In 2022, just after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, ESTSS launched a project to support colleagues working within Ukraine. We realized that the situation in which they were working (e.g., enormous case load, very severe mental and psychosocial difficulties and being victims themselves) would be very demanding, and that they would need support to keep on functioning themselves, both as a person and as a professional.
So, two months after the invasion we started biweekly internet supervision sessions. We were able to organize three groups which are continuing until this day. Because language was a big issue as most Ukrainian mental health workers speak and understand limited English, these sessions were directly translated in real time.
We received a lot of positive reactions to the supervisions, but to understand if the groups were meeting the needs of the Ukrainian participants, we conducted a survey amongst the people that had participated from the start. Furthermore, we organized a focus session with the supervisors and the people involved in organizing the sessions.
The picture that emerged was that in general participants felt safe to express themselves in the groups and that they felt supported, both by their peers and the supervisors and that the sessions added valuable advice.
Guided intervision
The results of this survey and the following discussions also made us realize that we had not constructed a normal type of supervision. They are more a form of guided intervision.
The participants have a vast experience of working under war conditions with all kinds of complex situations, for themselves as well as for their patients.
The participants can provide a lot of recognition, practical advice, and peer support. Some of them are however limited in their expertise regarding evidence-based trauma therapy, and they all are practically and emotionally affected by the war (they are victims themselves).
While the supervisors have less experience with the specific war circumstances, they provide structure, extra safeness, and distance (support from the outside world).
They also have a solid background in evidence based treatment and supervising, which enables them to add expertise and use the knowledge and motivation of the participants to help them cope with their professional and personal questions.
Looking for new supervisors
As one of the supervisors recently stopped and because we also are looking for long term continuation (probably as long as the war continues) we are looking for a few new supervisors.
Everyone in our support project for Ukraine is working on a voluntary base (except our Ukrainian based translators), so we expect our supervisors to do the same.
Who are we looking for?
As you can imagine supervising/presiding these groups requires knowledge and skills, so we are looking for psychotrauma therapists that are:
- educated at an advanced level in at least one and preferably two evidence-based forms of treatments for psychotrauma related disturbances,
- experienced in delivering these treatments in complex (preferably war type) situations,
- experienced clinical supervisors,
- some affinity or experience with online interventions and/or supervision,
- capable of guiding the process within the group to maximize peer interaction and peer support,
- available at the same day and time once every two weeks,
- available until the end of 2026.
As we only can provide real-time translations from English to Ukrainian good skills in speaking and understanding English are required.
How to Get Involved
If you are interested, please send an email with a short CV and your experience and qualifications in the relevant fields to secretariat@estss.org.
We warmly welcome experienced professionals who share our commitment to supporting Ukrainian colleagues in these challenging times.
If you have any questions or remarks, please feel free to contact the task force via the Secretariat.
