A new gaming app that is designed to help children traumatized by the war in Ukraine
Mental health experts have rolled out a gaming app to help children who were traumatized by the war in Ukraine. Millions of youngsters were forced to leave their homes when Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
It was a mad dash for many to get out of Ukraine, including Natalia Levitska.
She said, "I just looked out my windows and I saw explosions."
She uprooted her daughter, Polina, last May for a new and safer life in London. Her husband stayed behind in Kyiv to help the war effort.
"Not being together, it's very difficult because I need to make a lot of decisions by myself," she said.
While they left the war, the war never left Polina. The 6 year old felt anxious in her new home, until her mom found out about a phone app.
Levitska said, "I was, oh my god, that's exactly what we need. That's so cool."
Designed by child psychotherapist Louis Weinstock, the game is called Apart Of Me, and it follows a young girl trapped in an enchanted forest.
Weinstock said, "The idea of a child being trapped in a tree is perhaps obviously also a metaphor for what can happen when we experience trauma that we can feel isolated, frozen in different ways."
He now wants to get this game to more kids who are stuck inside Ukraine.
"There was an overwhelming need for some kind of digital mental health support, specifically focused on helping children and parents through the trauma of the war," said Weinstock.
Levitska is working to translate the app, hoping that the power of play can help Ukrainian children through their darkest days.
According to the United Nations, the war in Ukraine has killed nearly 500 Ukrainian children and injured almost 1,000.