BETHESDA, Md. — Thousands of Ukrainians have been traumatized by the war and now have to carry that trauma with them. A local Ukrainian-American documentarian is traveling to Poland Monday to help them process it.
Olha Onyshko was born and raised in Ukraine but moved to Bethesda in 2002 after seeing no progress from the revolutions she so passionately participated in.
Now, she's had to watch in horror as her family and friends fight for their lives and country back home.
So, she decided to do something about it.
She's partnering with a psychotherapist trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy to teach volunteers in Poland how to administer it.
According to the American Psychological Association, it's "a structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories."
“All the people who are who have been in, in this war, and who have lost their houses, lost their loved ones, they are the ones who saw the horror of the war, they are all traumatized," Onyshko said. "Children are traumatized. Those who come to help them are traumatized.”
Onyshko is also bringing bags full of donations, including shoes and socks for refugees who have worn theirs down.
The documentarian had actually traveled back to Ukraine multiple times after the 2013/2014 Revolution of Dignity or Maidan Revolution, in which government forces brutally tried to quell people protesting their then-president refusing to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union, instead of siding with Russia.
The president was later ousted, but not before some protesters were killed.
Onyshko produced a documentary titled "The Women of Maidan" to share women's contributions to the effort.
While filming, "I saw the not just the physical destruction of the center of Kyiv, but I also saw what that did to people -- men crying on the street, and those are strong, big men," Onyshko said. "So I saw the effect of post-trauma disorder firsthand.”
Now, Onyshko says she begins every morning praying and meditating for her family and friends still in Ukraine before she turns on the news for updates.
“My heart aches for them every day," she said.
She hopes this trip to Poland is just a start to helping the millions who have been displaced.
“Out of 7.5 million Ukrainian children, 3.5 already left the country. All 7.5 will be traumatized and scarred for life because it's a war that leaves a mark on you," Onyshko said. "And so our goal right now...is the rebuilding and everything that comes with it.”
She plans to stay in Poland for one week, translating for and helping to coordinate the therapists and documenting what she sees in the process.