The ESTSS operates a number of Committees, Task Forces and Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
All ESTSS members are welcome to join, contribute and propose new projects or SIGs.
Current Committees
ESTSS Accreditation Committee
Overview and Remit: The ESTSS Accreditation Committee ensures the quality, coherence, and European relevance of ESTSS curricula and training routes in psychotraumatology, with a primary focus on the ESTSS Curriculum Therapy of Posttraumatic Disorders in Adults. The Committee is responsible for safeguarding the face and content validity of this curriculum, evaluating accreditation applications from national member societies, and supporting the local implementation of ESTSS standards within diverse national contexts. Working in close collaboration with the ESTSS Certification Committee and National Certification Committees, the Accreditation Committee contributes to the development of shared European standards of care while building on strong local certification programmes.
Members: Ingo Schäfer: German-speaking Society for Psychotraumatology (DeGPT); Tommaso Farma: Italian Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress (SISST); Dean Ajduković: Croatian Society for Traumatic Stress (CSTS)
Contact: Please email via the ESTSS Secretariat using the contact form or email.
Current Task Forces
ESTSS4Ukraine (E4U) Task Force
Overview and Remit: The task force was established prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, initially to support the Ukrainian Society in developing a comprehensive national education programme in psychotraumatology. Following the invasion, the E4U’s work expanded significantly in response to the increasing and complex needs of Ukrainian psychologists and mental health professionals working in conditions of ongoing war.
Since then, E4U has developed into a long-term ESTSS project, combining education, supervision, and capacity building.
Members: Ton de Wijs (Chair): Dutch speaking traumatic stress society (NtVP); Jana Javakhishvili: Georgian Traumatic Stress Society (GSP); Trudy Mooren: Dutch speaking traumatic stress society (NtVP); Rolf Kleber: Dutch speaking traumatic stress society (NtVP); Natalia Nalyvaiko: Ukrainian Society of Overcoming the Consequences of Traumatic Events (USOCTE)
Contact: ESTSS Secretariat (secretariat@estss.org)
Torture and Coercive Interrogation Task Force
Overview and Remit: The overall aim is to stop torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment being perpetrated by any European government. It is in response to well publicised breaches by various governments. We wish to lobby respective professional bodies, such as those that clinical psychologists or psychiatrists belong to in every European country, to adopt universally accepted principals to prevent its members from participating in such practices.
Contact: Dr Brock Chisholm (Brock@CriterionA.com)
PTSD & substance use disorder (SUD) Task Force
Overview and Remit: The ESTSS Board established a task force to develop expert recommendations for the treatment of PTSD with comorbid substance use disorder (SUD).
Activities and downloads:
- (2023): Expert recommendations for the psychological treatment of PTSD with comorbid substance use disorder .
- Roberts, Lotzin & Schäfer (2023), 10.1080/20008066.2023.2265773
Members: Neil Roberts (Chair); Annett Lotzin; Ingo Schäfer
Current Special Interest Groups
Traumatic Grief SIG
Overview: Action is needed to reach consensus about both the clinical relevance of traumatic grief in diagnoses and treatment and disturbed grief criteria. In order to achieve these goals, we think that a greater collaboration between clinicians and researchers internationally is needed to derive a shared conceptualization of natural and pathological grief. The ESTSS supports the idea of creating a platform in which clinicians and researchers from all over Europe (and also other parts of the world) get to know each other, exchange ideas, collaborate, and share knowledge about traumatic grief. The first activity of the ESTSS Special Interest Group (SIG) Traumatic Grief will be a meeting at the ESTSS conference of 2021 in Belfast.
Activities and downloads:
- Downloadable factsheet on Prolonged Grief Disorder
- Inaugural meeting at ESTSS 2023 in Belfast
Contact: Dr Manik Djelantik (a.a.a.djelantik@umcutrecht.nl) or subscribe to the SIG mailing list.
Ageing & Lifecycle SIG
Overview: Action is needed to make progress in our understanding of treating trauma-related disorders in later life and in the inclusion of older populations into international treatment guidelines concerning PTSD. In order to achieve these goals, we think that greater collaboration between clinicians and researchers internationally is needed. The ESTSS supports the idea of creating a platform in which clinicians and researchers from all over Europe (and also other parts of the world) get to know each other, exchange ideas, collaborate, and share knowledge about ageing and the life cycle.
Recently, new evidence from intervention research on Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) and Present Centered Therapy (PCT) in older adults with PTSD (Lely et al., 2019) were published. Treatment results from NET show that posttraumatic recovery in older adults extends beyond PTSD symptoms and includes depression symptoms and perceived mental distress. Resilience is not burdened by either intervention. These conclusions offer relevant insights for clinical practice: Lely et al., (2022) 10.1080/20008198.2021.2022277
Activities and downloads:
- Downloadable factsheet on Ageing and Lifecycle
- December 2022 Newsletter: Do older adults suffering from clinically significant post-traumatic stress symptoms fit into the existing disorder-specific classification systems?
- March 2023 Newsletter
- June 2023 Newsletter
- December 2023 Newsletter
- March 2024 Newsletter
Contact: Jeannette Lely (j.lely@centrum45.nl) or subscribe to the SIG mailing list.
Developmental Trauma SIG
Overview: The term “developmental trauma” is often used to describe repeated, multiple and childhood-onset stressful events and their psychological consequences for the developmental trajectories of children and youth. These experiences are often associated with detrimental impacts in a range of life outcomes such as mental health, learning and social functioning. While the term “developmental trauma” has entered common usage in clinical practice, it remains highly contentious in academic circles and the overlaps and distinctions with related terms (e.g., Adverse Childhood Events, attachment disorders, complex PTSD, etc) is not always clear.
The ESTSS Developmental Trauma SIG aims to create a space to discuss and explore key issues such as definitions, measurements, and interventions. We will organise a series of online talks led by experts, early career researchers, and professionals to promote debate and exchange of ideas. We also aim to build and disseminate resources to inform evidence-based practice and highlight research opportunities. We look forward to meeting you at in-person ESTSS events.
Contact: Asa Keer-Davis (asa.kerr-davis.21@ucl.ac.uk), Patrícia Correia Santos (pcrcs06@gmail.com) or Alex Lau-Zhu (alex.lauzhu@hmc.ox.ac.uk) or subscribe to the SIG mailing list.
Child, Family & Trauma SIG
Overview: Children of parents struggling with traumatic distress are at risk for developing psychological problems themselves. The Child, Family, and Trauma special interest group focuses on how families cope with traumatic events. Important questions are:
– How does parental trauma influence the parent-child relationship and children’s development?
– How do affected family members interact with each other?
– What does parental trauma mean for children’s development?
– How can we support parents in fulfilling their role, even when adversity hits the family?
– What are effective interventions?
Children need their parents to be available for warmth, safety, and support to ensure healthy (identity) development. For parents who are struggling with traumatic distress, it might be especially difficult to recognize their child’s signals, respond adequately, and express adequate levels of affection. Parents’ ability to engage in behaviour that maintains and fosters the relationship with their child is likely to be hampered by their own worries and by coping with trauma. However, today, there is a lack of interventions to support families and to enhance the quality of the parent-child relationship. The development of these family-focused interventions will help prevent the intergenerational transmission of mental health problems.
The aim of the Child, Family, and Trauma SIG is to connect researchers interested in the above questions, to organize meetings and events around these themes, and to foster (interdisciplinary) collaborations.
Contact: Marjolein Missler (m.a.missler@uu.nl) and Trudy Mooren (g.t.m.mooren@uu.nl) or subscribe to the SIG mailing list.
