News
04.11.2025
The fifth mental health center of the national RETURNING network has opened in Rivne
A cozy and inclusive RETURNING (ukr. ПОВЕРНЕННЯ) mental health center has begun operating in Rivne — created for service members, veterans, and their families. This is already the fifth facility in the national network founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk to support Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces.
Every year, the RETURNING center in Rivne will be able to provide free, high-quality psychological support to 4,000 defenders.
The RETURNING mental health center in Rivne welcomes service members, veterans, and their families who are dealing with the consequences of psychological trauma. Specialists at the center work with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depressive states, adaptation and psychosomatic difficulties, emotional exhaustion, panic attacks, and sleep disorders.
“When a loved one goes to war, two people go to war. Beside every defender stands a family that walks its own path of worry, waiting, and — unfortunately, at times — loss. That is why mental health support must include not only service members and veterans but also their loved ones. Recovery is a shared process, and the strength of the family often becomes the ground on which a person’s faith in themselves and in life after war grows,” said Svitlana Grytsenko, Head of the RETURNING project.
The RETURNING project demonstrates successful cooperation between the private sector and the state, where philanthropists create mental health centers based on public medical institutions. The new RETURNING center in Rivne has been established within one of the region’s key healthcare facilities. The project funded major renovations of the ground floor and created a fully accessible space — with wide doorways, no thresholds, and medical-grade non-slip flooring.
The RETURNING mental health center in Rivne includes four rooms for individual and family therapy, a group therapy room, a two-bed day-care ward with electric multifunctional medical beds and an accessible bathroom with a shower, a treatment room, a reception area, a staff rest room with lockers, and accessible toilets designed for wheelchair users.
An important part of the center is its equipment. It features the Shiftwave System (USA) — a psychological relaxation and stress management system that helps reduce anxiety and tension. Specialists also have access to psychological board games, puzzles, metaphorical associative cards, materials for art and sound therapy, anti-stress toys, tactile mats, and massage balls. The team’s workspace is equipped with computers, a multimedia projector, and a professional library, providing the conditions for high-quality work and patient comfort.
Like other RETURNING centers, the Rivne facility operates with a multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, nurses, and, when needed, case managers, social workers, and veteran support specialists. This approach ensures comprehensive care — from initial consultations to long-term therapy.
“From the first days of the war, Rivne region has received thousands of wounded soldiers and their families — for many, it became a temporary or even a new home. That’s why mental recovery here has special importance. The RETURNING center, in my view, is not just a place of help, but a space of trust and restoration, where anyone can speak freely about their experiences and feelings. According to WHO, one in five people who have lived through war needs psychological support — and we exist to make that support accessible, timely, and professional,” said Alla Myronchuk, Head of the RETURNING mental health center in Rivne.
High-quality mental recovery is only possible with professional involvement. That’s why the RETURNING project also implements world-class educational programs for psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and other mental health professionals — training sessions, workshops, and supervision meetings that provide effective tools for working with war-related trauma.
The RETURNING network of mental health centers was founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk to help service members, veterans, and their families overcome psychological trauma caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Today, RETURNING centers are already operating in Dnipro, Ternopil, Poltava, Kropyvnytskyi, and Rivne.
At the first stage of the RETURNING project, 20–25 mental health centers are planned across Ukraine. Each year, more than 100,000 people will be able to receive free, professional psychological support in these centers — restoring strength, balance, and faith in themselves.
