Now that we’re slowly turning to Autumn in this part of the world, our thoughts are with those affected by the harsh and extreme weather conditions, such as in Central and Southern Europe in the past Summer months, by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey in April and Morocco in September, and by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
As a professional community, ESTSS strives to support colleagues in these areas by offering resources to continue providing help to people in need. On ESTSS.org we share materials and documents on psychosocial support for post-disaster care. We call on our members and network to connect to ESTSS if you feel you can contribute to support fellow professionals in these areas or by providing knowledge and expertise.
It is our professional -or rather also our human- nature that we tend to focus on what lies ahead, the things that we want to change next. We therefore risk to forget to look back on the steps that we already took. Taking time to look back on our history, what was accomplished and how we got to this stage, is essential to determine where to go next. Bringing together professionals to connect and share thoughts, experiences and findings in psychotraumatology has been ESTSS’ mission since 30 years. A vital element to our society since its origin have been the biennial conferences and it was heartwarming to see this tradition continued at the 17th edition in Belfast this past June. In this newsletter we look back at some of the memorable moments under the warm Northern Irish sun.
Another, more recent, look back is on the third webinar in the Developmental Trauma webinar series organized by the Future Leadership Group and Developmental Trauma Special Interest Group. On September 27th, professor Maryléne Cloitre and professor Julian Ford shared and discussed what makes developmental trauma different from other conditions.
Happily, we also have lots to look forward to. The actual birthday of our society is just a few days away, on October 1st. In honour and celebration of this, the Polish Traumatic Stress Society, PTBST, and ESTSS organize a one-day conference “The trauma of war. Psychological consequences of war trauma in a generational perspective" on October 14. The event will be attended by Polish and international experts and practitioners dealing with traumatic stress.
Also, don’t miss any of the other upcoming events featured in our newsletter, organized by member societies and affiliated societies, such as the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress, UKPTS and NtVP. You can also find ESTSS and NtVP jointly present at the International ARQ Conference in Hilversum, The Netherlands, on September 28 and 29.
Hope to meet you at one of these wonderful events to come, sincerely,
Joanne Mouthaan
ESTSS President 2023-2024
