Associate Editor's Note
Thank you for the memories, it has been an honor to serve
By: Tyson D Bailey
Stepping down from my associate editor role is surreal. It has been such an honor to be part of the TPN crew over the past three years, it is strange to know that it will no longer be a consistent part of my life. I am so thankful to all those who submitted articles and supported us over the past three years, TPN will forever hold a special place in my journey...Full Article
Presidential Voice
Trauma Psychology in Times of Great Change
By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD
The global community is experiencing unprecedented changes in recent times, most notably in 2017. On the global level, the United Nations (UN) elected a new Secretary General, Antonio Guterres to lead the 187 member nations of the UN... Full Article
2017 Presidential Initiative
Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Refugees
By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD
Forced migration due to wars, conflict, and persecution worldwide continues to unfold, and the number of people displaced within their country or having fled internationally reached 59.5 million, the highest level ever recorded according to estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)... Full Article
Featured Article
Top Trauma Books and Resources: A Brief Report from a Survey of Traumatic Stress Experts
By: Joan M. Cook. Vanessa Simiola, Elana Newman, and Richard Thompson
Psychological trauma and its consequences have been recognized by multiple agencies as a significant concern requiring specialized training for mental health professionals working with survivors (Institute of Medicine, 2014; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014). However, despite recent advances and the broad scope of knowledge about traumatic stress, most psychologists appear to have only a cursory understanding of this area (Cook, Dinnen, Rehman, Bufka & Courtois, 2011; DePrince, & Newman, 2011)...Full Article
Who's Who
Meet our amazing student representative Christopher DeCou. His has a background as a first responder, which has informed his research interests and passion as a psychologist.
Member News
Want to know more about what your colleagues are doing? Check out the member news section for a summary of the activities, books, and presentations Division 56 members have been working on since our last edition.
Fellows
Division 56 welcomes new fellows who have made significant contributions to the field, please check the application requirements for further information.
Multicultural & Diversity
Trauma and Latina/o Immigration
By: Sylvia Marotta-Walters, PhD
Today’s news focuses on building walls and securing borders in order to “Make America Great Again.” This begs the question: How does walling off anything lead to building greatness? An essential question for trauma psychologists becomes: What are the potentially traumatic experiences (PTE) that immigrants who cross borders without documents bring with them? In 2015, the American Psychological Association (APA) approved guidelines for education and training in trauma. Among these aspirational guidelines, known as the New Haven Competencies, are those addressing the need for culturally competent assessments and interventions... Full Article
International Perspectives
International Committee Update
By: Elizabeth Carll, PhD
To encourage international participation, the APA Trauma Psychology Division (56) is providing a travel stipend to attend the 2017 APA Convention for international students who are citizens of developing countries and enrolled in a graduate psychology program in their home country, or enrolled in a graduate psychology program in the U.S. Eligible students must be presenting a trauma-related poster, paper, or be a participant in a symposium or panel at the 2017 APA Convention in Washington, DC... Full Article
Healing Intergenerational Trauma with Dance Movement Therapy
By: Ilene Serlin, PhD, BC-DMT
Dance movement therapy (DMT) is a relatively new form of mind/body psychotherapy that builds on the use of nonverbal communication and symbolic movement (Serlin, 2010). Although it has been used in psychiatric and medical settings, its use with challenges of cultural dislocation and trauma is relatively new. DMT can be an effective method to treat trauma. Working with the body as well as the mind can reduce compassion fatigue, build resilience and posttraumatic growth, and increase self-care... Full Article
Student Spotlight
Caregiver Support in Treating Child Trauma: Illustrations from a Child Advocacy Center
By: Elizabeth Leuthold, MEd and Alejandra Sequeira, MEd
Access to mental health services for children with traumatic experiences is a longstanding challenge (Burns et al., 2004). Children, defined as youth under age 18, are a vulnerable population (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2016). In 2014 alone, Child Protective Services (CPS) received an estimated 3.6 million reports of suspected child abuse, which resulted in the identification of 702,000 child abuse victims (HHS, 2016)... Full Article