by Dr. Alexander Lupis
Alexander A. Lupis, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist based in Washington, DC. He is also a moderator of the National Psychological Association (NPA) of Ukraine and a member of the Committee on International Relations at the American Psychological Association (APA). His volunteer work has focused on helping Ukraine’s National Psychological Association expand their work with support from experts in Europe and the United States. Lupis’s mother and maternal grandparents were from Mariupol and came to the US after WWII as refugees.
I hate feeling powerless and helpless. After two months of watching the news about the Russian invasion, I was reaching my limit. But I wondered, what can I do? I’m a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Northwest Washington, DC, and am of Ukrainian descent. I realized I can have the biggest impact by using my professional training and contacts in the US to support psychologists in Ukraine.
I did some googling and in April emailed the National Psychological Association (NPA) in Ukraine, a national organization supporting psychologists. The following month I had several rounds of emails and then several Zoom conversations with NPA’s leaders—Dr. Valeriia Palii, Dr. Oleg Burlachuk, and Dr. Mariana Velykodna. In June, they invited me to help expand NPA’s free online training—courses, seminars, supervision—for some 1,500 psychologists working throughout Ukraine.