IJSP Number 6, 2024

103 VOLUNTEER SUPERVISION GROUPS IN WARTIME UKRAINE: REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS John L. DiMINO 1 1 Ph.D., Director of the Mimesis Center, U.S.A. Email : jlouisd77@gmail.com INTRODUCTION One of the reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine at dawn on 24 February 2022 was a creative and bold effort to support Ukrainian psychotherapists who are providing mental health services to people whose lives were disrupted by displacement and trauma. This effort brought together volunteer group supervisors from many democratic countries and volunteer Ukrainian psychotherapists, and interpreters to manage the language barrier between them. Given the quickness of mobilization and the wide variety of needs expressed, these groups often encompass a variety of emphases including supervision, consultation, support, and psychotherapy. The dedicated professionals who answered this call had little or no time to prepare for their task or to consider the complexity and uniqueness of this situation. Now, with the war in its third year, some have begun to examine their work in light of available related literature to better understand their experiences and offer recommendations for future similar efforts. Since the volunteer supervisors are mostly from other countries, this necessitated the use of interpreters to facilitate communication with Ukrainian therapists. A further complication is that some of the therapists and interpreters remained in Ukraine, and some fled to other countries. All group meetings were conducted via an online platform that brought together volunteer professionals living in different time zones. The interpreters are Ukrainians, some of whom are therapists themselves, but others with little or no experience in mental health settings. The phenomenon of the present volunteer supervision initiative lies in the cohesion of the international therapeutic community and digital technologies. Tools such as social networks, messaging platforms, and videotelephony have facilitated an ad hoc and prompt global response to an extraordinary situation.