The event was opened by Honorary Professor Marga B. Wagner-Pischel, founder and chair of the Heracles-Hebe Foundation and President and CEO of Danube Private University, who emphasised the responsibility of academic institutions to actively engage with the defining crises of our time.
The publication brings together perspectives from leading experts in medicine, psychiatry, psychotherapy, the arts and culture. Cultural historian and philosopher Thomas Macho, founding member of the Heracles-Hebe Foundation, set the conceptual framework of the symposium, exploring how art, memory and testimony can render visible what direct language cannot reach. Ukrainian journalist, author and documentary filmmaker Olha Volynska examined culture as an active tool for resilience, drawing on extensive research into the lived experiences of those affected by war.
In-depth interviews with Assoc. Prof. Dmytro Boiko (Poltava State Medical University and Veterans Development Center), who has pioneered a sleep-first approach to trauma care, and Priv.-Doz. David Riedl (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research), whose work focuses on mentalizing and epistemic trust in the treatment of complex PTSD, form a central part of the report.
Further contributions came from Assoc. Prof. Vadym Rud, who addressed psychopharmacological approaches to PTSD and the importance of psychological stabilisation under ongoing threat; Dr. Anastasiia Zhyvotovska, who highlighted the role of art therapy in accessing non-verbalised trauma experience; and Prof. Dr. Hanna Vasylieva, who offered a sobering account of the mental health burden carried by Ukraine’s civilian population. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Maria Kletecka-Pulker (Danube Private University) examined trauma care at the intersection of digital health and patient safety, stressing the indispensable role of professional language mediation for displaced persons. Honorary Doctor Karl Habsburg shared insights into his Resistance Radio project in Ukraine, demonstrating how independent media can serve as an instrument of social cohesion and resilience. Yevhen Trushliakov, Rector of Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, represented another key Ukrainian partner institution at the symposium.
The event concluded with a musical performance by Paul Gulda and Peter Hudler — a reminder that some dimensions of human experience can only be reached beyond words.
Reported by Dr. Britta Fischill, Strategic Communications & Science Journalism Consultant, Vienna. With the kind support of the Danube Private University (Austria).
