18th Annual Meeting Presentations Target Training, Research and Innovations
Eve Carlson, 2002 Annual Meeting Program Chair
July 1, 2002
The ISTSS 18th Annual Meeting in Baltimore will include new features this year, along with familiar content. As usual, there will be research reports and clinical presentations on the latest findings and innova tions in traumatic stress. Competition for oral presentation slots was greater this year than ever before. With oral submissions up 44 percent from last year, there was meeting space for only 56 percent of submitted symposia, workshops, panels and case reports. The focus of presentations covers a wide range of topics on 11 tracks, with the largest numbers of presentations in the areas of complex psychological trauma (the theme of the 2002 meeting); clinical and interventions research; child trauma; and disasters, mass trauma and early interventions, many focusing on responses to September 11.
Returning again from last year will be Expert Clinical Consultation Sessions where clinicians can bring questions from their own work for experienced, highly regarded experts to answer. Also back will be the quiet-contemplation room that so many found to be a welcome retreat amid the hubbub of the 2001 meeting. Other returning favorites include media night and the annual banquet.
New in 2002 will be parallel plenary sessions, providing more topics without using more programming time. Plenaries featuring different topics will occur simultaneously at two plenary session time slots. Another experimental programming format will feature poster sessions held by track during regular meeting sessions. For example, in one time slot there will be a poster session for all of the child and adolescent trauma posters, and poster authors will be available to discuss their work. This will allow an opportunity for those sharing similar interests to gather as a group and interact. A new feature of particular interest to clinicians will be the Master Clinician Sessions, in which leaders in the field will demonstrate specific therapeutic approaches in mock treatment sessions. Ever want to see Edna Foa demonstrate prolonged exposure? Here's your chance!
Researchers will take particular interest in another new feature-forums on funding priorities and programs of U.S. federal agencies, including the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Staff from these two agencies will team up to provide a forum on the funding process and preparation of NIH grant applications. Those interested in obtaining funding for trauma-related service delivery programs in community settings will want to attend a forum on preparing applications for the Center for Mental Health Service program grants. Forums on the development of ethics guidelines for ISTSS and on the recently funded National Child Traumatic Stress Network round out the new forum series.
An event last seen in 1993 will make a return appearance in the form of an awards reception. At this festive event (dress up if you like), you can chat with old friends or make new ones by stopping at tables designated by tracks. And of course, the annual ISTSS awards will be presented with appropriate hoopla.
Plan to attend the 18th annual meeting November 7-10, 2002, in Baltimore for basic or advanced training in traumatic stress, cutting edge research, innovations in clinical interventions and community programs, and professional networking and socializing with leaders in the field and peers-all at a bargain price.