In the early days of 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, a call went out to the international community of emotionally-focused therapists, looking for volunteers to provide support to their Ukrainian colleagues.

Responses came from all over the world, including, of course, from Canada.

Sara Lamb, a counselling therapist who practices in Halifax, was one of those who answered the call. She volunteered for the group for 14 months.

“Something about what was happening in Ukraine really kind of touched my heart,” she said. “And so I thought, well, this is a way I can offer some of my experience.”

The loosely-organized group, which continues to this day, provides support supervision, a mix of professional development and emotional support, to Ukrainian therapists as they deal with the challenges that have arisen from being a nation at war.

Forty-six per cent of Ukrainians have mental health concerns, according to a World Health Organization assessment from 2024, with 41 per cent being affected by mental health disorders.

Program offers professional and personal support

“When your people are at war, everything gets hard,” said Sandy Jardine, the couples therapist from Phoenix, Arizona who started the program. “The acuity in all areas has been heightened. More affairs, more addiction, more just trying to cope, more numbing out.”

Lamb said that the initiative offers the Ukrainian therapists a space to step out of the turmoil at home and to focus on their work. She said most of her sessions were focused on technical questions about the therapists’ practice.

But amongst the professional development, Lamb said it was also important to allow space for the therapists to address their own personal struggles arising from the war.

‘Reminds us that we are not alone’

Olena Diveeva, a therapist from Lviv, agreed.

To her, the support of the supervisors is “not only professional, it is deeply human and reminds us that we are not alone.”

“Sometimes it feels like the world forgets about this war, or that it doesn’t matter, but this type of connection, it really can change how we feel in this time,” she said, adding that the program has evolved from a mainly professional focus to a personal one.

“Now I think the human part is even bigger for us.”

Penney Hartsen is a therapist from White Rock, British Columbia, who’s been one of Diveeva’s supervisors since 2023. She said that this personal connection across borders is one of the most important elements of the program.

“We are all, in this field, trying to promote connection, which leads to peace. Which is a kind of antidote to the lack of connection that contributes to war,” she said.

‘Really quite humbling’

Lamb, the therapist from Halifax, said that she left the initiative with strengthened confidence in herself, as well as a deep respect for her Ukrainian colleagues.

“These folks were doing it in poor lighting, or the electricity would go out or the couple don’t even live in the same country right now,” she said. “The dedication was incredible.”

She said at one point, one of the attendees apologized for a bomb warning going off in the background.

“You know, I don’t know if I could be as present if there was a war going on in Halifax,” said Lamb.

“Even in the most difficult of circumstances, people still want to show up and do their work and offer something to the populations they’re working with. That was really quite humbling.”

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