Presidential Voice

International Perspectives on Trauma

By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD

Prior to the last decade, we did not hear about international developments and occurrences on a daily basis in the news. In fact, watching our local TV news channel, the crawler recently reported on incidents in China and the Middle East.  Previously these types of stories were found in the sparse international sections of national newspapers and TV stations.  Much of the proliferation of international news appears related to the fall-out from the global refugee crisis which has mushroomed in the last few years... Full Article

Editor's Note

By: Bryan Reuther, PsyD

Welcome to the Summer Convention Issue of Trauma Psychology News! This issue contains a Special International Section with a Focus on Refugees, which supports Dr. Elizabeth Carll’s Presidential Initiative. Please check out the superb articles written by these prominent voices in International Psychology. We also have a strong student representation, with one article supporting the Special Section on Refugees and the other addressing institutional racism...Full Article

2017 Convention Program

By: Jessica Punzo, Psy.D.

We are excited to finally share our amazing line up of programs for this year’s APA Convention in Washington D.C.! We have been working hard since last year to deliver an innovative and captivating program for you all this year and hope you enjoy. Below is a brief summary of what we have in store for this August. It has been a great pleasure to be the Program Chair for the convention!...Full Article

Special International Section with a Focus on Refugees

Introduction to Special Section

By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD

Research on the experiences and plight of refugees in current and often dangerous circumstances is a difficult task and data are very limited. Most reports are from observation and often focus on demographics.  These four articles are atypical and intend to provide a wide spectrum of experiences as opposed to the often demographic reports of refugees living in camps in austere conditions...Full Article

A Group Intervention with Female Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

By: Brigitte Khoury, PhD

Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, Lebanon has been facing a major challenge with the influx of Syrian refugees into its territories. The number of registered refugees in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office has reached over two million at its peak, with 78% of them being women and children. Currently the number has dropped to around one million, since many have tried to reach Europe through Turkey, and some have been able to secure immigration status to other parts of the world...Full Article

Enforced Disappearance and the Experiences of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

By: Kevin M. DeJesus, PhD

The scope of traumatic experiences that many refugees endure is staggering. The violence displaced persons live through, and the losses they often experience can induce profound psychological trauma. In the broadest terms, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) endure ruptures of place and relationships, as circumstances of political violence impel their flight...Full Article

Working with Trauma in China: KinAesthetic Imagining

By: Ilene Serlin, PhD

Like the Chinese proverb: “May you have an interesting life,” this was certainly a most interesting time to be in China. President Xi Jinpin had just met with President Trump, and both promised mutual cooperation. On the other hand, tensions in the South China Sea were mounting and North Korea had just tested another missile. President Xi’s daughter had just graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology, and now the Chinese government was prioritizing the need for mental health services...Full Article

Enhancing Evidence-Based Interventions for Refugees

By: Sara L. Buckingham, MA and Melissa Paiva-Salisbury, MA

Numerous refugees from diverse nations have resettled in Vermont. New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma (NESTT) provides comprehensive mental health, social work, and legal services to refugees. As doctoral clinical psychology interns, we provide culturally-informed, linguistically-appropriate, evidence-based intervention services. In this article, we detail how efficacious interventions for torture and trauma have been adapted for refugee populations and integrated into multidisciplinary care...Full Article

International Perspectives

International Committee Update and Student Interview

By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD and Vincenzo Teran, PsyD

As part of the series of interviews conducted by student members with trauma psychologists from various parts of the world, Laura Captari, a student member of the International Committee interviewed, Dr. Gladys K. Mwiti, a psychologist in Nairobi, Kenya, a clinician who works with children and families.  However, she is also a passionate advocate for psychology in Kenya and has worked for many years to advance the field of psychology and is currently advocating for a bill in Parliament for the development of the Kenyan Board of Counseling and Psychology... Full Article

Student Spotlight

Voicing Graduate Psychology Students’ Experiences with Institutional Racism

By: Wyatt R. Evans, PhD, Anna W. Vandevender, MA and Elizabeth Louis, MS

Institutional racism (IR) is reflected in the policies and practices of organizations, systems, and institutions that perpetuate discrimination and exploitation of people of color (POC; Clair & Denis, 2015). IR perpetrators potentially lack awareness of the impact of their actions while victims often question whether they have been treated unfairly (Ture & Hamilton, 1967).  Although researchers have examined the impact of IR on undergraduate students (Ceja & Yasso, 2000), there has been less research and discourse around graduate students’ experiences with IR, even within our field of psychology... Full Article