Art Therapy Center, Lviv
The Art Therapy Centre project aims to bridge the gap between the increasing need for psychological rehabilitation and the availability of tailored spaces to host corresponding programs. Art therapy has proven to be particularly effective in dealing with post-traumatic conditions by helping individuals conceptualise, share and work through their experiences, even when they appear to be unspeakable. This kind of therapy is valuable not only for people who have personally experienced hostilities, urbicide, and loss, but also for a wider group, including those who are experiencing secondary trauma.
Multiple programs are already being implemented in Ukraine, ranging from a mental rehabilitation program for veterans within the Unbroken ecosystem to travelling workshops and camps for children and families from displaced and affected communities. There is a significant demand for the professionalisation of training and certification processes for art therapists, and groundwork is being laid for academic university programmes. However, appropriate physical spaces for such therapy are still relatively uncommon.
The aim of this project phase is:
Our hope is that this centre could establish a new typology of rehabilitation services that could be adapted for implementation in other affected regions.
The conceptual design phase will be finished by the end of April 2024. The next stage will be to find funding for the technical design, construction and subsequent operation of the centre, which will determine the future of the project.
First participative design workshop took place in Lviv on the 27th of January 2024:
Project team: Maria Tselik, Andrii Bidakov, Alice Alexandrova, Fulco Treffers, Nataliya Kozub
Project "Art Therapy Center, Lviv" is financed by the German government and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Partners: