Institute Fellows: Legacy, Dr Ciaran Mulholland and Dr Michael Duffy have been providing training workshops for mental health staff in Ukraine over the past 2 years as part of the Queen’s University Belfast - Shupyk University twinning arrangement, to support colleagues providing health care in Ukraine in very difficult circumstances.  These workshops focus on trauma and conflict with an emphasis on cognitive therapy for PTSD and traumatic grief.

In conjunction with the workshops, Ciaran and Michael are part of an international collaboration to undertake research in Ukraine.  This study is based on data collected in 2023, as part of the Mental Health of Parents and Children study in Ukraine.  Self-report measures have been criticised for producing higher estimates of symptom and disorder presence relative to clinical interviews.  They introduced the use of “clinical checks”, brief supplementary questions intended to clarify and confirm initial responses, within an existing self-report measure for prolonged grief disorder.

Dr Michael Duffy was an invited speaker at the recent International Forum on Grief Therapy and Restoration of Ukraine's Human Capital, on 26 and 27 September at the King Danylo University, in Ivano-Frankivsk Ukraine.  Michael presented a paper on A cognitive approach to moving forward with loss, prolonged grief and PTSD linked to traumatic bereavement based on his research and recent publications.

Sudden traumatic losses, such as death by violence, by suicide, or by protracted illness, increase risk for post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and prolonged grief disorder (PGD).  Whilst PTSD in such circumstances is characterised by persistent re-experiencing of the loss trauma, prolonged grief disorder is characterised by the experience of yearning for the deceased.

Cognitive therapy for PTSD is a highly effective treatment for PTSD arising from a range of traumas including traumatic loss and is recommended as a first line treatment for the disorder by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines (2018) as well as numerous international guidelines.

In his presentation, Michael introduced the QUB group’s approach to treating PGD and PTSD arising from traumatic bereavement, where the client’s worst fears are likely to have happened resulting in the death of someone close to them.