Hi everyone.
There are a number of trauma conferences that I try to attend each year and the Boston International Trauma Conference is 1 of them. The 34th annual conference was an extraordinary four-day journey into cutting edge research in the field of trauma. The annual conference is run by Professor Bessel van der Kolk and the Trauma Research Foundation based in Boston. Each year, Professor van Der Kolk brings together some of the world’s leading experts in the field of trauma. These people have dedicated their careers to understanding and treating trauma. This year, there was such a rich offering from world experts including Professor van Der Kolk, Dr Gabor Mate, Professor Tania Singer, Dr Richards Schwartz, Dr Ron Siegel, Professor Ruth Lanius, Dr Martin Teicher, Dr Bernhard Wandernoth, Dr Sebern Fisher and so many more.
The session topics gives some insight into what world experts consider to be important in treating trauma related symptoms. There was a 9 hour session dedicated to mindfulness in which Professor Tania Singer and Dr Ron Siegel gave a wonderful update on the importance of mindfulness in treating trauma related symptoms. Professor van der Kolk and Professor Ressler gave an update on neuroscience and PTSD. A number of speakers including Professor Ruth Lanius and Dr Sebern Fisher, presented on neurofeedback. Dr Gabor Mate gave a wonderful presentation on how trauma affects the body. Dr Richards Schwartz presented on the internal family systems model and how it is relevant to trauma. There were other presentations but these were the ones that really caught my attention.
In summary, the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference gathered some of the world’s most prominent experts in the field of trauma. They presented the most recent research on what helps treat trauma related symptoms. I came away having learned a lot and I also came away with considerable optimism that with effective treatment, the outcome for people with PTSD is much better that it was.
Take care
Marty
