Evidence·Field Application
Ukraine Field Application — 2022
In March 2022, the Off-Switch Method was delivered online to Ukrainians experiencing war-related trauma, at scale, with structured symptom tracking across multiple cohorts.
Twenty Ukrainian clinicians joined the delivery team after experiencing the program themselves.
Field application data. Not a controlled clinical trial. Not peer-reviewed. Results reflect participants who completed all six sessions of the measured program.
Field summary
Evidence type
Field application data across multiple online cohorts. Not a randomized controlled trial.
Population
Approximately 7,000 participants enrolled. Around 80% inside Ukraine during active hostilities; around 20% refugees abroad.
Delivery format
Six live online sessions per cohort over approximately four weeks. Six successive cohorts over six months. Delivered in Russian, free of charge.
Measurement
Structured 21-item PTSD symptom scale, maximum score 105. Measured before the program, at the end of the program, and at one-month follow-up where conducted.
Main outcome
Among completing participants in the publicly shown measured cohorts, PTSD symptom scores reduced by approximately 42–60% by the end of the program. Reductions sustained at one-month follow-up where measured.
7,000+
participants enrolled
6
cohort groups
42–60%
PTSD symptom reduction
20
clinicians joined delivery
Enrollment is total across all six cohorts. Reduction figures reflect completing participants in the publicly shown measured cohorts only.
Measurement summary
21-item PTSD symptom scale, maximum score 105. Completing participants only, across the three publicly shown measured cohorts.
Before program
Pre-program scores ranged 53.1–69.2 across the three measured cohorts.
End of program
End-of-program scores ranged 21.5–39.8, representing 42–60% reduction among completing participants.
One-month follow-up
Where measured (Groups 4 and 5), follow-up scores were lower than end-of-program: 34.9 and 37.2.
Cohort outcomes
Across the three measured cohorts, end-of-program reductions ranged 42–60%. Where one-month follow-up was conducted, reductions were sustained or slightly improved.
21-item PTSD symptom scale, maximum score 105. Completing participants only.
Cohort
Group 3
Reduction
60%
Pre-program 53.1 → End 21.5
Follow-up: —
Cohort
Group 4
Reduction
42%
Pre-program 62.7 → End 36.4
Follow-up: 34.9 (44%)
Cohort
Group 5
Reduction
43%
Pre-program 69.2 → End 39.8
Follow-up: 37.2 (48%)
What was delivered
The program began in March 2022, two weeks after the full-scale invasion. It ran for six months across six successive cohort groups. Each cohort received six live online sessions over approximately four weeks, with recordings available between sessions and optional small-group mentoring from Ukrainian practitioners on the delivery team. Delivery was in Russian, free of charge, and funded through advertising.
Total enrollment was approximately 7,000 participants. Around 80% were inside Ukraine during active hostilities; around 20% were refugees abroad. The primary self-applied technique was taught in the first session and owned by participants from that point — the program was structured so that outcomes did not depend on ongoing access to a practitioner.
Approximately 30% of each cohort completed all six sessions. The publicly shown measurement data reflects this completing population — roughly 300–500 individuals across the three measured cohorts. Participants who did not complete all six sessions are not reflected in the reduction figures.
What changed
The measured change was a reduction in reported PTSD symptom scores among completing participants. Across the three publicly shown cohorts, end-of-program reductions ranged from 42% to 60%. Pre-program scores were high — 62.7 and 69.2 in the two cohorts where follow-up was available — and reductions brought scores to 36.4 and 39.8, indicating meaningful symptom reduction while acknowledging these were not zero.
The strongest signal in the data is what happened afterward. In Groups 4 and 5, one-month follow-up scores were lower than end-of-program scores — 34.9 against 36.4, and 37.2 against 39.8. The reduction was not immediately reversed when the structured program ended. External conditions — active war, bombardment, displacement — had not improved. The symptom scores had.
Practitioner uptake
As the program progressed, twenty Ukrainian therapists, psychologists, and medical doctors who were participating in the sessions requested training in the Off-Switch Method and joined the delivery team.
They did not arrive through recruitment. They had experienced the method themselves during active hostilities, observed the effect, and concluded they needed to learn it for their own clients. The signal here is not endorsement — it is that clinicians under wartime conditions chose to become practitioners of it. This is professional behaviour, not a testimonial.
“I have been working with trauma for many years and currently have a large number of refugee clients with whom many standard methods do not produce results. This approach works and brings real benefit.”— Trauma professional working with refugees, Ukraine program
What this field application suggests
The application suggests that the method can be delivered at scale, online, under severe real-world conditions, and produce measurable symptom reduction among completing participants. It also suggests that reductions were not immediately reversed when structured program support ended.
It suggests that practitioners who experienced the work firsthand — under the same conditions as the participants — saw enough operational value to train in it and begin delivering it to their own clients. That is a different category of signal from participant self-report.
It does not prove the method is universally effective. It does not prove superiority over other approaches. It does not replace controlled research. It shows what was observed in one structured field application.
Limits and honesty
Field evidence, not a randomized or controlled clinical trial. Not peer-reviewed.
Participants self-selected into the program. There was no control group and no comparison condition.
The publicly shown reduction figures reflect completing participants — approximately 30% of each cohort's enrollment. Participants who did not complete all six sessions are not reflected in those figures.
Single field application. Results are not a guarantee of similar outcomes in other populations or contexts. Results vary across individuals and conditions.
Symptom measurement was self-reported using a structured 21-item scale, not a clinically administered instrument.
The method did not treat the war, the bombardment, the displacement, or any external event. External conditions remained what they were.
Not a substitute for medical or psychiatric care. Where clinical or psychiatric care is needed, it takes precedence.