Australian psychologist invited to Ukraine to conduct seminars with Ukrainian government

Australian clinical psychologist Dr Robi Sonderegger specialises in treating trauma arising from war and natural disasters and was invited to conduct seminars with members of the Ukrainian government, last month, including President Zelensky’s staff. It is almost two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a war that has left many thousands dead and injured on both sides. Zelensky’s wife is the patron for mental health in Ukraine, and Dr Sonderegger was asked to train them how best to work with a population traumatised by tragedy. “People respond to the tragedy of war in a variety of different ways – for example, two people can experience the exact same tragedy, and yet one person can be deeply traumatised, and another relatively ok,” Dr Sonderegger told Sky News Australia host James Macpherson. “Another person can experience a near-death encounter and be relatively resilient in response to it, whereas another person can just witness that near-death encounter and experience signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.”