Since 1994, the ISTSS Student Committee has been an active force in promoting the interests of students in the organization. As chair of the Student Committee for 199798, I intend to continue this tradition. To keep student members informed of the Student Committees activities, members of the committee and I will present regular reports in StressPoints.
Outgoing Chair Carol Goguen and I attended the board of directors meeting at the ISTSS annual meeting in Montreal. At the meeting, the board members recommitted themselves to increasing student membership and participation in the organization. As a concrete step in this direction, the board voted to decrease the cost of membership in ISTSS from $70 to $60.
Patricia Resick was nominated to be board liaison to the Student Committee. In this role, Resick will facilitate communication between the Student Committee and the board and will work with the Student Committee to help us reach our goals for the year. The board also decided to offer student poster awards to student members who submit their research to be presented at the 1998 Annual Meeting. The monetary value of the award is still to be decided.
The Student Committee met at the Annual Meeting to establish its goals for the year. Our main goal for the year will be to develop a directory of graduate programs, internships and post-docs that provide training related to trauma and PTSD. This project will be headed by committee member David Lilly, and the final product will be presented at the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. We expect that this directory will be an invaluable resource to students interested in receiving training in trauma and PTSD.
Other goals outlined for this year include developing avenues for fundraising and developing programs specifically oriented toward students for the Annual Meeting. Topics for student programs might include developing a research program or ethical issues around training students to treat traumatized clients. Following the success of the student pizza party at the Annual Meeting
in Montreal, we also intend to continue to offer students opportunities to meet informally with board members.
If you are a student member of ISTSS and have any questions about the Student Committee or would like to get more involved, please feel free to contact me by phone at 617-232-9500, ext. 5917, or by e-mail at koenen.karestan_c@boston.va.gov. I am looking forward to an exciting and productive year!