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Our Mission
Healing the Wounds of War
The International Institute for Trauma Studies (IITS), housed within the Graduate Psychology Program at the State Pedagogical University in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, is training a new generation of mental health professionals to meet the urgent—as well as future—psychological needs of a nation at war. Through advanced clinical education, we equip caregivers to intervene skillfully, to mitigate against the risk of PTSD, interrupt intergenerational trauma, and cultivate resilience in children, families, civilians, and combatants alike.
In collaboration with national and international partners, we are embedding trauma-informed care into the fabric of everyday life—into classrooms, clinics, and communities—fortifying Ukraine’s mental health infrastructure and helping to shape a future rooted in healing, strength, and peace.
About Us
We are an international team of psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, group therapists, researchers, and public health experts united by a shared approach that integrates contemporary psychoanalysis, group therapy, neuroscience, resilience training and psychosocial support.
Show MoreWe are an international team of psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, group therapists, researchers, and public health experts united by a shared approach that integrates contemporary psychoanalysis, group therapy, neuroscience, resilience training and psychosocial support.
In partnership with our Ukrainian faculty on the ground, we collaborate closely with Médecins Sans Frontières, the Association of Psychologists and Psychoanalysts in Ukraine, and the All Ukraine Mental Health Program to help strengthen the nation’s mental health infrastructure.
Core Principles
- Train the Trainers: We multiply impact by empowering local professionals
- Community-Centered: Our interventions are responsive to the lived experience of Ukrainians affected by war
- Evidence-Based: We draw from global research and ground it in regional expertise
- Resilience-Focused: We aim not only to treat trauma, but to build capacity for long-term strength and healing
Together we are creating a dynamic and evidence-based model for trauma recovery.
Show LessWe offer trauma training for a nation in crisis, meeting the urgency of war with compassion and expertise. Our faculty provides live, online clinical training and education—offered in both Ukrainian and English—designed to equip the Ukrainian clinical community with the tools to help heal the psychological impacts of war and communal trauma.
Show MoreWe offer trauma training for a nation in crisis, meeting the urgency of war with compassion and expertise. Our faculty provides live, online clinical training and education—offered in both Ukrainian and English—designed to equip the Ukrainian clinical community with the tools to help heal the psychological impacts of war and communal trauma.
IITS offers a year-long, immersive certification program in trauma treatment and prevention, grounded in research, theory, and real-world practice. Participants continue their growth through our monthly Luminary Lecture Series, and ongoing supervision, expanding their skills within an integrative and innovative trauma framework.
Core Courses
- Grief and Loss in Group Psychotherapy
- Core Principles of Group Psychotherapy
- Working with Parents and Children
- Clinical Foundations of Trauma Work
- Contemplative-Based Trauma and Resiliency Training
- Combat Trauma in Short-Term Individual Treatment
IITS graduates are eligible to join the IITS outreach clinic, Balance, where they provide supervised care to Ukraine’s most vulnerable populations—women, children, and combatants at high risk for PTSD. Untreated PTSD almost always guarantees the risk of intergenerational trauma.
Show LessWar leaves scars far beyond the battlefield. In Ukraine, millions live with the psychological aftermath—grief, displacement, trauma, and loss. Left unaddressed, this invisible crisis threatens long-term recovery, social cohesion, and national resilience.
Show MoreWar leaves scars far beyond the battlefield. In Ukraine, millions live with the psychological aftermath—grief, displacement, trauma, and loss. Left unaddressed, this invisible crisis threatens long-term recovery, social cohesion, and national resilience.
- 1 in 3 Ukrainians are estimated to need mental health support
- Children exposed to trauma face significantly higher risks for lifelong emotional and developmental challenges
- Without urgent, sustained intervention, trauma can ripple through generations—undermining peacebuilding and stability
At the close of each semester, our Ukrainian participants openly share their personal and professional reflections of the learning experience. Our participants evaluate not only the content and methodology of our programs, but the quality of teaching, emotional support, and relevance to their frontline work. This essential feedback continuously evolves and deepens our purpose.
By embedding trauma-informed training into schools, clinics, and national systems, we are not just treating trauma—we are helping rebuild Ukraine’s mental health infrastructure from the ground up. We are restoring hope, stability, and connection in the midst of profound disruption.
Show LessEvery donation, no matter the size, fuels resilience, healing, and trauma education for Ukraine’s future. Your support helps us build a new generation of trauma-informed professionals, trained to serve both civilians and combatants on the frontlines of recovery. And through your generosity, we are advancing the UNDP’s 2030 vision for:
- Good Health & Well-being
- Quality Education
- Reduced Inequalities
Every donation, no matter the size, fuels resilience, healing, and trauma education for Ukraine’s future. Your support helps us build a new generation of trauma-informed professionals, trained to serve both civilians and combatants on the frontlines of recovery. And through your generosity, we are advancing global UN goals for 2030 for:
- Good Health & Well-being
- Quality Education
- Reduced Inequalities
Your donation enables us to:
- Train and certify clinicians across Ukraine and its diaspora
- Translate and deliver trauma-focused public education
- Support embedded Ukrainian faculty with fair wages
- Curate and expand culturally relevant curricula
- Provide our family mental health clinic with supplies and equipment
- Sustain web-based infrastructure for broader access
- Supervise and mentor graduates serving in crisis zones
Together, we are not just responding to trauma—we are laying the foundation for long-term recovery, equity, and systemic change.
Show LessGet Involved
Whether you’re an individual, organization, or institution, you can be part of this healing movement:
- Donate to help us train more caregivers and expand services
- Partner with us to co-create programs, research, or service delivery
- Share our story and elevate the conversation around trauma and recovery
Join us in healing the wounds of war—and building a more resilient Ukraine.
Leadership Circle
The IITS Leadership Circle is made up of dedicated Ukraine and U.S. based women leaders in psychology, education, and public health. Their shared vision and cross-cultural collaboration guide the Institute’s mission, growth, and values—ensuring that our work remains locally rooted and globally informed.
Gaea Logan
IITS USA Executive Director, Faculty
Nataliia Lazarenko
Rector - State Pedagogical University, Vinnytsia
Olha Palamarchuk
IIITS Ukraine Executive Co-Director, Dean
Tetyana Komar
IITS Director - Core Training Director, Faculty
Inna Chukhrii
IITS Director- Community Outreach, Faculty
Olha Serha
IITS Director - Family Program, Lead Translator, Faculty
Luminary Series 2025-2026
Lectures on Communal Trauma and Resilience
This vital and free monthly webinar series brings together international experts from diverse disciplines to address current research and best practices in trauma training and treatment. Join us by clicking on the zoom link below, at the designated date and time.
Language: English/Ukrainian live parallel translation
Registration: chukhriiinna@gmail.com
Time:
- 8:00-9:45 am PT (Pacific Time)
- 9:00-10:45 am MT (Mountain Time)
- 11 am-12:45 pm ET (Eastern Time)
- 5-6:45 pm CET (Central European Time)
- 6-7:45 pm EET (Eastern European Time)
FALL 2025
Video Conference ID: https://zoom.us/j/5708513799
November 15th, 2025
“When Words Heal: Working with Veterans Facing Visible and Invisible Injuries” with Yulia Matvieieva
December 13th, 2025
“Healing in Wartime: Dreams, Symbols and Transcultural Wisdom” with Dr. Jorge Burmeister and Dr. Gaea Logan, L.P.C., C.G.P.
From the Founder
Gaea Logan
Dreaming into Being: Community Psychoanalysis and War
Gordon Lawrence’s Social Dreaming Matrix posits that dreams are not solely personal but emerge from the social unconscious, belonging to the collective rather than the individual. When explored within a communal framework, dreams can offer profound guidance, insight, and pathways to healing. I had such a dream—one rich in symbols, some beyond my immediate comprehension. Yet, through reflection and shared meaning-making, it revealed a blueprint for collective healing.
The dream became a catalyst for the International Institute for Trauma Studies (IITS)—a global, online immersive trauma training, certification program and outpatient clinic for graduate students and clinicians responding to the psychological impact of war in Ukraine. IITS represents a scalable, contemporary psychoanalytic group approach to communal trauma, addressing war-related depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and transgenerational trauma. At its core, it is an initiative that transforms psychoanalytic theory into practice, forging new avenues for both treatment and prevention.
My forthcoming paper, “Dreaming into Being: Community Psychoanalysis and War,” explores these questions through the lens of community psychoanalysis—a practice that extends beyond the consulting room to engage with the unconscious life of groups, movements, and entire societies. It explores the contemporary resurgence of community psychoanalysis, drawing on perspectives from social and phenomenological psychoanalysis, public health and group therapy to shape and implement real-world healing.
Join us in Summer 2025 for the full publication—an invitation to engage in the evolving dialogue on communal trauma and the power of collective psychoanalytic practice.
IITS 2024, Graduate Commencement Speech
Publications & Presentations
Dreaming into being: community psychoanalysis and war
TEDxBoulderSalon
Podcasts & Lectures
From Bystander to Responder: Facing War, Disaster, and Loss
October 31, 2024
Hosted by: Dr. Suzanne B. Phillips
Featuring: Gaea Logan, L.P.C.-S., C.G.P., F.A.G.P.A.
We witness global devastation from war, disasters, epidemics, and injustice, leaving many struggling to cope and unsure how to help. In this episode, Gaea Logan, a psychoanalyst and therapist, shares her journey to support Ukrainian caregivers through the International Institute for Trauma Studies.
She highlights the life-saving importance of co-regulation, showing how caregivers can pass forward resilience skills to help themselves and others in times of crisis. Listen in to learn valuable strategies for support and survival.
Our Partners & Donors
To our generous donors, pro bono faculty and lecturers, and our collaborating organizations – Thank you! Without you, the work of IITS would not be be possible!
If you have not already done so, please consider joining us in solidarity by donating your time, scholarship or financial resources.
Here is a list of our partners:
- International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights
- State Pedagogical University in Vinnytsia, Ukraine
- Association of Psychologists and Psychoanalysts of Ukraine (APPU)
- Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
- “How Are You?”
All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program – Under the Auspices of the First Lady, Olena Zelenska - The International Association for Group Psychotherapy
- The American Group Psychotherapy Association
- Highland Institute for the Advancement of Humanity
- Boulder – Vinnytsia Sister City Foundation
Make a Donation Today
Donate to the International Institute For Trauma Studies
By making a donation pledge to IITS now, you are helping to heal a sovereign nation, not just in this generation but for generations to come.
IITS is a project of the US based 501(c)(3) non-profit, ICMHHR (International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights).
60% – Clinical Education & Training
Funds our trauma-informed certification programs, live translation, curriculum development, and continued professional education.
32% – Community Mental Health Outreach
Supports direct services through our new outpatient clinic—equipment, staffing, and embedded care.
5% – Administration
Covers essential operations including web design, zoom hosting, translation, and coordination.
3% – Fundraising
Covers costs associated with small fundraising events, faculty or leadership travel to meet donors and sponsoring organizations, and general marketing expenses.
Get In Touch
International Institute for Trauma Studies
A specialized project of the International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights (ICMHHR), developed to provide psychosocial support and expert training for Ukrainian clinicians who will be carrying the weight of the psychological and spiritual burden of this war for decades to come.