ISTSS 42nd Annual Meeting
The ISTSS Annual Meeting will take place September 23-26, 2026, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
The ISTSS Annual Meeting is a global forum for professionals and researchers dedicated to understanding and addressing the impact of trauma. We bring together diverse perspectives to advance scientific knowledge, develop effective treatments, and inform public policy. By bridging the gap between research and practice, we aim to improve the lives of those affected by traumatic stress worldwide.
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2026 Keynote Speakers
Mary-Frances O'Connor, PhD
"Olympian on how to reach your potential every day"
The Neuroscience of Grief:
How We Learn From Love and Loss
Using an integrative view of clinical psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Dr. O’Connor explores grieving as a learning process, describing how the brain is critical in understanding that a loved one has died, updating one’s view of the world while carrying the absence of this person. Cognitive neuroscience can help clarify the “why” of grief—why it takes so long, and is so painful. Dr. O’Connor explains that older stage models of grief are no longer used and offers a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning. In addition, she recounts how empirical research has helped to define prolonged grief disorder (previously called complicated grief) and how targeted psychotherapy is an effective treatment for this disabling condition.
Miranda Olff, PhD
"Sex/Gender and Trauma in a Troubled World - A Global Issue?"
Unprecedented numbers of people worldwide are being exposed to armed conflict, forced displacement, climate-related disasters, and interpersonal violence, including gender-based violence. Recent reports of sexual assault of women while asleep or unconscious by intimate partners or other men, as well as conflict-related sexual violence against men and boys, illustrate the diverse forms such violence can take. Sex and gender influence not only trauma exposure but also its sequelae, access to care, and recovery. Their effects, however, are complex, context-dependent, and extend far beyond simple comparisons between women and men. This keynote explores how sex, gender, and their interaction with culture, social norms, and structural inequalities shape trauma exposure and its consequences. Decades of research show that sex and gender influence PTSD risk, symptom trajectories, and a broad range of mental and physical health outcomes through interacting biological, psychological, social, and contextual factors. Despite growing evidence, important challenges remain. Sex and gender are still often used interchangeably, binary classifications overlook diversity, research methods are suboptimal and most evidence still comes from high-income countries. The field must move beyond asking whether sex and gender matter (Olff et al., 2007) to understanding how they shape trauma outcomes across diverse global contexts using more rigorous, intersectional, and sex- and gender-sensitive research. This is essential for equitable prevention, policy, and treatment in an increasingly troubled world.
Presidential Panel
"Preparing Communities for Large-Scale, Sustained Conflict: Mental Health, Resilience and System Considerations"
Growing geopolitical tension increases the likelihood that some nations will face large-scale and sustained conflict. Whole-of-society preparedness spans government, intelligence, security, health, mental health and welfare systems and workforces. This includes preparing for a surge in demand for mental health support, triage frameworks, management of displaced people and asylum seekers, community risk reduction, building resilience, and supporting military, veteran and family communities. This panel brings together international experts in military, veteran and disaster mental health to discuss lessons that can be drawn from prior and current conflicts as well as other large-scale hazard events such as disasters, terrorist attacks and pandemics. Guided by research and expert consensus, the panel focuses on actions to support communities, highlighting cross-sector coordination and collaboration, continuity planning, and support for vulnerable groups across the preparedness-response-recovery continuum.
Amy Adler, PhD
Dominic Murphy, MA, PhD, Prof
David Pedlar, PhD
Nicole Sadler, PhD
Paula Schnurr, PhD
Invited Speakers
Advancements in the Treatment of PTSD by the Strong Star Consortium:
Two Decades of Progress
Over the past 2 decades the South Texas Research Organizational Network Guiding Studies on Trauma and Resilience (STRONG STAR Consortium) has supported over 30 clinical trials to develop and evaluate the efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapies for combat-related PTSD in military personnel. These clinical trials have evaluated Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy, Written Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure Therapy. The results of the initial clinical trials demonstrated these treatments were efficacious for the treatment of combat-related PTSD, but the outcomes were not as good as previous studies with civilians. Subsequent clinical trials evaluated ways to modify the standard treatment protocols to enhance outcomes. One example is the use of compressed or massed treatment protocols where treatment sessions are completed on a daily basis. The results of these studies found even greater reductions in PTSD symptoms. Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating how these treatments can be further improved by combining them with medications or medical devices. This symposium will review the results of clinical trials for combat-related PTSD supported by the STRONG STAR Consortium over the past 2 decades and provide an update on ongoing clinical trials.
Alan Peterson, PhD
Steffany Fredman, PhD
Brian Marx, PhD
Patricia Resick, PhD
Terence Keane, PhD
ISTSS PTSD Treatment Guidelines
The current update of the ISTSS PTSD Treatment Guidelines heralds a bold new approach to guideline development, dissemination and implementation. Members of the Guideline Development Group will describe the features that make these guidelines distinctive: synthesising key datasets from existing PTSD guidelines across countries; applying advanced network‑analysis methodologies; genuinely co‑developing recommendations with people with lived experience; and prioritising global implementation relevance through a range of mechanisms including early engagement with ISTSS affiliate societies to ensure wide relevance, reach and practical applicability. The panel will outline the scope of the Guidelines, set out the key questions to be addressed and present preliminary data analyses. It will also highlight implementation challenges and invite attendees to share perspectives on global opportunities, barriers and enablers of implementation.
David Forbes, PhD
Andrea Phelps, PhD
Soraya Seedat, MD, PhD
Marit Sijbrandij, PhD
Ceren Acartürk
Sandra Ferreira
Spotlight on Research From Past Putnam Research Scholars and Bela and Chaim Danieli
Early Career Professional Award Winners
This invited session will feature past recipients of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Bela and Chaim Danieli Early Career Professional Award and the Frank W. Putnam Trauma Research Scholars Program. The Bela and Chaim Danieli Early Career Professional Award recognizes excellence in the traumatic stress field by an individual who is within eight years of their terminal degree. The Frank W. Putnam Trauma Research Scholars Program supports the research of ISTSS student members. This invited session will feature four past award winners. Dr Ateka Contractor (past Danieli winner) will present on a novel PTSD intervention that targets positive memory processes. Dr. Cameron Pugach (past Putnam winner) will present findings from two studies focused on negative emotion differentiation (NED) as an important factor in the maintenance of PTSD. Mariel Emrich (past Putnam winner) will share findings from an ongoing single-arm pilot study assessing the feasibility and acceptability of an integrated treatment for adults with PTSD and chronic pain. Finally, Dr. Gabrielle Gauthier (past Putnam winner) will examine the impact of contextual and semantic processing in the aftermath of extreme weather trauma exposure on mental health outcomes.
Ateka Contractor, PhD
Cameron Pugach, PhD
Mariel Emrich, MS
Gabrielle Gauthier, MS
Thank You to Our 2026 Sponsors!
Thank You to Our 2026 Exhibitors!
