Scientific Problematization of Psychological Assistance to Combat Veterans

The problem of psychological assistance to veterans has becomes relevant due to the scale and intensity of a special military operation. A lot of experience has been accumulated in providing psychological aid to veterans, but this work cannot yet be called scientifically based. However, in the process of gaining experience, which is a necessary stage for identifying and understanding existing problems in this area, scientific problematization of this activity is already possible. It is obvious that a number of applied approaches and practices require scientific expertise, reflection and revision. The knowledge accumulated in this field needs to be analyzed, systematized and purposefully extended. Scientific problematization of the practice of professional psychological assistance to combat veterans will help to mobilize the scientific community and coordinate the efforts of researchers in creating a reliable and relevant scientific base for the effectiveness of this work. The article outlines the main problems, gaps and difficulties existing in the available knowledge about the negative psychological consequences for veterans, as well as about providing them with psychological assistance. The main problems are: 1) classification of the negative psychological consequences of being in the combat zone; 2) differentiation of approaches to working with combatants experiencing various adverse consequences of hostilities; 3) optimization of the intervention of psychological health specialists in the process of natural rehabilitation and readaptation of veterans; 4) difficulties in involving veterans in the psychotherapeutic process; 5) prevention of readaptive psychotraumatization a veteran after returning to civil society; 6) the difficulties of constructive resocialization of mentally safe veterans. The knowledge gained as a result of solving these problems can be summarized in a section of psychological science that could be called “postwar psychology”.