The ESTSS Future Leadership Group is a network of young professionals in the field of psychotraumatology. Comprised of European early career researchers in psychotraumatology – PhD students or clinical postdoctorate students or postdoctoral researchers up to 4 years after receiving their PhD – the group work together with experienced colleagues in ESTSS committees on a range of strategic activities. These have included development of the ESTSS European Curriculum, the ESTSS Summer schools, developing materials for the public and policymakers, webinar organization and engagement in the internal and external ESTSS communication. Group members are elected for a two-year term. To contact the 2025/26 FLG, please email estssflg@gmail.com.
Agnietė Kairytė
Affiliation: Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Psychology, Center for Psychotraumatology, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Professional qualifications: MSc in Clinical Psychology (Vilnius University). Currently a PhD student, junior researcher, and junior assistant teacher at Vilnius University.
Area of interest and expertise: Risk and resilience related to PTSD and CPTSD in adolescents and youth; evidence-based youth mental health prevention, promotion, and intervention.
Anna Gromova
Affiliation: Researcher at the Institute for Social and Political Psychology of NAES of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Professional qualifications: PhD in Psychology (Institute for Social and Political Psychology), EMDR Consultant (European Association of EMDR; EMDRIA), Professional League of Traumatherapists (member of the Board).
Area of interest and expertise: PTSD and CPTSD, affective disorders, transgenerational trauma, and translational research.
Anna Hudson
Affiliation: Researcher at Leiden University, Netherlands; Master thesis supervisor at Tilburg University, Netherlands.
Professional qualifications: MSc Psychology (Research) with a major in clinical psychology and a minor in social psychology; in the process of finishing up a PhD in experimental clinical psychology.
Area of interest and expertise: Childhood maltreatment and adult social functioning; neurobiology of childhood maltreatment; e-mental health; suicide prevention education.
Asma Rashid
Affiliation: Lecturer Psychology, Higher Education Department, Pakistan; PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy; Research Member at the Center on Parenting and Emotion Regulation (CPER), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.
Professional qualifications: PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology.
Area of interest and expertise: Childhood trauma and psychological functioning from a Self-Determination Theory perspective. My work examines how early adverse experiences shape emotion regulation processes and the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs, with implications for well-being and psychopathology. I like to bridge psychological, social, and physiological perspectives on childhood trauma by engaging in interdisciplinary research to foster resilience and trauma-informed intervention strategies. I am passionate about making this knowledge more accessible and practical for researchers, clinicians, and the broader community through engaging in discussion and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Justina Pociunaite-Ott
Affiliation: University of Twente, the Netherlands.
Professional qualifications: I hold a BSc in Psychology from Vilnius University (Lithuania) and an MSc in Clinical Psychology from Utrecht University (The Netherlands). My PhD at Ulm University (Germany) focused on autobiographical memories, their roles, and emotionality. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Twente, working under the supervision of Dr. Lonneke Lenferink. I am also part of the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress FAIR data workgroup.
Area of interest and expertise: I study prolonged grief disorder symptoms in daily life, including in those bereaved under traumatic circumstances. My research focuses on how grief fluctuates in people’s natural environments. In parallel, I advocate for open science and actively work toward making research FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), helping to foster collaboration and accelerate scientific progress.
Karen Yirmiya
Affiliation: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology Department, University College London, and the Anna Freud Centre, UK.
Professional qualifications: BA Psychology, MA Clinical Psychology, PhD in Psychology.
Area of interest and expertise: War-related trauma, biomarkers of stress and trauma, the impact of perinatal and early life trauma exposure on mental health outcomes, parenting responses to children’s trauma exposure and their effect on children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties, Mentalization-based treatment for complex trauma, complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), and transgenerational trauma.
Mia Huolman
Affiliation: PhD student at the University of Turku, Finland, a psychologist at the Barnahus project in Helsinki University Hospital, and a board member at the Finnish Psychotrauma Society.
Professional qualifications: Special psychologist in child and adolescent psychology and in clinical psychology, Tf-CBT therapist and supervisor, NET-therapist.
Area of interest and expertise: Child trauma and dissociation, trauma-focused psychosocial treatment (such as Tf-CBT, NET, TRT), psychological assessment and differential diagnosis, developing and enhancing services.
Rusudan Badriashvili
Affiliation: Global Initiative on Psychiatry – Tbilisi (GIP-Tbilisi); Mental Health centre, Ilia state University.
Professional qualifications: Psychologist, MA in Social Psychiatry, WHO international diploma in Mental Health, human rights and law.
Area of interest and expertise: War affected populations (internally displaced persons), adolescents with common mental disorders and comorbidity’s, Rights based mental health systems, Alternatives to coercion, adverse childhood experiences.
Stéfanie Fréel
Affiliation: Amsterdam University Medical Center, The Netherlands.
Professional qualifications: PhD candidate (Psychiatry); Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master in International Relations from the University of Toronto.
Area of interest and expertise: lay-led, culturally-driven psychological interventions for refugees and populations displaced by armed conflict in low- and middle-income countries; cross-cultural responses to trauma and healing practices; inter linkages between PTSD, CPTSD and pathways to violent and peaceful behaviors amongst conflict affected populations.
Valeriia Kuzmenko
Affiliation: Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University, Department of Practical and Clinical Psychology, Member of USOCTE – Ukrainian Society of Overcoming the Consequences of Traumatic Events, Associate Member of the National Association of Gestalt Therapists of Ukraine.
Professional qualifications: BSc Psychology and MSc Psychology at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University.
Area of interest and expertise: Posttraumatic stress disorder, complex posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders resulting from traumatic experience, psychological support for children and adolescents.
