under constant stress caused by the unknown.

Secondly, some lawyers who had previously left the country and now returned to the country are also trying to return to the profession. The head of UNBA NextGen gave an example of a colleague who was a successful lawyer in Ukraine but had to work as a cleaner in a European country for a year. Today, she is under great stress.

Third, specialization in military affairs has an impact. Such lawyers are in constant contact with both people trying to avoid mobilization and military personnel who are already serving and have major mental health problems. «Each of these categories has developed certain mental disorders during the years of the full-scale invasion. And lawyers have to feel it on themselves and solve it when communicating with them, - explained I. Andreev. - Sometimes there are conflict situations and threats. Therefore, the lawyers objectively need this project and really need support».

It should be understood that during the war, a lawyer remains a lawyer by his/her inner state, regardless of his/her position or military profession. This was emphasized by Serhiy Trofimov, who suspended his right to practice law a year ago and is currently serving in the Armed Forces.

«There he may be a rifleman, a tanker, but he feels like a lawyer. As a rule, a lot of attention is paid to him in the unit. When soldiers find out that a lawyer is serving alongside them, they ask for advice. And very often the lawyer becomes an informal leader in the unit, - S. Trofimov shared his newly acquired experience. - The lawyer carries not only the burden of military service in the unit, but even psychological problems, as people turn to him... But who will provide psychological assistance to the lawyer? Personally, I have been in a situation several times when I was able to get psychological help from the same lawyers from neighboring units».

Oleksiy Malovatsky, who is also doing military service and has temporarily suspended his right to practice law, spoke about the specifics of a lawyer's work in the Armed Forces.

Lawyers in the army provide legal advice to the leadership of the Armed Forces. At the same time, the charter stipulates that a lawyer is also obliged to provide legal advice to the personnel. «This is a rather specific function, because you have to find a balance between the command and the personnel you are subordinate to, - he explained. - And, frankly speaking, from my experience of participating in various combat operations, I can say that communication with the personnel is probably more important than providing legal assistance. Therefore, I absolutely agree with my colleague that basic communication skills and psychological support are essential for a military lawyer... Of course, there are psychologists in the Armed Forces, but this service needs to be developed. That is why I believe that the project launched is truly unique from my point of view and it is very important that the Ukrainian National Bar Association has drawn attention to this problem».

O. Malovatsky emphasized that colleagues who return from the war will have a heightened sense of justice. «I think that there is a lot of work to be done to reintegrate these people into society, - he suggested. - Ukraine is not unique in this case. Unfortunately, our country is very slow to respond to such challenges. And I hope that the UNBA's project will be expanded not only to attorneys».

«Although we provide assistance to Ukraine in many areas, including the Ministry of Defense, the assistance we have been able to provide to UNBA is one of our most important achievements, - said Mark Ellis. - The projects implemented by UNBA with our support have always been very important. And this project, which we discussed today, may be the most important one».

The IBA Executive Director also said that it was very important and valuable for him to hear the personal stories of military lawyers and urged to remember that Russia's aggression against Ukraine is one of the most serious violations of international law since the Second World War. «We stand by the fact that the international community is obliged to help Ukraine in many aspects, and the issue of mental health is one of the most urgent problems faced not only by the organization, but also by Ukraine as a whole, - he emphasized. - As in previous years with other projects, we will continue our support for this project», - M. Ellis summarized.