Communications Corner

ISTSS

SIGs Sponsor Presentations at 2004 Annual Meeting

The Special Interest Groups will sponsor a number of presentations at the ISTSS 20th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, November 14–18. Each year the SIG-endorsed presentations grow, and this year most SIGs are sponsoring one to six presentations. A full list of all SIG-endorsed presentations appears in the annual meeting’s final program, which will be included in the registration packet at the meeting site.

The SIGs hold their annual meetings at the ISTSS conference, and this year the SIG meetings will take place Sunday, November 14, 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m., and Monday, November 15, 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m.

Becoming active in a SIG is a good way to network and collaborate with colleagues—and it gets you more involved with ISTSS. Meeting participants are invited to attend any of the SIG meetings. For more information about the SIGs, contact Gregory Leskin at [email protected]. Visit the SIG section at www.istss.org/sigs/index.htm to see a complete list of Special Interest Groups.

ISTSS Announces New SIG

ISTSS has formed a new Special Interest Group—the Family Systems Approaches to Trauma Special Interest Group (FSAT-SIG). The new SIG will promote increased knowledge about the nature of psychological trauma, and the prevention and treatment of its effects on individuals and their intimate relationships, from a family systems perspective. The SIG will address 1) how trauma impacts the broader systems within which the individual survivor interacts and lives, and 2) sources of resilience within these systems that facilitate recovery and growth.

The SIG was designed to: 1) educate the ISTSS community about advancements within and outside the field that have implications for research and treatment of trauma survivors and their family systems; 2) promote awareness of the relationship between traumatic stress and issues for couple and family systems; 3) foster communication among FSAT-SIG members regarding their clinical and research work and interests; 4) stimulate further research and clinical developments in this area to narrow the gap between research and clinical practice; and 5) disseminate information regarding FSAT-SIG activities to ISTSS and to the larger field.

The SIG will reach its goals through a number of ways:

• Develop a listserv to promote on-going communication between members of the FSAT-SIG.
• Initiate specialty Pre-meeting Institutes to address contemporary issues and recent findings in family systems approaches to trauma.
• Promote within-meeting presentations (e.g., panels, symposia, posters, etc.) that emphasize family systems issues that are of interest to both researchers and clinicians.
• Identify experts in family systems approaches to trauma who typically would not attend the ISTSS meeting and invite them to speak.
• Disseminate information and access to resources regarding this area to the larger ISTSS community via the ISTSS Web site through links to relevant organizations and Web-based resources.
• Promote collaboration among FSAT-SIG members across and within research and clinical areas.
• Provide educational opportunities, networking possibilities, and possible mentorships for new or junior investigators interested in family systems approaches within the field of traumatic stress.

The FSAT-SIG’s first meeting will be held in New Orleans at the ISTSS 20th Annual Meeting Sunday, November 14, 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m. For more information, contact co-chairs Briana S. Nelson Goff, PhD, at [email protected] and Greg Jurkovic, PhD, at [email protected].