Taking part in the Trauma-Attuned Arts School was an incredibly valuable and profound experience for me. It was a space where professional development, humanity, and genuine care came together.

I would like to sincerely acknowledge the organisers’ attentive and thoughtful approach to every participant. There was a strong sense of safety, support, and care in every aspect of the programme, which allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in learning and creativity.

Special thanks to the trainers — Darren, Chris, Henry, Nigel, Veronika Skliarova, and others — for their generosity, openness, and professionalism. Your experience and approach are inspiring and open up new professional horizons.

I am deeply grateful to the organisers — Svitlana Bazhenova, Tetiana Zubok, and the entire team — for creating a space that brought together deep learning, cultural events, and an atmosphere of support.

I would also like to highlight the rich cultural programme, the participants’ real-life cases, and the wonderful photographs from the events that captured the atmosphere of the school. I was particularly moved by the events at the Unbroken rehabilitation centre, where we had the opportunity to witness the power of people’s recovery, as well as by the creative practices: making comics in a Lviv café and the performance Visiting Ira and Lera by atelienormalno.

For me, this week was also an opportunity to recover a little, step away from constant stress, and spend some time in historic Lviv in a safe environment.

This experience was incredibly profound, rich, and transformative. I met wonderful people, gained new ideas, and experienced the true power of community.

My heartfelt thanks to all the participants for co-creating this experience and for their support. Being part of such a group was a great privilege. Special thanks for the opportunity to sing and paint together — those were some of the warmest and most energising moments.

Thank you to everyone who helped create this space! This is an experience I want to cherish and one that will undoubtedly continue to shape my practice.

I am incredibly grateful to have been part of the school, to have met all these wonderful people, and to have heard things I had needed to hear for a long time — so that I could continue my creative work with joy, support, new skills, and renewed energy.

It was a huge step forward in both my professional and personal development. Even though the schedule was quite intense, I looked forward to every lecture and workshop, and then ran off to the showcase events.

Thank you so much for the incredible care and attention you showed to all the participants, and for fostering such meaningful connections among active and creative people.

I highly recommend joining the next events and schools!

Applying to take part in the school was one of the best decisions I could have made. I gained important knowledge and a foundation on which to build further experience. I met creative professionals with real experience working with people affected by trauma, and had opportunities for practice, exchange, and future collaborations.

And, of course, the lecturers deserve a special mention. Learning from the best in order to become more useful in our respective fields is a real privilege at a time when the world offers countless educational opportunities, not all of them of high quality.

Thank you to the entire team for this opportunity, for your care, and for the time we spent together!

For me, this was one of those trips whose warm impressions stay with you for a long time and make you rethink what you have learned.

What surprised me most was that even I sang — which is almost unbelievable for me. It was incredibly valuable that there was enough time for everything: not only to learn, but also to meet people, talk, and reflect on new ideas.

I found myself in a community where everyone was very different — in terms of professions, interests, and experience — yet everyone understood and supported one another remarkably well.

It was precisely this atmosphere of safety and acceptance that inspired me to try new things, grow, and return home wanting to keep creating.

The workshops unexpectedly became very important to me. I often work with people myself and am usually on the other side of the process, so having the opportunity simply to be a participant and devote time to myself and my own creativity was a real gift.

Thank you to the school for this experience and to the people who created it. I would really love for us to meet again someday.

A wonderful, generous, and completely unpretentious event. For me, the healing balance between playfulness, sounding, jumping, and scientific and practical knowledge about trauma-attuned practice was incredibly valuable. If I had to sum it up in one word: freshness!

There was such a diverse range of activities engaging different sensory aspects, so there was never that dulled feeling of exhaustion. The trainers were also genuinely attuned to the group, and when they sensed that everyone was getting a little overwhelmed by the waterfall of new experiences, they created space for a breather while maintaining connection and a sense of belonging. 💕

It was a high-quality event in every respect, starting with the food (which really does matter) and ending with the warm and respectful interaction between the trainers, which set the tone and created an atmosphere of friendliness for the participants as well.

Without exaggeration, this team can be a wonderful example of how to create high-quality educational events that are also deeply human and soulful.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the Art Therapy Force team for their tremendous work and for creating such a comprehensive programme that brought together the School for Practitioners, the Congress, and the showcases.

For me, this combination was particularly valuable, as it allowed me to see the bigger picture of how the creative health field works — through real-life cases, Ukrainian and international experience, and the development of a professional community.

It was especially interesting to hear from practising professionals, representatives of the public sector, therapists, and artists. I would also like to highlight the openness of the lecturers and organisers to feedback, dialogue, and further collaboration with the initiatives of the participants.

I had heard so many amazing things about Art Therapy Force from teenagers, but I never dreamed I would get to be part of it myself 🙂

It was wonderful to find myself in a community of inspiring people who share similar values, who have discovered powerful and fascinating tools and are ready to use them to benefit all kinds of people.

The thought that together we can draw on the incredible experience of our country, bring it together, and share it with the world is incredibly inspiring.

I felt an incredible sense of strength after the school and the Congress. It was also amazing to see how the adults opened up more and more with each passing day — it felt as if the school had lasted ten days rather than just a few!

Dancing, printing, drawing, joking, imagining, and searching for answers together with adults was so much fun 🙂 I am endlessly grateful. 🙂

It was an interesting experience of engaging with artistic practices directed towards me personally — a practical experience of being inside the process.

Out of habit, I wanted to step back into the realm of theory, but now I understand that this lived experience lays the foundation for further learning, and that there is now somewhere for the theory to land.

I am very grateful for this experience, and to all my colleagues and the organisers ❤️

I am still absolutely thrilled that something like this happened to me. And among all the brilliant, smart people with whom I shared this experience, I even found a few new friends (not just one — imagine that!)

My deepest thanks to the whole incredible team for the tremendous work and for being there with us.

It felt like I had travelled into space and even got to visit mission control.