American and Ukrainian psychologists are collaborating to develop  emotional rehabilitation workshops for Ukrainian veterans and their  families, A recent event was held on the eve of the Ukrainian  Independence Day Celebration. Participants gathered at the Veteran  Hub on August 23, in Kyiv, according to the press release.

These events are sponsored by Chiraj’s founder, Rajeev Fernando,  M.D., a Harvard-trained disaster medicine physician, who supplies  medical support to those on the front line. Other sponsors include:  International Association of Applied Psychology and the World  Council for Psychotherapy. The Ukrainian psychologists at the Kyiv Center, Oleksandr Zharokv, Dmutro Tutyla and Irina Scheveleva, will  demonstrate their art therapy techniques, Mandala paintings.

Trauma experts, Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D., and Joseph Geraci, Ph.D., from Columbia University, Teachers College along with their staff, Julia  Maney, Caroline Burke, June Chang, and Carl Tauberman, are  assisting with group interventions to promote wellness, resilience,  and recovery. As was the case in their post-Katrina recovery  workshops, Dr. Kuriansky, has paired with the Neuropsychology  Center of Louisiana’s (NCLA) founder, Darlyne G. Nemeth, Ph.D., M.P.,  M.P.A.P., CGP, and her assistant, Cody Capps, to collaborate in this  train-the-trainer style of intervention.

“We are emphasizing group intervention techniques,” said Dr.  Nemeth. “The three psychologists in the Ukraine are doing the work  onsite, and the rest of us are participating via Zoom. Our work is then  translated into the Ukrainian language and delivered by our onsite  colleagues.”