How to calm yourself down when you are "not ok": therapist gives advice at Mediabaza Chernihiv

Media professionals often forget to take care of their mental health as they let negative news and sad stories pass through them. But all emotions must be processed, because they are assistants to human health, stressed psychologist and art therapist Yevhenia Zakrevska during the training class “Resilience without armor: how not to lose oneself in the news”, which was hosted by the Institute of Mass Information's regional hub Mediabaza Chernihiv.

The therapist recommended several techniques that help you focus on yourself and calm down when everything around you is “not ok” and you feel anxious.

Training class "Resilience without armour: how not to lose oneself in the news". Photo by Pavlo Pushchenko

One of these techniques is the “Crocodile”: take a deep breath through your nose and hold your breath for six seconds, like an “ancient crocodile,” then exhale through your mouth. Then hold your breath for eight seconds, like a “mature crocodile,” and finally for sixteen seconds. This exercise will save you in stressful moments and help you calm down and clear your thoughts.

Another technique is called “5–4–3–2–1 Grounding”. You need to focus and name five objects that you see, then four sounds that you hear around you, then three different textures that you can touch. After that, you need to name two smells that you feel, and finally one thing that you can taste right now. This exercise helps you ground yourself in moments of acute emotion.

Yevhenia Zakrevska also recommended the “Circle of Control” exercise, which helps you figure out whether you can influence a particular situation. To do this, you need to divide a sheet of paper into three parts and write down the specific things you control in this situation, what you can influence, and what is completely out of your control.

Photos by Pavlo Pushchenko

“Emotional responsibility is not about control, but about maturity. These exercises should help you become aware of your emotions, express them, and realize that you have the right to feel them,” the psychologist concluded.

The Mediabazas are a network of regional hubs for journalists that the Institute of Mass Information created in the fall of 2022 to support the work of independent media professionals amid Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. In the Mediabazas, media workers can receive body armor free of charge, attend training classes, work with a stable power supply and Internet connection, etc.

Training class "Resilience without armour: how not to lose oneself in the news". Photos by Pavlo Pushchenko

By Svitlana Bilous, communications manager at the IMI's regional hub Mediabaza Chernihiv