past
work.
work
cont’d.
2024 + collective
dreams.
Operation 1: Lebanon
March-June 2023
In March, one collective member (Ryan) moved to Lebanon to volunteer full-time as a therapist at 26 Letters – a democratic school and community space in Beirut supporting Syrian youth. The majority of the focus revolved around 119 individual psychotherapy sessions conducted for adolescents, teens, adults (workers and volunteers), and even family members of the aforementioned persons. SM also taught language classes, organized group sessions relating to psychological and emotional themes, and engaged students in other projects such as having young people attending therapy transform the office into a space that felt like theirs by painting, drawing, picking lights, posting their art, etc.
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The majority of weekends in Lebanon were spent in Bekaa Valley supporting a mix of young adult refugees from Syria and Palestine and local Lebanese residents participating in workshops organized by Araqa Collective in Al Marj. Solidarity Minded created lectures, led discussions, gave creative assignments & expressive therapy exercises, and was also present in assisting other workshops revolving around writing and photography.
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The psychoeducational programmes created were based on the students’ themes and areas of focus within their creative and journalistic work, but also based on discussions with students of Araqa, alongside their expressed interest in psychology. The workshops predominately revolved around psychology, politics, philosophy, history and trauma – incorporating writings from Adler, Horney, Fanon, Freire, Herman, Rogers, de Beauvoir, etc. After departing, we also raised about 900.00 USD (5,968 DKK/1,011 USD) so that one of the programme’s students, Ali, could pay the fees to obtain his Syrian passport in Lebanon and restart his life.
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Operation 0: Ukraine (Chernivtsi)
April 2022
While the idea of Solidarity Minded was still a concept, in spring 2022, one collective member (Ryan) returned to the city in Ukraine they used to live in to briefly provide psychotherapeutic support after Russia’s invasion during the month-long break from their university. This took form in counselling sessions with the help of interpreters, classes on psychology, volunteering in a local shelter, and workshops on how to organize group support for local volunteers who were assisting in aid for the war effort and assisting displaced persons in Chernivtsi.
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March-June 2023
In March, one collective member (Ryan) moved to Lebanon to volunteer full-time as a therapist at 26 Letters – a democratic school and community space in Beirut supporting Syrian youth. The majority of the focus revolved around 119 individual psychotherapy sessions conducted for adolescents, teens, adults (workers and volunteers), and even family members of the aforementioned persons. SM also taught language classes, organized group sessions relating to psychological and emotional themes, and engaged students in other projects such as having young people attending therapy transform the office into a space that felt like theirs by painting, drawing, picking lights, posting their art, etc.
The majority of weekends in Lebanon were spent in Bekaa Valley supporting a mix of young adult refugees from Syria and Palestine and local Lebanese residents participating in workshops organized by Araqa Collective in Al Marj. Solidarity Minded created lectures, led discussions, gave creative assignments & expressive therapy exercises, and was also present in assisting other workshops revolving around writing and photography.
The psychoeducational programmes created were based on the students’ themes and areas of focus within their creative and journalistic work, but also based on discussions with students of Araqa, alongside their expressed interest in psychology. The workshops predominately revolved around psychology, politics, philosophy, history and trauma – incorporating writings from Adler, Horney, Fanon, Freire, Herman, Rogers, de Beauvoir, etc. After departing, we also raised about 900.00 USD (5,968 DKK/1,011 USD) so that one of the programme’s students, Ali, could pay the fees to obtain his Syrian passport in Lebanon and restart his life.
_____________________________________
Operation 0: Ukraine (Chernivtsi)
April 2022
While the idea of Solidarity Minded was still a concept, in spring 2022, one collective member (Ryan) returned to the city in Ukraine they used to live in to briefly provide psychotherapeutic support after Russia’s invasion during the month-long break from their university. This took form in counselling sessions with the help of interpreters, classes on psychology, volunteering in a local shelter, and workshops on how to organize group support for local volunteers who were assisting in aid for the war effort and assisting displaced persons in Chernivtsi.
Operation 2: Ukraine + Iraq
August-December 2023
We resumed our work by first returning to Ukraine to provide mental health support during the full-scale invasion and temporary occupation. From established connections from previously living and volunteering in Ukraine, we reached out to a number of organizations and channels to make an announcement for free therapy being offered. A number of individuals replied, both around Ukraine and from displaced persons outside of the country too. Sessions then commenced through the later summer and the autumn, most of which were remote.
In this period, we were left with free time for volunteering and had a strong desire to extend the project’s mutual aid to other capacities by making the most of our time:
In Rivne, we supported Vegan Kitchen UA by cooking for a woman’s shelter.
Afterwards, the focus of our work turned to joining Repair Together’s “International Building Camp (INBUT)” in Lukashivka. By day, we would rebuild houses that were destroyed by the russian occupation and artilery. By night, we would conduct therapy sessions. Following our work in Kurdistan (October), we would return to Winter INBUT and begin planning a long-term mental project with Repair Together in Kyiv.
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In October, Solidarity Minded was finally able to undertake a collaboration in Kurdistan with the NGO, Joint Help Kurdistan / Imprint Of Hope. The month was spent in Bachid Kandala camp supporting Yazidi refugees who survived the genocide which was waged against them by daesh (!s!s) in the mid-2010s. This work took place alongside a practitioner from Psychologists for Social Responsibility (Finland), Miranda.
We engaged teenagers at the camp’s school with experessive therapy exercises and games, as well as language classes. To supplement these games, and to address the largest mental health concerna mongst both youth and adults (”boredom”), a text with over 100 expressive therapy exercises, theatre games and camp games was assembled. This was done with previous experience as a therapist, teacher and camp counsellor. The goal was to also create something that can be accessed in English, Arabic, have a video attached to it, and not require any materials to engage with.
SM also organized the ngo’s clinic to make a database for individuals who have previously received or sought mental health support and did not receive it. Workshops on depression, suicide and communication & active listening were provided for clinic staff and teachers at the local school.
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August-December 2023
We resumed our work by first returning to Ukraine to provide mental health support during the full-scale invasion and temporary occupation. From established connections from previously living and volunteering in Ukraine, we reached out to a number of organizations and channels to make an announcement for free therapy being offered. A number of individuals replied, both around Ukraine and from displaced persons outside of the country too. Sessions then commenced through the later summer and the autumn, most of which were remote.
In this period, we were left with free time for volunteering and had a strong desire to extend the project’s mutual aid to other capacities by making the most of our time:
In Rivne, we supported Vegan Kitchen UA by cooking for a woman’s shelter.
Afterwards, the focus of our work turned to joining Repair Together’s “International Building Camp (INBUT)” in Lukashivka. By day, we would rebuild houses that were destroyed by the russian occupation and artilery. By night, we would conduct therapy sessions. Following our work in Kurdistan (October), we would return to Winter INBUT and begin planning a long-term mental project with Repair Together in Kyiv.
In October, Solidarity Minded was finally able to undertake a collaboration in Kurdistan with the NGO, Joint Help Kurdistan / Imprint Of Hope. The month was spent in Bachid Kandala camp supporting Yazidi refugees who survived the genocide which was waged against them by daesh (!s!s) in the mid-2010s. This work took place alongside a practitioner from Psychologists for Social Responsibility (Finland), Miranda.
We engaged teenagers at the camp’s school with experessive therapy exercises and games, as well as language classes. To supplement these games, and to address the largest mental health concerna mongst both youth and adults (”boredom”), a text with over 100 expressive therapy exercises, theatre games and camp games was assembled. This was done with previous experience as a therapist, teacher and camp counsellor. The goal was to also create something that can be accessed in English, Arabic, have a video attached to it, and not require any materials to engage with.
SM also organized the ngo’s clinic to make a database for individuals who have previously received or sought mental health support and did not receive it. Workshops on depression, suicide and communication & active listening were provided for clinic staff and teachers at the local school.
Operation 3: “Recover Together” (Kyiv)
2024
Solidarity Minded will partner with Repair Together for 2024 to create a new project in their physical hub in Kyiv: Recover Together
Recover Together will aim to provide free individual therapy sessions and group sessions to anyone in Kyiv. The project anticipates to reach volunteers, military personnel, journalists, nurses, displaced persons, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC participants with free therapy. We also will create a diverse series of community workshops and events revolving around mental health which anyone can access. These offerings will also be free, but donations will be collected, with the money raised going to support fighters on the frontline in need of aid.
We aim to create a culture of solidarity and mental wellness as a foundation for the future; to have a venue and an open event space also be commonly associated with healing. Recover Together will fight stigma surrounding mental health by providing accessible care for the community while being a part of it, and organizing within it.
________________________________
Future: ???
???-??? 20??
Solidarity Minded is currently in a stage where we are proving that what we are doing works, and doing so with minimal resources. However, it does not stop us from envisioning the future of radical psychosocial support in various parts of the world.
We have a great aspiration to find additional mental health practitioners both local and international – to pay locals a fair salary and to pay for the transportation of international volunteers. One aim is for Solidarity Minded to have a fully functioning autonomous space which could operate as a psychotherapeutic clinic but also as a community centre for cultural events, support groups, and educational initiatives.
We strongly wish to raise funds for the translation of radical texts in the realms of psychology and politics to Arabic and Kurdish, as well as videos and audio recordings of films and education material that we can incorporate into future work. It would be ideal to have funds so that volunteers and workers could attend additional training sessions and courses so that they can be as effective and competent in their work as humanly possible.
Finally, one dream is to develop our educational programmes surrounding counselling and group support to become farbetter and for us to be more efficient instructors so that we can one day have a staff operating a faculty for counselling and therapy in alternative universities such as Rojava University in Qamishli.
As more join the collective and are in turn impacted it, so too will many of the ideal directions and long-term goals of the work.
2024
Solidarity Minded will partner with Repair Together for 2024 to create a new project in their physical hub in Kyiv: Recover Together
Recover Together will aim to provide free individual therapy sessions and group sessions to anyone in Kyiv. The project anticipates to reach volunteers, military personnel, journalists, nurses, displaced persons, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC participants with free therapy. We also will create a diverse series of community workshops and events revolving around mental health which anyone can access. These offerings will also be free, but donations will be collected, with the money raised going to support fighters on the frontline in need of aid.
We aim to create a culture of solidarity and mental wellness as a foundation for the future; to have a venue and an open event space also be commonly associated with healing. Recover Together will fight stigma surrounding mental health by providing accessible care for the community while being a part of it, and organizing within it.
________________________________
Future: ???
???-??? 20??
Solidarity Minded is currently in a stage where we are proving that what we are doing works, and doing so with minimal resources. However, it does not stop us from envisioning the future of radical psychosocial support in various parts of the world.
We have a great aspiration to find additional mental health practitioners both local and international – to pay locals a fair salary and to pay for the transportation of international volunteers. One aim is for Solidarity Minded to have a fully functioning autonomous space which could operate as a psychotherapeutic clinic but also as a community centre for cultural events, support groups, and educational initiatives.
We strongly wish to raise funds for the translation of radical texts in the realms of psychology and politics to Arabic and Kurdish, as well as videos and audio recordings of films and education material that we can incorporate into future work. It would be ideal to have funds so that volunteers and workers could attend additional training sessions and courses so that they can be as effective and competent in their work as humanly possible.
Finally, one dream is to develop our educational programmes surrounding counselling and group support to become farbetter and for us to be more efficient instructors so that we can one day have a staff operating a faculty for counselling and therapy in alternative universities such as Rojava University in Qamishli.
As more join the collective and are in turn impacted it, so too will many of the ideal directions and long-term goals of the work.