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Founded just before the war (or “full scale invasion” as it is known) by Alyona Chukanova, the Ukrainian Institute is an international training program in contemporary relational theory and clinical technique. Alyona, an emotional and intellectual power-house, has developed a comprehensive curriculum introducing trainees to two-person psychologies and has invited instructors from around the world to teach remotely. Beyond didactic training, Alyona has recruited supervisors to conduct biweekly three-hour consultation sessions, facilitated through translation.
Eighteen months ago, Alyona invited me to join as a consultant for the current cohort. The supervisory sessions, conducted over Zoom, are structured with two trainees presenting for 90 minutes each. A candidate speaks briefly, followed by our translator, Oksana – an MD, PhD, whose husband is a medical doctor on the eastern front – who translates into English. I respond as best I can, and Oksana translates back into Ukrainian.
The process of working with this group can feel surreal – at times, like a comedy of errors. For example, I might ask, “How did you feel when your patient described his complex emotions about his wife?” The candidate responds at length, their hands gesturing expressively, as Zoom emojis flicker across the screen and the group reacts with sympathy, outrage, or understanding. When I turn to Oksana for translation, she laconically reports, looking up from her extensive notes, “I felt good.” I exclaim, “That’s it?!” The group bursts into laughter, recognizing both the gaps in translation and the unexpected discoveries. These moments of disjunction paradoxically draw us closer, reinforcing our shared connection.
Through my work with these candidates I have glimpsed their lives and those of their patients: conducting sessions as the light dims from electrical outages, worrying about colleagues in Odessa after nights of heavy bombing, and feeling relief when a delayed response turns out to be due to