Russian and Ukranian Therapists Speak

I attended a symposium featuring analysts and therapists who are living and working in Ukraine or Russia, as well as those who have fled from their homes in those countries. They have come together in virtual town halls to support themselves and one another during this war. Those working inside Russia work with patients who live in Ukraine, and vice versa. Some are continuing to work with their patients, and some have stopped. All, for their own reasons or reasons outside their control. Stop and think about this for a moment. Imagine you are Ukrainian, working with a patient who lives in Russia. Russia has just invaded your country. Bombs are going off in your neighborhood, and you are preparing to go downstairs in your home apartment to shelter from these shellings—from the country your patient lives in. Imagine what that might feel like as the therapist. Imagine what that might feel like if your patient is in support of the war. Imagine what that would be like if your patient feels deep regret and shame about the war. All the while, you are trying to stay alive yourself, keep your family alive, your neighbors, trying to keep your country free.