Honoring Veterans and Strengthening Mental Health: HUT’s Commitment to Healing
Heal Ukraine Trauma (HUT)'s team includes a dozen veterans and military family members across our staff, board, and volunteer roles. With these firsthand perspectives, we recognize the distinct mental health needs of veterans and their families and are dedicated to addressing them through our programs. HUT honors their service through our mission to support Ukrainians and families impacted by the trauma of war.
Of the 1.2 million veterans registered with Ukrainian Veterans Affairs, approximately 400,000 are expected to suffer from serious mental health conditions from war.
Responding to this need, HUT has pioneered a project that is not only Ukraine's first group ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) training program but the world’s first veteran-focused psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) training program. This program equips Ukrainian mental health practitioners with the skills to deliver advanced mental health support to veterans. Dr. Zach Skiles, HUT’s consulting psychologist and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and Neeka Levy, a Ukrainian-American Psychiatric Registered Nurse, have shaped the program to prioritize culturally sensitive, veteran-focused care. Together, HUT’s team created a training approach that honors the resilience of veterans and their families while addressing their specific needs. Like the facilitators, training program participants are experienced in veteran care (many are veterans themselves) and understand the critical, growing needs of Ukrainian servicemembers impacted by the ongoing war.
HUT’s programs incorporate an understanding of both military culture and Ukrainian identity, acknowledging that effective support for veterans also translates to vital support for their families and communities. We know that the needs of veterans and their families are intertwined. Veteran mental health has a ripple effect throughout family dynamics; untreated trauma can create challenges in relationships, parenting, and social connections, which in turn impacts the emotional well-being of loved ones. That’s why HUT will continue its programming to support Ukrainian children and will now begin offering mental health support to spouses and partners of veterans.
By addressing Ukrainian veterans' trauma, we aim not only to heal individuals but to foster stability and healing within families, knowing that when we support veterans, we are also supporting the larger network of their community. In addition to honoring Veterans Day in the US, we honor veterans' service in Ukraine with our commitment to providing the mental health resources that can help them live fully and joyfully—both for themselves and the families they love.
To support HUT’s veteran and military family programming please donate here.