Over the last few months, we’ve been working with West Sussex Mind to provide much-needed mental health support for asylum seekers, refugees and our volunteers. The jointly-funded collaboration is currently in a pilot phase while we get a better understanding of people’s needs. The pilot will come to an end in June 2024 when we expect this project to be developed into an ongoing programme.

Currently, Mental Health Support Worker Lidiia Kondratyk – specialised in trauma psychotherapy (and psychology) and a Ukrainian refugee herself – has been providing counselling sessions for hotel residents as well as those attending our weekly drop-in and women’s group, and also for some of our volunteers. The feedback has been very positive so far and there is clearly significant demand for this service – Lidiia is fully occupied for one entire day per week at the hotel and throughout every drop-in. Every refugee has a a difficult story and many struggle to process what they’ve been through and the losses they are greiving, so mental health support is vital for the refugee community. Despite our best efforts, we previously found it a huge challenge to access the mental health support people needed, and that was just for the most obvious cases of severe need, so working with Mind and Lidiia in this way has been a big step forward for us. Lidiia’s presence at the hotel and drop-in have meant that people can self-identify for the support they want when they need it, giving dignity and independence. The fact that Lidiia herself is navigating life as a refugee in a foreign land means that refugees feel they can trust her with their stories; “Sometimes refugees don’t trust anyone but they need to say out loud to someone what they have been through. It’s difficult for them not feeling able to speak about their life with anyone else at all for two years or more. They know they can share their life story with me and they know they can trust me“, explains Lidiia.

She went on to describe the process people go through when they first come to her, “Usually, they come and don’t know where to start, then they begin to cry and describe what they have been through. Then they say that they have been through so much but now they are here and everything is strange and they can’t trust anyone so they are still scared and we talk about their current situation.”

Lidiia’s description of the challenges particularly facing hotel residents is hard to hear. “People who have roommates don’t feel safe in their rooms. It’s very hard to be worrying about your home country but also you worry about everything here as you need to learn all the little things that nobody can tell you because they have been socialised for it so aren’t aware of the differences. I thought I would avoid this cultural shock because I knew a lot about the UK having learned English and about the country at school but the social rules are all slightly different and the English are too polite to let you know when you get it wrong! If I experienced this cultural shock being from a European country, imagine how people feel from different continents. The psychological atmosphere at the hotel is not good because residents can be told at any time that they are leaving within a few hours. They try to settle, find routines, start volunteering et cetera but then they have to start all over again somewhere else. That’s why they don’t trust people and they don’t want to build friendships as they don’t know how long they’ll be here.”

One young woman Lidiia supported was transformed just by talking about her difficult situation that meant she had to leave home without telling any of her loved ones. After she told Lidiia about what happened, “a huge weight lifted from her shoulders and her heart” and two weeks later the woman explained that she could now allow herself to feel happy. Before, she was numb because she was too afraid of feeling anything. She has since also started to process guilt she had at leaving loved ones despite her desperate situation. “There are a lot of such stories“, says Lidiia.

Sometimes what’s needed is psychological support for those preparing for Home Office interviews, job interviews or other applications. Lidiia helps with building resilience to disappointments but also coaches on how people can positively approach interviews or other challenges to feel more confident and come across better. She also explains to people suffering from depression how the biological mechanisms work so that they are encouraged to help themselves. For example, lying in bed prevents seratonin production; “You need to go out for a walk or read. You heed to replenish your resources.” So the sessions are very varied!

“When I started this work, I thought I would run groups. I did that in Ukraine. Especially women, they share problems and through talking they realise they’re not alone. But they [hotel residents] are not ready for groups – they’re not ready to share and they don’t want to make friends. If the psychological atmosphere at the hotel changes, which I’m hopeful it will, they might feel more at home. Maybe then we can start support groups. Now they book appointments for two or three weeks in advance. I try to find them a whole hour to feel listened to and understood and not interrupted. Even if they don’t speak English they manage through a three way conversation with a friend on the phone or bring someone with them or use Google Translate, as they know they really need this.”

Lidiia says that women tend to worry about their family and children the most – the children have no idea what’s going on and those in the hotel can’t cook familiar, healthy food for their children so the kids often refuse to eat. It’s a huge worry for parents and they don’t know how to explain their situation to their children – “One or two years of no stability at all can be half a child’s life“. Whereas men seem to worry more about the political situation back home. “Even me, I’m here, what can I do for my country? I also want to help my country.” There is the additional stigma for men seeking mental health support, and Lidiia described one incident when she could feel that a man who had started talking to her was being judged by other men.

One issue we would like to address when developing the more permanent provision is that the men we support are often constricted by cultural norms that mean they can’t be alone with a woman who is not their wife or relative. As some of the men have also explained that they are not used to talking about their trauma or feelings anyway (although they are not against the idea of exploring this route to healing), and we learn more about the stigma from other men, it is important that we remove the additional gender barrier to them accessing help, and we will look at including a male counsellor on the programme from June.

The support Lidiia has been providing for our volunteers is also a significant step forward for us, and helps in two ways: firstly, volunteers can easily be deeply upset by hearing the stories of those they support. It can create feelings of helplessness at the scale of refugee suffering. Lidiia can help volunteers process what they hear and also build resilience without becoming numb or losing empathy. Secondly, Lidiia is able to guide volunteers on how to support their befriendees who are facing mental health difficulties.

Lidiia says that she is pleased to be working on this project and that the experience has meant she now understands how the system here works. She also feels she is doing work that is “necessary” and “useful”. Lidiia has a PhD in sociology, and one aspect of her job she has really enjoyed is getting to know people from other cultures – “We had no such diversity in Ukraine. It’s very interesting to learn about people’s history and traditions.“

Gemma Driver, 19/02/24