Through all times activists and changemakers are the vital force of civil society.
Especially in these challenging times of war in Ukraine, dedicated people keep civil society alive. This diverse group of people is currently living under enormous pressure, caused by violence, death and destruction. Many of them are tirelessly working for NGOs or as volunteers, supporting even more vulnerable parts of the population. They are neglecting their own limits and experience a constant physical and mental overload.
How can activists be strengthened?
To be able to continue their important work, activists should get the chance to benefit from personal coaching and mentoring. The goal is to build up their resilience and equip them with skills to hold up and stay strong. This is the purpose of our recently started project: MENTORING PROGRAM FOR ACTIVISTS IN TIMES OF WAR AND CRISIS
What we do:
Through our civil society network, we reach out to activists and changemakers affected by the current war in Ukraine. Once contact is made, we bring them together with experienced coaches and advisors. They aim to provide a safe space for each activist's needs and equip them with individual strategies and skills so they feel empowered. We will start with 1:1 digital meetings, later we plan to set up ongoing digital group meetings.
Activists contact us directly through our Telegram Channel: MENTORING PROGRAM FOR ACTIVISTS: https://t.me/+kahDYAE8JKs1ZWZi or by email support@betterplace-lab.org
We are supported by our network of international and local organisations in the search for and identification of activists to whom we want to offer counselling service. The services of our psychological counsellors - their profiles are listed below - are voluntary and free. With your donation, we can coordinate the process, implement the matchmaking and enable the sustainability of the program.
In times of peace as in times of war, it is an engaged civil society that forms the base for a functioning democracy and supports systemic resilience. Do you have ideas on how we can improve our support services? Then get in touch with: support@betterplace-lab.org
Our psychological counsellors
As a freelance coach, qualified psychological counselor and non-medical practitioner of psychology, Bettina Rollow has a lot of experience in translating wellbeing approaches for everyday professional life. Through her training in Thomas Hübl's "Timeless Wisdom Training" and in Gestalt therapy, she also has many years of experience in guiding self-awareness. Together with Joana Breidenbach, she explains in the handbook "New Work Needs Inner Work" that every external change in structures and processes must necessarily be accompanied by an inner transformation.
Anjet Sekkat is a life coach and has been working with couples, individuals and groups in processes of change for over 17 years. As a healing practitioner for psychotherapy and a former midwife, she is very interested in transformational processes that enable deeper movements within each person to manifest in life.
Beginning her career as a midwife, she accompanied over 400 babies and their families on their journey into life. Today, working as a transformational coach, she still focuses on supporting individuals and couples to give birth to new aspects in themselves. As a group facilitator, she is specialized in empowering people in their subtle competencies, in their capacity to relate, in transparent communication and in creating a new cultural learning field.
She is the author of the German book “Partnerschaft Reloaded - für eine neue Beziehungskultur”, the content is based on the principles of Thomas Hübl.
Jana Schmitz has been working as a psychologist, trauma therapist (NARM) and coach in her own practice since 2021, where she focuses on supporting individuals as well as training and groups. She is trained in transparent communication according to Thomas Hübl and has built up her knowledge of consciousness and personality development as well as meditation in many seminars, workshops and training courses, as well as acquired deep therapeutic knowledge in her many years of work in the Heiligenfeld Kliniken. She has also completed training in the field of New Work, as she is interested in new forms of cooperation, self-organization and collective leadership. She has been living in her hometown of Berlin since 2017.
Rivka Halbershtadt is a qualified somatic trainer with over 15 years of professional experience. She works with individuals, groups and teams to facilitate change in all areas of life. Rivka's work aims to expand her clients' freedom of choice to discover and live out their potential through different approaches to bodywork (Biodanza, Shiatsu, Tui-na). Her coaching sessions have a strong transformative character - both on a physical and spiritual level - and enable participants to integrate her insights into their everyday practice from the very beginning.
Rainer Höll is an executive coach, organizational developer and one of the pioneers of social entrepreneurship in Germany. He has worked in social change for 15 years and has personally advised and supported more than 100 social entrepreneurs all over Europe. Coaching clients typically work with him on difficult decisions, overwhelm, existential crisis, being on the brink of burnout, self-exploitation, conflict with their colleague, investor, the team, their co-leader.
Bild: Yana Hurskaya | Unsplash | Lviv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine