Displacement, loss, injuries—the traumas of war lead to an enormous need for psychotherapeutic support. At the Central Institute for Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim, the transcultural outpatient clinic offers individual and group therapy for refugees in Ukrainian. Now, the CIMH is also participating in training courses for Ukrainian professionals to strengthen their colleagues’ expertise in treating trauma-related disorders in Ukraine.
Reaching many people with group therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a proven method for treating trauma-related disorders. The number of therapists trained in this method in Ukraine is far from sufficient to meet the enormous demand. EMDR-based group therapies would be one approach to making the benefits of this effective treatment method available to as many people in Ukraine as possible. With the support of the Clinic Partnerships Program of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Dr. Alexander Moldavski, specialist in psychiatry and researcher at the CIMH, launched the project “Establishment and Evaluation of EMDR-based Group Interventions in Ukraine,” which promotes EMDR training for therapists with a focus on group procedures in Ukraine.
Training of therapists in Ukraine
The hybrid training program for a total of 70 therapists will start in January 2026. Partner institutions in Ukraine are Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Kharkiv National Medical University, and the Institute for Psychosomatic and Trauma Therapy (IPSI) in Khmelnytskyi.
Shortly before the training began, therapists Natalia Pidkaliuk and Marina Malinovska from IPSI, together with Fabian Einhaus, consultant for clinic partnerships at GIZ, visited the CIMH and took part in an EMDR group therapy session. “EMDR helps to organize traumatic memories and regain a sense of personal strength,” says Moldavski, explaining the therapy method. He is convinced that the newly trained therapists in Ukraine will be able to provide important help.
“The collaboration demonstrates how EMDR group therapy can not only offer low-threshold and effective psychological support, but also be scaled in a structured manner. This creates a model that has a broad impact beyond the immediate implementation of the project,” says Fabian Einhaus.
About the Clinic Partnerships funding program
Clinic Partnerships is a funding program run by the German government and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Since 2017, it has supported over 650 long-term sustainable partnerships between healthcare professionals from Germany and 77 partner countries with the aim of strengthening healthcare systems. In Ukraine, the program supports a growing network of 35 German and 100 Ukrainian hospitals and non-governmental organizations in all medical fields. These hospital partnerships stabilize healthcare for the population under war conditions, improve the country's healthcare system in the medium and long term, and pave the way for Ukraine's accession to the EU. Since 2022, hospital partnerships in Ukraine have already trained and educated 10,000 health professionals and helped one million patients receive better treatment and care.
Further information on hospital partnerships in Ukraine can be found at: https://klinikpartnerschaften.de/in-ukraine