This article is translated from Norwegian to English by UiOGPT
Iryna Hubeladze is the head of the department and Hanna Hromova is a senior researcher. Both are affiliated with the Institute for Social and Political Psychology, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. In April, they visited colleagues at the Department of Psychology to discuss the situation in their home country. Over two years of war have left their mark on the population.
"Whereas at the beginning of the war, as psychologists, we dealt with a lot of shock and stress, we now see that the war leads to more people feeling resignation. It is no longer as easy to maintain courage and hope. Fortunately, humor is a good weapon to resort to in order to cope with the state of emergency we live in," says Hanna Hromova, with colleague Iryna Hubeladze nodding in agreement.
They emphasize that they personally, as researchers and helpers, experience the same emotions as those they encounter among their clients.
The tears also come easily when the Ukrainian psychologists are in Norway, meet supportive Norwegian colleagues, and get a little break from the ongoing war.
Collaboration for knowledge and skills
The Department of Psychology (PSI) established contact with colleagues in Ukraine immediately after the Russian invasion of the country through the Ukraine Initiative, with department head Bjørn Lau, as a central actor. Professor Emerita Nora Sveaass and a number of other colleagues were also central. Today, it is, among others, Associate Professor Gulnaz Anjum who oversees the partnership at PSI, which involves several parties - including those outside UiO. There is a whole group of researchers and psychologists from the Norwegian side, who collaborate on the Ukraine Initiative.
The initiative was originally aimed at promoting knowledge and skills about psychological responses to war trauma. Through the initiative, Norwegian specialists have contributed with digital training for helpers in Ukraine. The contact between Norwegian and Ukrainian researchers and psychologists has since been maintained - both at the personal and institutional levels.
Hanna Hromova and Iryna Hubeladze's visit from Kyiv is part of this collaboration which aims at more research and teaching cooperation. The collaboration has, according to both parties, evolved from mainly focusing on handling trauma to contributing to solving societal challenges. The reciprocity of the collaboration is also emphasized by both sides.
From Hope to Distrust
Iryna Hubeladze and Hanna Hromova gave a lecture at PSI for their Norwegian partners and also a workshop for master's students in Health, Environment, and Society as part of the European Global-minds program. The two spoke about a shift in mood in the country and about a population that was full of hope and the will to conquer in the war's early days but now can see no end to the conflict.
"More and more often, we also experience that Ukrainians distrust each other and that there is a spreading attitude that those who have fled are cowards and should just stay where they are abroad. There are also significant differences in how people who have lived in different areas of Ukraine have experienced the last two years of war. Those who have lived in occupied territories have been exposed to completely different versions of reality than the rest of the population," says Hubeladze.
The Ukrainian psychologists share that there is an overwhelming need for mental support and help among the population. People generally need knowledge about what are common psychological reactions when living under the pressures of a war situation for so long. Families are split apart, many women, and children have fled, while the men have stayed to fight. Handling the fact that more of these individuals become war-damaged—both physically and psychologically—is necessary, both in the short term and the long term.
Mental taboos
Iryna Hubeladze and Hanna Hromova foresee that the need for psychological support and learning about the psychological aftereffects and traumas of war will not be any less after the war finally ends one day. They also share that discussing psychological challenges has not been so common in Ukraine—and for many, it remains taboo—so here, too, there is much ground to cover.
The support from Norwegian colleagues is invaluable, according to the two.
"As researchers and psychologists, we know a lot about trauma therapy, and these days in Oslo have been very important. We have felt very strongly that we have colleagues who support us and that we are not alone. Knowing that we are part of a community—and that we have people in Norway who we can contact and get both advice and support from—in addition to being part of a joint support system and research community, is important," says Gromova.
"We gain as much as we give"
Professor Beate Seibt, Associate Professor Gulnaz Anjum, and Ph.D. candidate Sigrun Marie Moss, Helen Suizu Norheim, and Marius Hafstad, all from PSI, are involved in the Ukraine Initiative. So is Nora Sveaass, professor emerita, Elisabeth Langdal, and Anna Fedina from Mental Health and Human Rights Info (MHHRI). The collaboration involves many parties—also outside UiO. Gulnaz Anjum highlights that collaborating with Ukrainian researchers and psychologists has been as educational for her and her Norwegian colleagues as vice versa.
"Both we as researchers and the students have learned a lot by having contact with our colleagues in Ukraine digitally. And meeting Iryna Hubeladze and Hanna Hromova in person here with us over several days has been especially rewarding."
"Hearing their accounts from the field creates an entirely different understanding than reading lengthy reports and newspaper articles. It's something quite different to sit in the same meeting face-to-face with people and hear about their challenges in the everyday reality of war," says Anjum.
In addition to educational support online in trauma treatment and other exchanges and financial support, Anjum believes that mental support among colleagues across borders is invaluable.
"We, as Norwegian colleagues, want to be there for them and help them maintain their spirits. We are both listeners and supporters. Because, when we think about it, we are all in the same boat. The war in Ukraine concerns us all," says Anjum.
Facts about the Collaboration
PSI collaborates with the Faculty of Psychology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and with the Institute for Social and Political Psychology at the National Academy of Educational Sciences Ukraine.
The collaboration began in March 2022 and has included webinars, colleague supervision for therapists, symposiums, lectures, and student-to-student training. There is also now a collaborative research effort underway. In addition, there is an Erasmus practice program for Ukrainian colleagues at UiO as well as international network building.