The First ESTSS Young Minds Summer School in Trauma Research was successfully conducted between September 26th and 30th, 2016 in the ILia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Twenty PhD and Master’s programme students, representatives of the ESTSS member societies and the following universities participated in the school:
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan, Italy), ILia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia), University of Kiev (Ukraine), Max Planck Institute (Germany), University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Warsaw, Poland), University of Vilnius (Lithuania), University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) and University of Zagreb (Croatia).
For one week, students continuously worked on the development and refinement of their previously submitted research projects. The school implied a highly intensive and interactive format - teachers’ presentations and workshops were followed by students’ presentations on their research projects and repeated individual coaching sessions. This allowed the students to share their research design and methods with the audience and to receive feedback and consultations on their research projects from different perspectives. YMSS participants expressed their satisfaction with both contents and dynamics/process of the school.
The 1st ESTSS summer school was organized by Jana Darejan Javakhishvili and Lutz Wittmann. The following professors served as teachers during the school:
Jana Darejan Javakhishvili, Director of the Institute on Addiction Studies, ILia State University, President of the Georgian Society of Psychotrauma, Secretary of the ESTSS Board of Directors;
Rolf Kleber, PhD, Professor of Psychotraumatology, Utrecht University and Past Director Research, Foundation Arq, The Netherlands;
Nino Makhashvili, MD, PhD, Director of the Mental Health Resource Center, Ilia State University, Past-President of the Georgian Society of Psychotrauma;
Stuart Turner, MD FRCP FRCPsych, Director, Trauma Clinic London, and Past-President, ESTSS;
Lutz Wittmmann, Prof., Dr. phil., Head, Psychotherapeutic university outpatient service, International Psychoanalytic University Berlin, Germany.
We would like to express our gratefulness towards the sponsors of this summer school:
• European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
• ILia State University
• Georgian Society of Psychotrauma
• Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry – Tbilisi