Co-sponsored by First Aid of the Soul (FAS)

Date: Sunday, July 19, 2026
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM EDT
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM CEST · 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Kyiv · 10:00 PM – 11:30 PM Beijing
Format: 90 minutes | Online | Global
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Registration: Free for IACAET members. A limited number of complimentary seats are available—reserve your place today. Standard admission: $18 for non-members.

Nathalie Robelot Timtchenko, LMHC, MPA, MA-ET

Founder & Executive Director, First Aid of the Soul

Nathalie Robelot Timtchenko is a dedicated leader in global mental health, uniting her clinical expertise as a licensed mental health counselor and expressive arts therapist with her passion for trauma-informed systems change. Having called Ukraine home for nearly a decade, she founded First Aid of the Soul within days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, the organization has provided accessible psychological support to over 25,000 Ukrainians affected by the war. Nathalie recently earned her Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she served in multiple well-being and policy leadership roles.

Viktor Ruban, PhD

Director General, Ruban Production ITP; Co-Founder, Impulse of Transformation International Dance Platform

Performer, dancer, choreographer, researcher (PhD in Cultural Studies), producer, curator, educator, independent cultural diplomat, and cultural activist based in Kyiv, working across Ukraine and internationally. Viktor is the founder of #KyivDanceResidency and serves as Program Director of the CO ICF Impulse Transformation Platform. His work focuses on contemporary performing arts, cultural development, international collaboration, and psycho-emotional recovery through creativity and arts education. He is the initiator of several national and international initiatives, including the Ukrainian Emergency Performing Arts Fund and Tanzplan Ukraine. Viktor is an associate member of IETM, a representative of Ukraine in ITI and the European Cultural Parliament, and was selected as one of the Top Ten Global Connectors of 2026. A guest professor in Critical Dance Studies at the Free University of Berlin (2024–2025), Viktor also teaches at the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine and has served since 2009 as a tutor and mentor in dance movement therapy and somatic practices within Ukraine’s leading art therapy training programs. With more than 20 years of experience, Viktor has participated in over 1,500 artistic and educational projects, facilitated more than 7,000 workshops, and produced over 6,500 events engaging more than 30,000 participants across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Mykhailo Oliynyk

Jazz pianist, composer, music producer, and cultural leader; Cultural Forces of Ukraine

Mykhailo Oliynyk is a jazz pianist, composer, music producer, and cultural leader whose work bridges jazz, world music, and contemporary Ukrainian musical traditions. He is the founder of the OLI Music label and a recipient of the Stanislav Liudkevych Award in Culture. He studied under Ukraine’s leading jazz musicians and further developed his craft through the international Cho Jazz workshops in Poland. As a composer and performer, Mykhailo creates and presents original music spanning Ethno-Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Pop, and World Music, and performs extensively both in Ukraine and internationally. He serves with the Cultural Forces of Ukraine, leading mobile cultural teams that bring music, connection, and cultural programming to military personnel and war-affected communities across Ukraine.

Mitchell Kossak, Ph.D., LMHC, REAT

Professor, Lesley University; Past President, International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA)

Mitchell Kossak is a Professor in Expressive Therapies and Counseling at Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the Past President of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and recipient of the Shining Star lifetime achievement award. He is also the Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Arts and Health and author of Attunement in Expressive Arts Therapy: Toward an Understanding of Embodied Empathy. In 2019 he helped create Voces Arts and Healing, to work with asylum seekers in Juarez, Mexico. Dr. Kossak is also a professional musician, performing for the past 40 years in the Boston area.

Naj Wikoff

Founder & President, Creative Healing Connections; Past Vice President, NOAH (National Organization for Arts in Health, USA)

Founder and President of Creative Healing Connections, President Emeritus of the Society for Arts in Healthcare. Two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar, former director of the Healing Arts program of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth Medical School, and director of Arts and Productions at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Naj is a founding member of the National Initiative for the Arts in Health in the Military and Lesley University’s Institute for Arts and Health. Twenty years ago, he established Creative Healing Connections, which uses the arts and nature to support the healing of women living with cancer, military spouses, and active duty and veteran service women living with PTSD and Military Sexual Trauma. Naj regularly consults on arts and health issues to health and arts institutions, and has worked with victims of terror and war in Palestine and Israel.