I am a psychologist from Ukraine with experience in psychological counselling, emotional support and helping people adapt to major life changes. My Host Anna Shkalenko/ Amigos de Ucrania Association in Alicante, supports the Ukrainian community through social, educational and integration activities. My entrepreneurial idea is to develop psychological support services for displaced people, combining individual counselling with practical and community-based initiatives. I discovered Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs while looking for an opportunity to gain international business experience and learn from an established organisation. I joined the programme to understand how a social organisation is managed, strengthen my entrepreneurial skills, expand my professional network and explore new ways of supporting people affected by displacement.
During my EYE stay, I mainly conducted individual psychological consultations in person for Ukrainian beneficiaries of the organisation. I also had the opportunity to try an online counselling format. I used psychological games, metaphorical associative cards and coaching techniques to explore emotional states, personal resources, motivation and fears related to change. I also became familiar with the Ukrainian Saturday School “Svitanok”, learned about the association’s educational and community activities, and participated in events involving volunteers and the Ukrainian community. Throughout my stay, I regularly discussed observations and practical questions with my Host and learned more about the organisation’s daily work, communication and coordination. Our relationship was based on openness, mutual support and professional exchange.
The programme gave me practical experience in an international organisation and helped me better understand the organisational side of social and psychological projects. I developed my counselling practice in a multicultural environment, gained additional experience with online work and expanded my professional toolkit with projective and coaching methods. I also learned more about community-building, volunteer work and initiatives supporting children, families and displaced people. An important outcome was becoming an active member of Amigos de Ucrania Association, which allowed me to continue being involved in the organisation and its community. This experience helped me clarify my entrepreneurial direction, establish professional contacts in Spain and identify opportunities for future cooperation. I would like to use this experience to develop my own psychological practice and future initiatives for people experiencing migration, displacement and adaptation challenges.
This experience showed me that psychological support becomes much stronger when it is connected with community, inclusion and real human relationships. I gained not only professional experience, but also a clearer understanding of how I want to develop my own psychological practice.