Training for journalists. How do we achieve balance? Mental health in the media.

Meet the speakers

Juliana Ruhfus is an award-winning, internationally known broadcaster who also works as a media trainer, mentor and consultant.  She has a specific expertise in media resilience and trauma-informed journalism, investigative journalism and  documentary production. From September 2022 to February 2025 Juliana was the director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma Europe, following over a decade as a trustee. She is a recipient of the Ochberg Fellowship (2010) and a scholarship for Harvard’s Global Mental Health Certificate Programme (2011).  

Juliana started her career as a freelance filmmaker in the late ‘90’s. She is maybe best known as the face of Al Jazeera’s investigative People and Power strand for which she directed, produced and reported over 50 films, frequently in regions of conflict. She left the channel after 15 years in 2021 and went on to work for BBC Worldservice Eye Investigations as an executive producer. For more about her work  see here.

Gavin Rees is Senior Advisor for Training and Innovation at the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, an organisation dedicated to promoting ethical approaches to the coverage of trauma and violence.

For many years, Gavin was the director of Dart Centre Europe. He has run trainings and workshops in more than 25 countries which explore how trauma-informed skills in interviewing, self-care, and trauma-informed management can help media teams cover high-stakes situations, human rights abuses, and other mental health crises.  He has been leading the Dart Centre’s training and support work in Ukraine, since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. 

Prior to his work as a trauma specialist, Gavin’s background was in documentary filmmaking and broadcast journalism, He was a leading producer on the BBC film Hiroshima, which won an International Emmy in 2006. He is currently a board member of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and a visiting fellow at the Media School at Bournemouth University.

Mugur Ciumăgeanu is a distinguished Romanian mental health professional known for his extensive expertise as a trainer, consultant, and leader in the non-governmental sector, with a career dedicated to social and educational development. His work is grounded in a deep understanding of psychosocial dynamics and community-based intervention. As a highly qualified educator, Mugur Ciumăgeanu holds several training and facilitator certification and is certified by the Romanian College of Psychologists as a specialist, trainer, and supervisor in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Since 2003, he has been a central figure in the Romanian Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, where he serves as a Training Program Coordinator.

In this long-standing role, he develops educational programs and provides consultancy for both the NGO and public sectors. As active member of ActiveWatch (Media Monitoring Agency) and collaborator of the Center for Independent Journalism, Mugur Ciumăgeanu was involved in several programs targeting the media world, crafting trainings and intervention in the field of freedom of spech, antidiscrimination and public communication on issues regarding mental health and trauma.