The ESTSS welcomes Professor Jonathan Bisson as a keynote speaker at ESTSS 2025.
Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at Cardiff University (UK) and a practising psychiatrist, he is also Director of Traumatic Stress Wales, a national initiative to improve the health and wellbeing of people affected by traumatic events in Wales. Prof Bisson is also Deputy Director of the National Centre for Mental Health leading on intervention development. His work, including seven randomised controlled trials and five Cochrane systematic reviews, have shaped research and practice across the traumatic stress field. He is also co-chair of the UK’s first PTSD NICE Guideline Development Group and chaired the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies’ Treatment Guidelines Committee.
His ESTSS 2025 keynote is titled The Development, Evaluation and Dissemination of Guided Digital Interventions to Treat People Affected by Traumatic Eventsand will focus on addressing the problem of limited number of suitably trained therapists to deliver trauma-focused psychological treatments which often precludes timely access to treatment for PTSD and Complex PTSD. Prof Bisson’s presentation will specifically focus on the development, evaluation, dissemination and implementation in different settings of a guided digital self-help programme called Spring, and conclude with an overview of the development of a sibling intervention for complex PTSD.
“The increasingly robust evidence to support the effectiveness of guided digital interventions to treat people affected by traumatic events means that we now have an alternative, less costly and more flexible treatment option,” he said. “Guided digital interventions have the ability to reduce treatment waiting times and to facilitate access to people who may avoid face-to-face therapy because of issues such stigma, travel, work and childcare commitments.”
ESTSS 2025 will welcome delegates and speakers from more than 35 countries to Georgia’s capital. “The timing of ESTSS 2025 is very timely as we find ourselves in the midst of global uncertainty that is adversely impacting people throughout the world,” Prof Bisson said. “Tbilisi is the perfect setting for the conference, not least because of the Georgian Society for Psychotrauma’s pioneering role in helping communities and people affected by major traumatic events.”
The 18th Biennial ESTSS Conference will be held 12-15 June 2025 in Tbilisi, Georgia. For tickets, the conference programme and more information visit www.estss2025.com
Recommended reading:
Bisson, J.I., Ariti, C., Cullen, K., Kitchiner, N., Lewis, C., Roberts, N.P., et al. (2022). Guided, internet based, cognitive behavioural therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (RAPID). BMJ. 377: e069405. doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-069405
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2023). Digitally enabled therapies for adults with anxiety disorders: early value assessment. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/hte9/resources/digitally-enabled-therapies-for-adults-with-anxiety-disorders-early-value-assessment-pdf-1396179075013
