{"id":128206,"date":"2022-04-29T09:34:58","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T13:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=128206"},"modified":"2022-05-02T10:05:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T14:05:16","slug":"ucf-faculty-offers-teletherapy-sessions-to-ukrainian-mental-health-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-faculty-offers-teletherapy-sessions-to-ukrainian-mental-health-professionals\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Faculty Offers Teletherapy Sessions to Ukrainian Mental Health Professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"

In times of trouble, Fred Rogers always advised looking for the helpers. Sometimes, though, even the helpers need assistance.<\/p>\n

And as the world watched Russia invade Ukraine in February, Gulnora Hundley \u201904MA \u201908PhD<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 associate lecturer in the Department of Counselor Education and School Psychology<\/a> \u2014 knew she had to do something to help.<\/p>\n

An Uzbekistan native and mental health counselor, Hundley also speaks Russian and has been monitoring social media comments and posts from the mental health communities in Russia and the Ukraine. She saw various colleagues\u2019 calls for help providing free mental health services to Ukrainian clients, but Hundley wanted to give mental health professionals their own safe space with resources on coping with and processing trauma, too.<\/p>\n

Hundley says she chose to help mental health professionals because they are trained to self-regulate, meaning they have the ability to monitor and manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviors themselves. If someone who is not trained in self-regulation experiences a trigger, she couldn\u2019t be there in person to help them through it. This ultimately could be harmful to the client.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to start with psychologists who, because of the training we have, know how to self-regulate. If they\u2019re too upset, they know what to do in the moment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when she decided to post a message offering her services to colleagues and help the helpers. Within hours, it had garnered so much interest that she began scheduling group therapy sessions to help these professionals through recent trauma.<\/p>\n

Hundley uses a psychotherapy treatment called EMDR Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (G-TEP), an early-intervention approach designed to alleviate stress associated with traumatic memories. Her Saturday sessions take place via telehealth, and each lasts about two-and-a-half hours. Participants tune in from Poland, Ukraine and other places nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very appropriate and timely for what is happening with Ukrainian colleagues,\u201d she says. \u201cThe purpose is not to process all traumas in two-and-a-half hours. The purpose of this methodology is to help them to reduce the intensity and distance themselves from the effects of trauma. They\u2019re surrounded by trauma every day, and nobody can remove that as of yet. What we are tapping into is the ability to cope with what they have, because it’s their reality. It’s all about resilience, coping and bravery to get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundley\u2019s first session took place March 12 with 10 participants. Since then, she has been able to offer her services to more than 60 Ukrainian mental health professionals, with another 50 on a waiting list.<\/p>\n