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Special Interest Groups

About ISSTD Special Interest Groups

ISSTD Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are open to all ISSTD Members who have specific interest in certain areas of the field. ISSTD SIGs have been developed by members for members, and are geared to provide ISSTD members with particular in-depth interest in certain areas related to trauma and dissociation. As a member in good standing, you are entitled to join as many SIGs as you’d like. Information about the various SIGs can be found below.

Currently Active Special Interest Groups

Child & Adolescent (C&A) SIG
Mission: To provide collaboration, support, and education about assessment and treatment of child and adolescent trauma and dissociation. Specific interests of the Child and Adolescent Interest Group include research of childhood trauma and dissociation; education of first-line responders (teachers, CPS workers) and therapists; and evaluation and treatment of all areas of child and adolescent trauma and dissociation.

Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) SIG
Mission: The Creative Arts Therapy SIG is a forum for any ISSTD member interested in learning about the role of the creative arts for treatment of trauma and dissociation. Our goal is to provide information about the creative arts and their place in trauma treatment, and to be a forum where new ideas utilizing art, music, drama, movement and other expressive media in therapy, can be shared and discussed. We hope that through this SIG, members will be encouraged to expand their practices to include expressive arts modalities, and to conduct research and engage in further training in the creative arts.

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) SIG
Mission: To work to further understanding of research and clinical application of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in an integrative treatment approach when working with complex trauma, dissociation, and dissociative disorders. The SIG also hopes to support the discussion and dissemination of knowledge around the specific needs for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy within the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), and to work with ISSTD to support the education and training of clinicians worldwide who work with EMDR.

Inpatient (IP) SIG 
Mission: To promote and empower knowledge, collaboration, research, training, and advocacy for the effective assessment and treatment of trauma and dissociation within inpatient settings (e.g., hospitals, residential programs). This includes addressing the unique benefits, risks, and challenges that are associated with inpatient settings, as well as strengthening the role of inpatient care within the larger continuum of care. The ultimate goal of this group is to work towards improved inpatient care. This group endeavors to further these goals within the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and to work with ISSTD to disseminate this knowledge worldwide among professionals and the public.

Organized and Extreme Abuse (OEA) SIG
Mission: To further dialogue, knowledge, research, and training on the etiology, evaluation, and effective treatment of trauma and dissociation in clients reporting histories of ritual abuse or mind control. The OEA SIG provides a listserv for its membership that has as its goal to create a comfortable and confidential setting to dialogue on these matters. This is an active listserv with a large international membership. The officers of the OEA SIG are elected annually by its membership. Membership in the OEA SIG is free to all ISSTD members as an ISSTD membership benefit.

Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) SIG 
Mission: To further dialogue, knowledge, research, and training on the etiology, evaluation, and effective treatment of trauma and dissociation in clients diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), also known as dissociative seizures.

Transitional Age Youth (TAY) SIG 
Mission: To further dialogue, knowledge, research, and training on the diagnosis and treatment of transitional aged youth (18-24 year olds) who have complex trauma and dissociative disorders, as well as to improve knowledge about the unique characteristics and needs of this age group. The TAY SIG provides an online community for its membership that has as its goal to create a comfortable and confidential setting to dialogue on these matters.

Transgender & Non-Binary (TNB) SIG
Mission: This group will work to create a space where clinicians can connect and collaborate around effective assessment, trainings research, and treatment in the areas of complex trauma and dissociation as it applies to the unique needs of those who identify as transgender or non-binary.

The purpose of the Transgender and Non-Binary Special Interest Group is to support current and future understanding around the specific and unique ways complex trauma and dissociation may impact transgender and non-binary individuals. This will be explored through increasing dialogue, research and the development of trainings, as well as the understanding for effective treatment of trauma and dissociation in individuals who identify as transgender and/ or non-binary.

Vicarious Trauma (VT) SIG
Mission: To raise awareness and deepen understanding of the impact of clinical trauma work on the person of a clinician/researcher and their livelihood, as well as develop tools to protect and restore mental health of a provider. We would like to further these goals within the ISSTD and to work with ISSTD to disseminate this knowledge worldwide among professionals and the public. We invite anyone who is interested in building sustainable career in the trauma field to join our SIG. We are looking for new and creative ideas to raise the awareness of the impact of trauma work on the clinician and to support ISSTD members in developing resiliency and self-care practices that work for them.

Have Questions?

If you are interested in more information about any of the SIGs, or have a Special Interest Group you might wish to explore the possibility of opening, feel free to contact HQ at membership@isst-d.org. Guidelines for submitting an application to form a Special Interest Group and instructions to join each SIG can be found in the Member Resources tab in ISSTDWorld under Online Communities.