Our community’s inspiring response to the crisis in Ukraine
Dear ISH members:
For many of us, the images from and stories about the invasion of Ukraine have been heart breaking. It does not appear that the crisis will end soon. Certainly, the effects of the trauma experienced those on the front lines will echo for decades to come. At the same, I have been deeply inspired by our community’s response to the crisis. Within hours after the invasion began on February of this year, colleagues from around the world started talking about how we could pull together resources and training opportunism to of assistance to care providers in Ukraine and — as refugees started to flow out of Ukraine into bordering countries — care providers in the neighboring nations of Poland, Rumania, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia.
We know both from our clinical experience and research that hypnotic approaches are an effective way to treat the effects of trauma (cf. Lesmana et al., 2009; O’Toole et al., 2016; Watkins, 2000). Given this, the depth of experience in the treatment of trauma and its effects in clinicians who use hypnosis as a part of their practice, and the generosity of the healers in our world community, it is not surprising that so many initiatives to help deal with the crisis began. Among the initiatives was one that began during one of our online “Coffee with the President(s)” event on March 3. This event was co-sponsored by ISH and the British Society of Academic and Clinical Hypnosis (BSACH). Although BACAH’s president, Jane Boissière, and I were originally planning on facilitating a discussion about what BACAH has been doing and questions that BSACH members may have that other ISH members could address, we very quickly pivoted to discussing the invasion and how our community could be of help.
As noted in the “Building Bridges of Support” article in the previous ISH Newsletter, after the coffee event, Dr. Kathleen Long from the European Society of Hypnosis, in discussions with Dr. Jane Boissiére of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis, suggested that ISH and the European Society of Hypnosis (ESH) collaborate to support those affected by the war. Dr. Woltemade Hartman came up with the idea of a Crisis and Intervention Committee (CIC). This idea was then enthusiastically supported by everyone involved, and so the CIC was formed, co-chaired by Callie Hattingh and Kathleen Long.
Under Callie’s and Kathleen’s leadership, the CIC is working to do whatever might be possible to (1) provide support, training, and resources for health care professionals supporting the people affected by war and disaster and (2) provide support and resources directly for people affected by war and disaster. They have recruited a panel of international experts in the use of hypnosis for addressing trauma and its effects as members of the committee, including Woltemade Hartman (South Africa). They first met on March 15. At that meeting, the committee were informed about the situation in the Ukraine from Alexander Tokhtamysh (professor of the Faculty of Psychology, Taras Shevchenk National University of Kyiv, and current Head of the Ericksonian and Brief Psychotherapy Society of Ukraine). Krzysztof Klajs gave an update on the needs of the Polish Ericksonian Society. They are involved in the training of health care workers supporting the displaced people of Ukraine seeking refuge in Poland. Bernhard Trenkle is compiling trauma papers and research from various countries. Dr Lisa Lombard (USA) from NPTHI developed a website in Ukrainian with resources, including the comfort kit from Dr Karen Olness to support children in crisis.
Many people have contributed to this effort, including (but not limited to) Alexander Tokhtamysh (Ukraine), Gillian Smith, (BSCAH), Ali Özden Öztürk (Turkey), Nicole Ruysschaert (Belgium), and Fitoussi Gerard (France), among many others. Cecilia Fabre (Mexico), Kasia Mirska (Poland) and Nadine Hartman (UK) will manage social media in the future. Julia Graßhoff (Germany) has also been putting in a tremendous effort to keep the resources updated.
Already the committee has achieved a great deal. They have coordinated many opportunities for free to health care providers in Poland and Ukraine, including a series of six 3-day online seminars to specialize in ego state therapy for trauma. These seminars are presented by Dr Woltemade Hartman and Carl Hattingh and two have already been completed. Please contact Carl Hattingh from AICHP for more information about this seminar series if you or someone you know could benefit (info@aichp.com.au) or https://www.aichp.com.au/ego-state-therapy/). Two webinar workshops specific to the topic of treating individuals who have experienced trauma have also been organized and presented by Drs Enayat Shahidi and Julie Linden. Access to recordings of these two webinars is currently available to any ISH or ESH member by contacting Shady Tonn at info@ishhypnosis.org. They will also soon be available on both the ISH and ESH websites.
Future training programs are being developed by Dr Julie Linden and a group of trauma experts in collaboration with Professor Borys Ivynev, MD, Rector of Kyiv Medical University and Vice-president of the Ukrainian Association of Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts (Head of Department of Hypnotherapy) and Viktor Vus, the head of Mental Health in the Ukrainian Psychological Association. Hypnosis Skills For Self-Care, Self-Hypnosis, Building Agency and Resilience will be a series of short training events on the use of hypnosis with trauma management, self-care, regulation, and building resilience for health care providers to pay it forward to other providers, patients and clients who may be experiencing stress associated with these significant needs. The plan is also to develop an individual mentorship program. Please contact Julie Linden (julie@drjulielinden.com) for more information about the self-care webinars planned.
In addition, the committee has arranged for audio recordings of hypnosis scripts in Ukrainian for health care workers and people affected by war and disaster. By the time this letter goes to print, these will already have been posted on both the ISH and ESH websites. We envision the CIC as a standing committee, which will continue to provide resources for people affected by trauma and war worldwide. Accordingly, we aim to include more translations of the audio recordings in other languages in the future.
An important task of the committee has been to create a resource hub that would provide access to important resources, such as lists of books, scripts, and other material. These include the following:
Audio Recordings
- You can find peace within yourself – Aleksandra Nowak
- Wisdom of your body – Katarzyna Szymańska
- Relaxation in challenging times – Urszula Sołtys-Para
Resources for Children
- A tale of rays of hope” – The fairy tale aims to support children outside Ukraine whose parents have remained in the country. It inspires hope and keeps spirits up. – Agnieszka Bleja
- Before you say “goodnight” to your child – tips on how to take care of a child’s anxiety before going to bed. – Agnieszka Bleja
- Difficult topics: War – A book contains tips on how to talk to children about war. – Bianca-Beata Kotoro, Wiesław Sokolu
- Polish fairy tales to support children who have difficulty falling asleep (free PDF)
Other resources and links the committee has compiled include:
- Website: Helping Children Cope with the Challenges of War – http://www.h3cw.org – Dr Lisa Lombard (NHPTI)
- Comfort kits for Children / Mini-exercises to quickly show/teach troubled children – Dr Karen Olness
- Self Aid for Refugees Polish Resources – https://www.p-i-e.pl/wsparcie-dla-ukrainy
- Apps on Google Play – Comfort Talk Pro – Dr Elvira Lang (Think she is making it available for free to Ukrainians)
- Audio Recordings: http://www.voice4comfort.com/ – Dr Carla Frankenhuijs
- Guides – WHO: Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (who.int)
Again, these resources — or information about where you and your clients can find these resources — are posted on the ISH and ESH websites.
And the future? First, and as noted previously, there is agreement that the committee can and should be a standing committee. The need for resources and services for individuals who have or are experiencing war and disaster will continue. ISH and ESH will therefore continue to work closely together to build on the resources that have already been pulled together. To facilitate this, and in addition to information about these resources available to our members via our individual websites, there is also serious discussion and plans to develop a special joint-website where people who could benefit from these resources could access them. The committee also plans to organize opportunities for ongoing supervision of clinicians doing the direct work in this area.
Finally, the committee plans to initiate a project to invite ISH and ESH members to share scripts that would be useful to both children and adults who have experienced trauma. These scripts would be translated and then audio recorded into a variety of languages. Please keep your eyes open for the invitation to submit these scripts. In the meantime, if you already have one or more scripts you believe would be of particular help, please feel free to send a file with the script to one or both of the committee’s chairs: Carl Hattingh at calliehattingh@gmail.com and Kathleen Long at kathleen@maxamind.co.uk.
Let me end this note by expressing my deep sense of gratitude to Callie, Kathleen, the members of the CIC, and all of our other colleagues who have so quickly come to the aid of the people of Ukraine and people everywhere who have experienced or who might experience trauma in the future. Even in the midst of a crisis, the work that you are doing is inspiring and gives me hope. Thank you.
References
O’Toole, S. K., Solomon, S. L., & Bergdahl, S. A. (2016). A meta‐analysis of hypnotherapeutic techniques in the treatment of PTSD symptoms. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29(1), 97–100.
Lesmana, C. B, Suryani, L. K., Jensen, G. D., & Tiliopoulos, N. (2009). A spiritual-hypnosis assisted treatment of children with PTSD after the 2002 Bali terrorist attack. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 52, 23-34.
Watkins, J. G. (2000). The psychodynamic treatment of combat neuroses (PTSD) with hypnosis during World War II. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 48, 324-335.