The ESTSS is delighted to announce the winners of the Society’s three prestigious biennial awards.
The 2025 Wolter de Loos Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychotraumatology in Europe jointly goes to Professor Ask Elklit and Professor Rolf Kleber. Named after one of the Society’s founders, the award recognises distinguished theoretical, research or clinical contribution to the field. This is the first time it has been awarded jointly to two nominees.
Professor Ask Elklit is a psychologist and Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southern Denmark and a founder of the Danish Center of Psychotraumatology. He previously worked at the University of Aarhus. The award recognises his role in founding, developing and shaping Danish psychotraumatology research and practice, his contributions to the formulation of ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD and child psychotraumatology, as well as his advocacy for trauma survivors, and promoting evidence-based assessment and treatment.
Amongst his many achievements, Prof Elklit was the primary driving force in establishing Denmark’s first centre for rape survivors at Aarhus University Hospital. He also laid the foundational work for the developmentally sensitive assessment of traumatization among children and adolescent survivors of psychological, physical and sexual violence, which is now used across all of Denmark. His work has included studies of the aftermath of several Danish and international disasters, the assessment of trauma in young children, supporting the development of guidelines for crisis relief and intervention, and numerous international collaborations.
Prof Elklit said: “Being deeply touched by Wolter de Loos’ strong dedication to European collaboration, I am happy and proud to receive the award. I want to share the recognition with my collaborators and center members who are all engaged in trauma research and how to transform this knowledge to improve intervention and treatment.”
Professor Rolf Kleber is Emeritus Professor of Psychotraumatology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University. He was previously worked at Tilburg University and was Head of Research at Arq National Psychotrauma Centre. The award recognises his role as co-founder of the Institute for Psychotrauma, and his contribution to shaping the development of trauma care and humanitarian mental health in both the Netherlands and internationally.
Prof Kleber’s research has primarily focused on the psychological consequences of disasters, war and large-scale emergencies as well as the cross-cultural dimensions of trauma and the mental health needs of refugees and displaced populations. He has authored over 365 scientific and professional articles, several books and has held numerous influential positions across the practice and policy fields. Notably, he chaired the Committee on the Needs of Victims of Large-Scale Calamities and the National Monitor of Victims of Violence, both commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, which helped to shape national policy and response frameworks for trauma care. Internationally he served as a teacher, consultant, and supervisor for the Mental Health Program in Sarajevo and other cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina organised by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) during the Yugoslavia conflict. Recently, he conducted research on prolonged grief disorder and PTSD in Bali, Indonesia, contributing valuable insights into the psychological impact of traumatic loss in different cultural contexts.
Prof Kleber said: “Quite simply, I feel very honoured by this wonderful award! With lots of fascination, involvement, and job satisfaction I have worked in the field of psychotraumatology – a significant field that is of utmost relevance in these days, and also in a European context.”
The 2025 Young Minds in Psychotraumatology Award goes to Dr Victoria Williamson. The award recognises excellence in the traumatic stress field through service or research by an individual who has completed their training within the last decade.
Dr Williamson is currently Senior Lecturer at the University of Bath and Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London, and previously held positions at University of Oxford and the University of Exeter. The award recognises her work across the traumatic stress field, and in particular the conceptualisation, measurement, and treatment of moral injury. She has played a pivotal role in shaping frameworks, identifying key risk factors, and developing targeted interventions. This work was of particular note in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her notable contributions include the first meta-analysis on moral injury and mental health disorders, the development of a novel theoretical model of moral injury which includes socio-cognitive factors believed to be pivotal in moral injury development and maintenance, and the co-design of a novel psychological intervention for military veterans with moral injury-related mental health problems. Her work covers a wide range of occupational groups including serving and former military personnel, healthcare workers, cancer patients, prison staff and journalists.
Dr Williamson said: “It is an honour to receive this award. Research is always a collective effort, and I am extremely fortunate to be part of a dedicated teams across King’s College London, Combat Stress and University of Bath who work to improve post trauma recovery. Most importantly, these efforts would not be possible without the trauma survivors and their families who trusted us with their stories”.
The 2025 ESTSS Innovation in Clinical Practice Award goes to Psychotrauma Expertise Center (PSYTREC, Netherlands). The award recognises individuals or groups who have made significant developments in psychotraumatology clinical practice, by developing novel approaches, establishing new services, upscaling interventions or making significant policy changes to reduce barriers for treatment.
Founded in 2015, PSYTREC has developed and implemented a pioneering, evidence-based, person-centred treatment model for severe and complex PTSD that integrates multiple evidence-based interventions into an intensive, two-to-eight day programme. To date, over 12,500 patients have been treated at PSYTREC and the Centre’s Academy has trained clinicians in intensive trauma-focused therapies across the globe. Their research has examined the effectiveness of intensive trauma-focused treatments for complex PTSD and a wide range of comorbid symptoms. Recently they have also begun to investigate the effect of these interventions on personality disorders.
Professor Ad de Jongh, Head of Scientific Research at PSYTREC said: ” We are deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award from the ESTSS. It is a powerful recognition of our team’s dedication to developing innovative, intensive, and evidence-based treatments for complex forms of PTSD. This encourages us to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible in trauma care.”
On announcing the winners, ESTSS President Prof Dominic Murphy said: “On behalf of all members, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to all recipients. The breadth of achievements and innovation from all our winners and nominees demonstrates that our Europe-wide psychotraumatology community is at the very heart and forefront of innovative research and practice that continues to positively impact countless lives across the world”.
All the recipients will be honoured at a reception in June at ESTSS 2025 in Tbilisi, Georgia. More information can be found at www.estss2025.com.
