Communications Corner

ISTSS Announcements and Updates

Special Interest Groups

Child Trauma SIG
The Child Trauma SIG held its annual meeting in November at the ISTSS meeting in Baltimore. The SIG meeting was well-attended, with representatives from six countries and much of the United States. Attendees represented multiple modalities of work within the child trauma field, including research, private- and center-based service delivery, public health/policy and education/training. Topics discussed at the meeting were child-related programming, as well as ways to utilize the Child SIG for networking, collaboration, and support.

The Child Trauma SIG provides a forum for discussion for clinicians, researchers, and others with an interest in the area of children and trauma. The SIG, open to members of ISTSS, continues to welcome new members, ideas and proposals. Also, join the electronic listserv as a forum for discussion. For more information about the Child Trauma SIG, e-mail SIG chair Margaret E. Blaustein at mblauste@mindspring.com.

Human Rights and Social Policy SIG
The Human Rights and Social Policy SIG offers the ISTSS community a forum for interaction on research, education, clinical intervention and advocacy on the sociopolitical context of trauma, particularly in regard to human rights, public policy and the primary prevention of trauma. SIG members exchange ideas through a listserv. To have your name placed on the listserv, contact ISTSS headquarters at istss@istss.org. New members are welcome.

At November’s SIG meeting in Baltimore, members established groups to work on international policy, cross-cultural issues and the ISTSS conference program; there is room for additional members in each group. Also discussed was the importance of increasing diversity at the conference, and of involving more international participants.

Recent StressPoints articles by SIG members have focused on justice and healing from torture (Mary Fabri); culture and trauma treatment for political violence survivors (Sonali Gupta) and telehealth and caregiving (Beth Hudnall Stamm, et al.). Special recognition was given to conference proposals selected by the SIG for endorsement: 1) qualitative research on cultural complexities of trauma in refugee families (Stevan Weine, et al.) and 2) social policy, oral histories and the search for meaning in traumatized populations (Beth Hudnall Stamm). The SIG currently is developing plenary proposals for the 2003 conference.

For more information on the Human Rights and Social Policy SIG, contact Dolores Sarno-Kristofits at dsarno52@aol.com or Eric Aronson at ericraronson@hotmail.com.

Spirituality and Trauma SIG
How do we create space for the internal processing of the trauma we hear about? That question was answered in part during the Baltimore meeting this past November through the Spirituality and Trauma SIG’s Quiet Reflection Room, a space for reflection and remembrance, where candles could be lit and words of remembrance or prayers written—or just a quiet place to think.

As we made space for reflection, we also made space for community. Moving from the intrapersonal to the interpersonal realm, the annual SIG meeting brought together a diverse and international group. As a community of conscious concern regarding spirituality and trauma, the SIG meeting’s discussion centered on the prevailing winds toward war in Iraq. SIG member Jackson Day’s comment on the United States’ headlong, “rush to trauma” focused the question, “What can we as interventionists teach about the trauma and impact of war?” Now, as the weeks pass with troops and warships continuing to amass, what impact can each of us have within our spheres of influence to address this rush to trauma? As an international society dedicated to the study of trauma, can we become a larger voice in the world community concerning this rush?

Through its listserv, this SIG is making space for these concerns and other questions regarding spirituality and trauma. You are invited to make space and enter this conversation by joining this special interest group through the ISTSS Web site at www.istss.org. Allow your expertise to be heard along with the other clergy, academicians, clinicians, researchers and journalists in our group.

For more information, contact Molly Guzzino, Spirituality and Trauma SIG chair, at mollyg@eudoramail.com.

Affiliates

A New Affiliate of ISTSS
Welcome to ISTSS’s latest affiliate society—the Sociedad Argentina de Psicotrauma (Argentine Society for Psychotrauma, or SAPsi). In October, a motion was passed by an overwhelming majority, making SAPsi ISTSS’s eighth affiliate. Daniel L. Mosca, MD is president of SAPsi, located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Contact Mosca at danielmosca@fibertel.com.ar.

ISTSS affiliates include:

• African Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (AfSTSS)
• Argentine Society for Psychotrauma (SAPsi)
• Association de Langue Francaise pour l'Etude du Stress et du Traumatisme (ALFEST)
• Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS)
• Canadian Traumatic Stress Studies Network (CTSN)
• Deutschsprachige Gesellschaft Fur Psychotraumatologie (DeGPT)
• European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS)
• Kuwaiti Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (KSTSS)

Career Classifieds

Staff Psychologist
The Headington Institute seeks a talented individual for the position of staff psychologist. The Headington Institute is a newly established nonprofit organization that provides psychological and spiritual support to humanitarian aid and disaster relief personnel worldwide. This job opportunity offers satisfying work in the collaborative, flexible environment of a small office. Duties include organization consultation, preventive education, counseling services, and some special projects. The position also provides the opportunity for domestic and international travel. Qualifications include a Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical psychology with a license to practice psychology in California. Three years of postdoctoral clinical experience is required, and a specialty in traumatic stress is preferred.

The position is available immediately. Please contact Dr. Jim Guy, Executive Director, at (626) 229-9336 or e-mail jimdguyjr@aol.com.

ISTSS Seeks Postdoctoral Fellow
ISTSS seeks a full-time Mental Health Program and Policy Associate to be part of the team implementing the federal National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI) and other trauma-related projects, including those related to disasters and terror events.

This full-time fellow will be an employee of ISTSS and will be stationed on site at SAMHSA in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, visit http://www.istss.org/positionad.htm or e-mail Executive Director Rick Koepke at rkoepke@istss.org.