"To Help Others, You Need to Be Able to Take Care of Yourself": How Clergy Learn to Carry the Weight of Others’ Pain

Many people in need of support and guidance do not turn first to a psychologist—they turn to a priest. During wartime, clergy have become the true "first responders": the people who are constantly present at confessions, funerals, hospitals, and conversations after church services.

On June 2-3, a training titled "Self-Help and Resilience for Clergy" was held in Lviv for priests, priests’ wives, seminarians, and parishioners of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from different regions of the country. The training was led by Ella Sokolyuk, a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, supervisor, and national mental health trainer.

Over the course of two days, participants explored a topic that is rarely discussed within church communities: their own stress, fatigue, and risk of burnout. They learned to recognize their emotional and psychological state using the “Traffic Light” technique: green means sufficient resources and resilience; yellow signals the need to pause and recover; red indicates that professional support may be needed.

“A priest absorbs the anger, despair, and guilt of others — often without having a place to ‘unload’ it. He is expected to answer the question, ‘Where is God?’ even when he himself feels exhausted. Recognizing one’s own vulnerability is not a weakness; it is a sign of both spiritual and professional maturity,” the trainer emphasized.

Yet nothing demonstrates the value of the training better than the participants’ own reflections.

“Today, our communities need not only spiritual care, but also the ability to recognize a person’s pain, provide meaningful support, and help them find a path toward healing and hope. Through learning, we become better servants to the people whom the Lord has entrusted to our care,” said Father Taras Didyk.

“Training like this is essential in our time. Difficult times create strong people—and we need to be strong both in body and spirit,” added Father Oleksandr Tymoshchuk.

The project “Clergy and Communities in Support of Mental Health: Innovative Support Practices During the War in Ukraine” is implemented by Eleos-Ukraine in partnership with DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid in Ukraine, with financial support from the Government of Norway (NORAD), in cooperation with the Kyiv and Lviv Orthodox Theological Academies.