2020 Fall Virtual Conference

Impacts of Societal Trauma in Marginalized Communities

October 10-11, 2020

Across the globe at this time, trauma is abundant. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical strife, there are compounding challenges faced by marginalized populations. This virtual conference places much-needed focus on the needs of traumatized people who have been wounded in part because of their skin color, their country of origin, their disabilities, their income, their sexual orientation or simply their very way of being. 

In the United States, 45% of children have been exposed to at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), with one in ten children exposed to more than three adverse childhood experiences. A large representative survey of American adults found that 89.7% reported exposure to a traumatic event, with multiple trauma exposure the norm. For individuals who are part of marginalized communities, these numbers are even higher. 

As movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have developed, the impact of societal trauma on marginalized communities has come to the forefront. In mental health, the compounded traumatic experiences these populations face need to be addressed, both among clinicians and in the treatment room. 

Judith Herman and Monnica Williams will be our plenary speakers, discussing prolonged trauma and addressing racial issues.  We will have exciting presentations regarding theory, research and treatment of trauma and dissociation as it relates to people of color, sexual orientation and gender identity, disabilities, prison populations, and more. This conference will focus on the experiences of those who face discrimination and are commonly underserved, and how we can address the needs of these populations.

We invite you to look through this wonderful lineup of speakers and topics. We think you will find it to be essential, timely and inspiring information for your knowledge and skills.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our conference has moved to a completely online platform, which will enable people to take part safely and conveniently from all nations. Presentations will be interactive, so participants can ask questions and make comments.


Registration Rates

Continuing Education and Continuing Medical Education Credits will only be given for sessions attended live online for those that purchase credits. All sessions will be recorded and made available for 60 days but not all recordings will be available for viewing after this time. All extended-time recorded sessions will be available in November/December with the option for continuing education credits through our CE provider, CE Learning, for a separate fee for those sessions only.

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be received in writing via email or fax. A processing fee of $75 will be charged for cancellations received on or before October 1, 2020 at 5:00pm EDT. No refunds will be issued for no-shows. Refund requests will not be accepted after October 1, 2020. Not all requests will be granted. Substitutions for attendees are accepted at any time.

Registration Contact Information
Email: info@isst-d.org
Phone: 844.994.7783
Fax: 888.966.0310

Registration Options and Discounts

Registration Categories

Student
Student registration is open to those enrolled in a program of study leading to a degree or certification in the mental health field and who have an interest in trauma and dissociation. Student registration is also open to trainees and interns in the mental health professions who are practicing under supervision. Proof of student status such as a transcript, copy of course registration, or letter from a supervisor for trainees/interns is required.

Emerging Professional
Emerging Professional registration is open mental health professionals who have completed an advanced degree and are in the first three years of their career. The three year timeframe is based on date licensed for clinicians or the date of graduation for researchers.

Professional
Professional registration is open to professionals primarily involved in the provision of services, research, education, scholarship, writing or public policy in an area related to trauma and dissociation. Members who are mental health or health care providers must be either licensed professionals or qualified within the accepted legal or cultural standards for conducting clinical practice in his or her locale.

Discounts

Emerging Professional Discounts
Emerging Professional members are eligible for a $100 discount off two-day registration and $50 off one-day registration.

Group Discounts
Discounts are available to groups of five or more individuals from the same facility, school, or organization.

  • Groups of 5+: 10% discount
  • Groups of 10+: 15% discount

World Bank Lower Income Country Discounts
New in 2020! We now offer discounts for attendees coming from World Bank categorized lower income countries. To check whether your country is in one of these categories, click here.

  • World Bank Low-Income Countries: 75% discount
  • World Bank Lower Middle Income Countries: 50% discount
  • Work Bank Upper Middle Income Countries: 25% discount

Please contact the ISSTD Registration Department at info@isst-d.org for additional information on all discounts and to receive the appropriate discount code. Discounts are available until September 30, 2020.

Conference Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • List three aspects of societies that lead to and increase childhood trauma in vulnerable populations 
  • Describe five ways traumatic experiences can be specific to marginalized populations
  • Create treatment plans based on the specified needs of marginalized populations
  • Develop and enhance therapeutic interventions specific to a person’s race, culture, socio-economic status, gender identity, or other life circumstance
  • Describe how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) effect marginalized populations across the lifespan

Plenary Speakers

Judith Herman, MD

Relationships After Prolonged and Repeated Trauma

Saturday, October 10, 2020
2:30 – 4:00 PM ET

Judith Lewis Herman MD is Professor of Psychiatry (part time) at Harvard Medical School. For thirty years, until she retired, she was Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program at The Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA.  Dr. Herman received her medical degree at Harvard Medical School and her training in general and community psychiatry at Boston University Medical Center.  She is the author of two award-winning books:  Father-Daughter Incest(Harvard University Press, 1981), and Trauma and Recovery (Basic Books, 1992).   She has lectured widely on the subject of sexual and domestic violence.  She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1996 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the 2000 Woman in Science Award from the American Medical Women’s Association.  In 2007 she was named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Monnica Williams, PhD

Understanding Racial Stress and Trauma

Sunday, October 11, 2020
2:30 – 4:00 PM ET

Dr. Monnica T. Williams is a board-certified licensed clinical psychologist who was named one of the top 25 thought leaders in PTSD. Her work has been featured in several major media outlets, including NPR, Huffington Post, CNN, and the New York Times.  Dr. Williams has published over 100 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles focused on trauma and other anxiety-related disorders and cultural differences. She is an associate editor of the Behavior Therapist and New Ideas in Psychology, and serves on the editorial board of several additional scientific journals.  A past president of the Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists, Dr. Williams is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa in the School of Psychology, where she is the Canada Research Chair for Mental Health Disparities. She is also Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Connecticut, where she provides supervision and training to clinicians for empirically-supported treatments.  

Conference Schedule

Preliminary Online Schedule

Our online preliminary conference schedule is now available. This schedule will give you a full breakdown of the schedule for each day Additional details on each conference presentation are available by clicking the link below each presentation.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

9:00 – 9:45 AM ET

Mindfulness Exercises with Christine Forner
Engagement Event
Join ISSTD Past President Christine Forner for mindfulness exercises to start off the conference centered and relaxed. 

10:00 – 11:30 AM ET

Racial Trauma, Neurons, and EMDR: The Path Towards an Antiracist Psychotherapy
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: David Archer
Presentation & Speaker Information

Historical Trauma in Developing Countries: A View from South Asia
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: Ellen Elliott
Presentation & Speaker Information

Approaching Dissociative Disorder Patients Difficulties with Positive Events and Feelings
3 Hour Workshop
Presenter: Ellen Jepsen
Presentation & Speaker Information

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET

Morning Break

12:00 – 1:30 PM ET

Shifting the Child Welfare Paradigm: Complexities faced implementing Trauma-informed Care
Symposium
Presenters: Denise Brend, Delphine Collin-Vezina, Alexandra Matte-Landry, and Ginny Sprang
Presentation & Speaker Information

The Role of Discrimination and Social Defeat in Explaining the Relationship between Race and Psychosis
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: Heather Hall
Presentation & Speaker Information

Approaching Dissociative Disorder Patients Difficulties with Positive Events and Feelings (continued)

1:30 – 2:30 PM ET

Meal Break

1:40 – 2:20 PM ET

Member Meet-Up with Abigail Percifield
Engagement Event
ISSTD Members are invited to join a call hosted by Membership Committee Co-Chair Abigail Percifield. Connect with new and old colleagues, catch up on the latest with ISSTD, and enjoy time interacting face-to-face with your fellow ISSTD Members!

2:30 – 4:00 PM ET

Relationships After Prolonged and Repeated Trauma
Plenary Workshop
Presenter: Judith Herman
Presentation & Speaker Information

4:00 – 4:30 PM ET

Afternoon Break

4:30 – 6:00 PM ET

Treating Chronic Shame
90 Minute Workshop
Presenters: Kevin Connors and Teri Pokrajek
Presentation & Speaker Information

Prison as Cultural Oppression via Psychological Compression: Treatment Implications
3 Hour Workshop
Presenter: Rick Hohfeler
Presentation & Speaker Information

What Causes Dissociation?
3 Hour Workshop
Presenter: Mary-Anne Kate
Presentation & Speaker Information

6:00 – 6:30 PM ET

Evening Break

6:30 – 8:00 PM ET

Constructions of Complex Trauma and Implications for Women’s Wellbeing and Safety
Symposium
Presenters: Michael Salter, Jackie Burke, Warwick Middleton, Elizabeth Conroy, and Heather Hall
Presentation & Speaker Information

Prison as Cultural Oppression via Psychological Compression: Treatment Implications (continued)

What Causes Dissociation? (continued)

Sunday, October 11, 2020


9:00 – 9:30 AM ET

Yoga with Lily Pavone
Engagement Event
To kick off day two of the conference, join Lily Pavone for a morning yoga session. Take 30 minutes to relax your body and center your mind for another day of fantastic trauma training content. 

10:00 – 11:30 AM ET

How do Children and Adults with an Intellectual Disability Deal with Trauma?
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: Valerie Sinason
Presentation & Speaker Information

Culturally Sensitive Affirmative Trauma Therapy for Male Gay Youths Traumatized by Men
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: Adrian Stierum
Presentation & Speaker Information

Human Evil and Societal Trauma
3 Hour Workshop
Presenters: Sheldon Itzkowitz, Heather Hall, and Ellen Lacter
Presentation & Speaker Information

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET

Morning Break

12:00 – 1:30 PM ET

Trauma Recovery Center: Addressing the Needs of Victims of Violence and Persecution
Symposium
Presenters: Catherine Classen, Margaret Hering, Sarah Metz, Huaiya Zhang, Cristina Biasetto, and Carla Richmond
Presentation & Speaker Information

Somatic Methods for Affect Regulation of Traumatized Youth
90 Minute Workshop
Presenters: Kimberley Shilson and Rochelle Sharpe
Presentation & Speaker Information

Human Evil and Societal Trauma (continued)

1:30 – 2:30 PM ET

Meal Break

1:40 – 2:20 PM ET

A “Brave Space” for Dis- socia(l)- ated Connection with the Creative Arts Therapy Special Interest Group
Engagement Event
Join the CAT SIG for an experiential zoom meeting! We propose creating a virtual “brave space” (Arao & Clemens, 2013) where we will engage with creative art processes that can help us reflect on the conference theme of societal trauma in marginalized communities. We invite you to bring some simple drawing or mark making materials to the session; no artistic skill is required. We hope you will drop in and join us in this creative space for reflection and connection.

2:30 – 4:00 PM ET

Understanding Racial Stress and Trauma
Plenary Workshop
Presenter: Monnica T. Williams
Presentation & Speaker Information

4:00 – 4:30 PM ET

Afternoon Break

4:30 – 6:00 PM ET

It’s Not All Better: Minority Stress & LGBTQ People
90 Minute Workshop
Presenters: julie graham, Lotus Do, and Mary Jayne Sims
Presentation & Speaker Information

Reducing Shame, Promoting Dignity: A Model for the Primary Prevention of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

3 Hour Workshop
Presenters: Heather Hall and Michael Salter
Presentation & Speaker Information

Attachment Toolbox: Strategies for Treating Attachment Disruption in Traumatised Youth
3 Hour Workshop
Presenter: Niki Gomez Perales
Presentation & Speaker Information

6:00 – 6:30 PM ET

Evening Break

6:30 – 8:00 PM ET

When Trauma and Systemic Betrayal Intersect With Gender Diversity
90 Minute Workshop
Presenter: Dragan Wright
Presentation & Speaker Information

Reducing Shame, Promoting Dignity: A Model for the Primary Prevention of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
 (continued)

Attachment Toolbox: Strategies for Treating Attachment Disruption in Traumatised Youth (continued)

CE/CME Accreditation Information

Below please find additional information on continuing education and continuing medical education credits. All courses are approved for credits unless otherwise noted in the online schedule.

Credits will only be given for sessions attended live online for those that purchase credits. All sessions will be recorded and made available for 60 days but not all recordings will be available for viewing after this time. All extended-time recorded sessions will be available in November/December with the option for continuing education credits through our CE provider, CE Learning, for a separate fee.

Continuing Education

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB ACE)

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), #1744, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. ISSTD maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2020 – 08/20/2021.  Social workers completing this course receive up to 15 continuing education credits for full attendance at both days. 

American Psychological Association (Pending approval)

CE Learning Systems, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE Learning Systems maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.

New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a CE-credit.com), is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0008

Continuing Medical Education

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, LLC and International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. The PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, LLC is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The PeerPoint Medical Education Institute, LLC designates this live activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Financial Disclosures

The following presenters, planners, editors, or staff have relevant financial relationships to disclose:

“I, or an immediate family member, have at present or have had within the last 12 months, the following affiliation with one or more organizations that could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest in context to the design, implementation, presentation, evaluation, etc. of CME Activities.”

Participant Full NameRoleCommercial InterestFor what role?What was received?
Dr. Monnica WilliamsPresenterBehavioral Wellness Clinic, LLCClinical DirectorSpousal Ownership

All other presenters, planners, editors, or staff reported no relevant relationships with the following statement:

“I, or an immediate family member, do not have at present, or within the last 12 months, nor anticipate having financial interest, arrangement or affiliation with any organizations that could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest in context to the design, implementation, presentation, evaluation, etc. of CME Activities.

Click Here for a copy of the CE/CME information listed above.