2025 ISTSS Board of Directors Election Results:
Celebrating Our New Leadership
The 2025 ISTSS Nominations and Elections Committee, chaired by Board Member and Immediate Past President Angela Nickerson, PhD, is delighted to share the following results of this year’s ISTSS Board of Directors election. Congratulations to all who were elected, and our sincere thanks to all who agreed to be nominated.
Synne Øien Stensland, MD, PhD
President-Elect
Denise Hien, PhD, ABPP
Board Member
Jana Javakhishvili, PhD**
Board Member
Birgit Kleim, PhD
Board Member
Rachel Liebman, PhD**
Board Member
Sarah Lowe, PhD
Board Member
Jun Shigemura, MD, PhD
Board Member
Melissa Zielinski, PhD
Board Member
President-Elect: Synne Øien Stensland, MD, PhD
Board Members:
Denise Hien, PhD, ABPP; Jana Javakhishvili, PhD**; Birgit Kleim, PhD; Rachel Liebman, PhD**; Sarah Lowe, PhD; Jun Shigemura, MD, PhD; Melissa Zielinski, PhD
**Current Board Members re-elected to serve another term.
Bringing Together Scientists, Clinicians, and Communities From Around the World to Advance the Field of Traumatic Stress.
Healing Trauma Together
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is dedicated to sharing information about the effects of trauma and the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. ISTSS is an international interdisciplinary professional organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about traumatic stress.
NEW ISTSS Webinar: Opening Access to Address Trauma and Treat PTSD in Primary Care
Join Dr. Sheila Rauch—national leader in trauma and PTSD treatment—as she explores how to broaden access to effective care by integrating trauma-informed approaches within primary care. This session will highlight system-level models for improving access and introduce PE-PC (Processing Emotions in Primary Care), a brief and powerful intervention tailored for primary care settings. Ideal for healthcare professionals seeking practical, scalable strategies to address PTSD beyond specialty mental health.
Conversations and Consultations
Our Conversations and Consultation series is a members-only series that provides members with the opportunity to exchange valuable insight and advice with subject-matter experts, mentors, and/or colleagues in the trauma field. Each session is facilitated by one or more experts and presented to ISTSS members as a free membership benefit.
Grow Your Professional Network by Volunteering with ISTSS
Volunteers play an integral role in ISTSS' day-to-day activities and form a broad professional network. Interested in adding an ISTSS volunteer position to your CV?
How Childhood Trauma and Drinking Motives Predict Campus Sexual Assault: A Comparison of Different Analytical Styles
Tara Hedayati, Shalet S. Punnoose, Sabrin Ghuman, Kayleigh N. Watters, & Mikael Rubin October 14, 2025 Sexual assault remains a significant issue on college campuses, with 20-25% of college women and 6-8% of men reporting an experience of sexual assault...
Flexible Delivery of CPT in First Responders and Veterans: The Role of Explicit Case Formulation
Reginald D.V. Nixon, David Forbes, & Tara E. Galovski October 7, 2025 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating and multifaceted disorder often accompanied by co-occurring physical and psychiatric problems. Numerous evidence-based...
Mitigating the Mental Health Impact of Political Violence
Elena Cherepanov August 19, 2025 Political violence is a global crisis with systemic effects on entire societies. Drawing on the author's experience in global mental health and refugee support, Dr. Cherepanov explores how political violence impacts the...
“It’s just gonna be a while”: What Families Need While on the Waitlist for Trauma Therapy
Caitlin Rancher, Owen Winters, Angela Moreland, & Daniel W. Smith Trauma Does Not Wait Families seeking trauma-focused mental health...
When PTSD treatment falls short: Understanding the impact of institutional betrayal
Madeline J. Bruce, Deborah M. Little, Melba A. Hernandez-Tejada, & Ron Acierno July 22, 2025 Consider the following scenarios . . . 1) While deployed in the army, a woman survives a sexual assault committed by one of her own comrades. When she reported the...
Childhood Trauma and Hormonal Dynamics in Aggressive Adolescents
Kalista Meulenbeek, Iro Fragkaki, Flavia Spagnuolo, Luca Frankenberger, & Maaike Cima Aggression in youth remains a major public health...
Refining post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment selection: Possible paths to better outcomes
Victoria A. Torres, Elizabeth Coe, Jalisa Jackson, Kiara Leonard, Jessica Rostockyi, Kira Swensen, Eric C. Meyer, Suzy B. Gulliver, & Stephanie...
Are PTSD treatment names welcoming or off-putting?
Sadie E. Larsen, Rachel M. Ranney, Rebecca A. Matteo, Kathleen M. Grubbs, & Jessica Hamblen One main aspect of marketing is right up...
Making the Most of Treatment: Veterans Want to Improve PTSD and Their Functioning During PTSD Treatment
Stephanie Y. Wells, Marcela C. Weber, Kathleen M. Grubbs, & Emily R. Wilhite Trauma-focused...
2025 Election Results
2025 ISTSS Board of Directors Election Results: Celebrating Our New LeadershipThe 2025 ISTSS Nominations and Elections Committee, chaired by Board Member and Immediate Past President Angela Nickerson, PhD, is delighted to share the following results of this year’s...