ISTSS Invited Panel

PTSD in diverse populations and diverse contexts: From epidemiological insights to scalable interventions

Panelists​
Dr Soraya Seedat, (Panel chair), Distinguished Professor and Executive Head, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

​Dr Brian Smith, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Deputy Director and Research Health Scientist, National Center for PTSD Women’s Health Sciences Division, United States of America

Dr Andrea Phelps, Professor and Deputy Director, Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health

Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Dr Sonja Norman, Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego School of Medicine

Director of the PTSD Consultation Program through the Executive Division of the National Center for PTSD, United States of America

Dr Bhita Gafoori, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling (ASEC), Director of the CSULB Long Beach Trauma Recovery Center, United States of America

Dr Judy Bass, Professor and Vice Chair for Education, Department of Mental Health, Director of PhD Education, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States of America

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Presentations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can vary by population, culture, geography, and comorbidity (e.g., cardiovascular disease and sleep-related disorders), influencing the choice, acceptability, and effectiveness of evidence-based treatments (EBTs). In this symposium, we address the interface of PTSD and cardiovascular disease, interventions to target pernicious PTSD symptoms, such as sleep and moral injury, and EBT delivery in diverse geographic and cultural contexts.  

First, Dr. Brian Smith will highlight the impact of wartime service and post-military PTSD and depression on CVD risk using data from two epidemiologic studies of U.S. women and men who served on active duty during the Vietnam War. Findings underscore the need for trauma-informed care to prevent and screen for chronic disease development in populations at heightened risk, such as military and veteran populations.

Second, Dr. Andrea Phelps will address sleep and circadian disturbances that are highly prevalent in veterans and first responders and, left untreated, may predict the development of mental health disorders such as depression and PTSD. She will discuss the results of a trial of Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention (TranS-C) for veterans and first responders with varied sleep disturbances, and a follow-up trial targeting circadian rhythms through regulating light exposure.

Symptoms of PTSD include guilt and shame, with many trauma survivors suffering emotional consequences for having had to take actions during their trauma that went against deeply held values. Guilt and shame, which may be signs of co-occurring moral injury,  are linked to impairment in functioning and suicide risk and may require targeted intervention. Dr. Sonya Norman will describe a program of research to study Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction Therapy, an intervention to address moral injury and trauma-related guilt and shame.

With regards to EBTs, scalable clinician training is important for increasing utility, and improving access and impact. This requires appropriate training and supervision. Dr. Bita Gafoori will share insights from two pilot studies of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) training in Chile and Portugal.  Findings suggest that training in NET may be feasible in diverse communities.  Training in NET improves knowledge and clinician attitudes towards an evidence-based PTSD treatment; however, additional follow-up training and supervision are required in order to adequately implement NET with fidelity.

To disseminate EBTs widely across geographic boundaries, culturally and contextually informed and co-developed adaptations of EBTs are needed.  Dr. Judy Bass will examine the core considerations and challenges for cross-context adaptation, implementation and scale-up to widen access to EBTs for trauma-related conditions, including PTSD , including the training of non-specialist interventionists and the use of culturally-congruent outcome measures.

 

 

Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GCTS) Invited Panel

 

Ongoing Armed Conflict, Child Maltreatment, and Global Prevalence of Trauma: the Added Value of Global Collaboration in Addressing Topics of International Importance
 

Panelists
Prof. Miranda Olff, PhD, (Panel chair), Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers (AMC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre, Diemen, The Netherlands
Prof. Sara Freedman, PhD, Head of The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Stéfanie Fréel, PhD Doctoral Candidate, Amsterdam University Medical Center, The Netherlands
Prof. Jinhee Hyun, PhD, Professor at the Department of Social Work at Daegu University, South Korea
Prof. Jana D. Javakhishvili, PhD, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Dr. Nancy Kassam-Adams, PhD, the Founder and Director of the Trauma Data Institute, and Senior Principal Scientist at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA
Max Loomes, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales, Australia
Dr. Misari Oe, PhD, Head of the Counseling Center at the Kurume University Hospital, Japan
Prof. Monique Pfaltz, PhD, Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Prof. Carolina Saldago, PhD, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile 
Prof. Ulrich Schnyder, PhD, University of Zurich, Sweden
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Trauma is a global issue. Traumatic experiences, trauma-related symptoms, as well as treatment approaches differ across cultures. Therefore, collaborating across national boundaries and traumatic stress societies joining forces will enhance our understanding and eventually benefit those confronted with trauma. The “Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GCTS)” is a collaborative initiative which consists of researchers and clinicians from around the globe and represents traumatic stress societies worldwide (ESTSS, ISTSS, JSTSS, ASTSS, ACET, SAPsi, KSTSS, CPA-TSS, DeGPT). It has an active student and early career section.
 

This interactive panel will start with an outline of the GCTS’ history, background, its principles and structure. Then we will illustrate the added value of global collaboration by highlighting three themes: Armed conflict, Child maltreatment, and Global prevalence of trauma and trauma-related disorders.
 

Special attention will be paid to GTCS’ added value to members at various career stages (from students to more advanced) and from different geographies, including how GCTS’ global network supported their careers (e.g., research and practice), what opportunities it created for them, how it helped them advance in, or amplify, their ongoing work/studies and address research and practice gaps between countries.

The panel will end with a discussion with the audience and may result in new collaborations!