Keynotes
Panel
About the topics
George A. Bonanno, PhD is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, New York will speak about trauma and the resilience paradox, going into the key role of regulatory flexibility in predicting psychopathological and resilient outcomes. A discussion will follow with Michel Dückers, moderator of this session and expert on disasters and crisis management and vulnerability analyses.
Talya Greene, an Associate Professor in Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology and Deputy Director of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at University College London will address occupational trauma in healthcare professionals: COVID and beyond. Paul Boelen, moderator of this session will then go into a lively discussion on (COVID-related) grief.
Sir Simon Wessely, dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences and the UK’s only Regius Professor of Psychiatry, both at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, will be addressing the timely topic of the impact of war.
Soraya Seedat, distinguished professor of psychiatry Stellenbosch University in South Africa will speak about effective interventions for PTSD in resource-limited settings. This session will be moderated by Wietse Tol who will discuss social justice and mental health in marginalized populations globally.
Frank Neuner – Improving trauma theory, therapy and delivery by learning from refugees. Moderator of this session is Geert Smid, who will lead a discussion with Dr Neuner and the audience on continuous trauma and the threat of a growing mental health crisis.
Eva Alisic, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Australia, will provide a Very Serious account of how she figured out exactly how we best communicate our research. She will share her experiments with artistic approaches to stimulate reflection about trauma and research, building on her work with, for example, children dealing with serious injuries and people with a refugee background settling in a new country. Trudy Mooren, moderator of this session, will engage in a personal conversation with Eva after her presentation, asking some thorny questions when it’s all looking a bit too shiny, and will involve the audience in Q&A.
Introducing the speakers
Keynotes
Prof. dr. Eva Alisic
Professor Eva Alisic is based at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. She studies how young people and families deal with traumatic experiences and disadvantage, with the aim of improving support and services. Eva collaborates extensively with people with lived experience, policymakers and a wide range of health, education and justice practitioners. Eva has been elected Fellow of the International Science Council and has been involved in global projects on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She has a keen interest in supporting early-career scholars, and has co-developed the Africa and ASEAN Science Leadership Programs. Eva has a Diploma of Visual Arts. Her art practice addresses both the content and process of her research.
Prof. dr. Paul A. Boelen
Prof. dr. Paul A. Boelen is full professor of clinical psychology at the department of psychology of the faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, at Utrecht University. As one of the ARQ Professors, he is also affiliated with ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre. He also works as a psychotherapist at ARQ Centrum’45. Paul Boelen is licensed supervisor and cognitive behavioral therapist with the Dutch Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy. Most of his research has focused on the phenomenology, correlates, and treatment of prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress following traumatic and non-traumatic losses, in children, families, and adults.
Prof. dr. George A. Bonanno
George A. Bonanno, Ph.D. is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, New York. His interests center on the question of how human beings cope with loss, trauma and other forms of extreme adversity. His empirical and theoretical work has for over 25 years centered on defining and documenting resilience in the face of loss or potential traumatic events, including disaster, loss, terrorist attack, bio-epidemic, traumatic injury, life-threatening injuries medical events, and military deployment, and on investigating the role of flexible responding in predicting psychopathological and resilient outcomes. He was honored recently with the Cattell award from the Association for Psychological Science “for a lifetime of intellectual achievements in applied psychological research and their impact on a critical problem in society at large”.
Prof. dr. Michel Dückers
Michel Dückers is professor of Crises, Safety and Health at the University of Groningen and ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre. He leads the Research Programme Disasters and Environmental Hazards at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (Nivel). Michel is an advisor for national and local governments in the event of calamities. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (Twente University), a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences (Utrecht University), and completed his habilitation (post-doctoral dissertation and training) dealing with the relativity of the mental health consequences of disasters (University of Innsbruck). His main areas of research are crisis management, disaster health research, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), and monitoring and evaluation.
Dr. Iryna Frankova
Iryna Frankova, M.D., PhD, is an assistant professor at the department of clinical, neuro- and developmental psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Senior researcher at ARQ Centrum’45, the Netherlands. She is an assistant professor at the department of medical psychology, psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy of Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. Dr. Frankova is a chair of Traumatic Stress Network, European college of Neuropsychopharmacology. Main focus of her interest is secondary prevention of PTSD, digital interventions in promotion of mental health and wellbeing and global mental health.
Dr. Talya Greene
Dr. Talya Greene is an Associate Professor in Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology and Deputy Director of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at University College London, UK. She specializes in the mental health consequences of exposure to traumatic events and disasters. Her research pioneered the application of innovative data collection methods such as ecological momentary assessment combined with dynamic network analysis to provide insight into traumatic stress symptom dynamics. She has been instrumental in promoting EMA and network approaches for trauma and mental health studies, through publications and workshops.
Talya is an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Psychotraumatology. As part of the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress, she is developing a toolkit for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data. She has published over 70 peer-review journal articles and book chapters in the field of traumatic stress.
Prof. dr. Trudy Mooren
Trudy Mooren works as a clinical psychologist and systemic therapist at ARQ Centrum’45, and is professor by special appointment at the Department of Clinical Psychology of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Utrecht University. She is head teacher of the postgraduate training for clinical psychologists at the RINO group. She researches the effects of psychotrauma on family relationships, especially in refugee populations, and publishes and presents about her work.
Prof. dr. Frank Neuner
Frank Neuner is head of Clinical Psychology at Bielefeld University including the University outpatient clinic. He has gained international reputation for the co-development of Narrative Exposure Therapy, a short-term mental health intervention for traumatic stress. He has published the first randomized treatment trial for posttraumatic stress disorder with refugees living in a war region that has been followed by several trials of his working group. His expertise is epidemiology, etiology and treatment of severe trauma-associated psychological disorders following repeated intense adversities like war and child maltreatment.
Prof. dr. Soraya Seedat
Prof dr. Soraya Seedat is a distinguished professor of psychiatry and holds the South African Research Chair in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. In addition, she co-directs the Medical Research Council Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders. She has been the recipient of several awards including a World Federation of the Society of Biological Psychiatry Fellowship, a Lundbeck Institute Fellowship Award in Psychiatry, an MRC mid-career award, and an Anxiety Disorders Association of America Career Development Award. She has co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has extensive research experience in the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders, with a special interest in clinical and translational work in childhood and adult posttraumatic stress disorder. She is an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.
Prof. dr. Geert Smid
Geert Smid is a psychiatrist and endowed professor of psychotrauma, loss, and grief, ARQ Centrum’45/ ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and University of Humanistic Studies, The Netherlands. As a clinician, he has worked with trauma survivors since 2003. In 2011 he obtained his doctorate with the thesis “Deconstructing Delayed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”. In 2013 he initiated the Day Patient Treatment for Traumatic Grief at ARQ Centrum’45. In collaboration with other experts, he developed several clinical interventions and tools for the diagnosis and treatment of prolonged and traumatic grief, such as the Traumatic Grief Inventory-Self Report Plus (TGI-SR+), the Bereavement and Grief-Cultural Formulation Interview (BG-CFI), and Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy for Prolonged and Traumatic Grief (BEPPTG). He has published extensively in scientific journals and books on the prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of PTSD and prolonged grief, stress sensitization and delivery of evidence-based trauma- and grief-focused care. His current research on PTSD and grief focuses on meaning attribution after loss, epidemiological and cultural aspects, diagnostics, prevention, treatment, palliative care and development of a grief care network.
Prof. dr. Wietse Tol
Wietse A. Tol is Professor of Global Mental Health at the Section of Global Health, Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen; Endowed Professor of Global Mental Health and Social Justice at the VU University Amsterdam and ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre; Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Senior Advisor with HealthRight International. He holds an MA in Clinical and Health Psychology (Leiden University), a Ph.D. in Public Mental Health (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. Dr. Tol’s research and practice focus on mental health and psychosocial support interventions for adversity-affected populations in low- and middle-income countries. In particular, his work centers on (integrated) interventions that address mental health and the social determinants of mental health, and he is very interested in understanding how research can lead to improved practice (and vice versa). He regularly consults with UN agencies and (international) non-governmental organizations in the areas of mental health and psychosocial support needs assessment, intervention selection and development, monitoring, and evaluation.
Prof. dr. Sir Simon Wessely
Sir Simon Wessely FMedSci FRS (born 23 December 1956) is a British psychiatrist. He is currently Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences and also the UK’s only Regius Professor of Psychiatry, both at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. He is Co-Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, which he established in 2003. He is also honorary consultant psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital, as well as civilian consultant advisor in psychiatry to the British Army. He was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to military healthcare and to psychological medicine. From 2014 to 2017, he was the elected president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, followed by three years as President of the Royal Society of Medicine. In 2023 he was appointed to the Board of NHS-England.
Wessely’s main research interests lie in the “grey areas” between medicine and psychiatry, clinical epidemiology and military health. His first paper was entitled “Dementia and Mrs. Thatcher”, since then he has published over 800 papers, with an H Index of 146, on subjects including epidemiology, unexplained symptoms and syndromes, post traumatic stress, medicine and law, history of psychiatry, chronic pain, somatisation, Gulf War syndrome, chemical and biological terrorism and deliberate self-harm.
However, as he told the popular British radio programme “Desert Island Discs” last year, his main joy in life, apart from watching Chelsea Football Club, is arguing in Viennese cafes.
PANEL
Mukasa Moses Bwesige
Mr. Mukasa Moses Bwesige is an experienced Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) specialist with expert knowledge and experience in using the Community Based Psychosocial Support (CBPS) and Human Rights based approaches to plan, design, implement, coordinate, and evaluate programs that promote community-based mental health and psychosocial wellbeing including suicide prevention, response, resilience and recovery building in fragile, conflict and Post Conflict-affected settings.
With an academic background in Social Sciences, Public Health, and professional training in Mental health and Psychosocial support, Mukasa for the last 9 years has served with both Academic institutions, government, National, and International Organizations, donor agencies as well as Community-based organizations in conflict and Post Conflict settings in the Great lakes’ region (South Sudan, Uganda, DRC, Kenya.
Mr. Mukasa currently serves as the MHPSS specialist at the Lutheran world federation based in Uganda and has profound knowledge of gender, sexuality, and intersectionality in MHPSS programming within Humanitarian settings.
Dr. Mohammad Abo Hilal, MBA.
Dr. Mohammad Abo Hilal (MBA) is a Syrian psychiatrist. Trainer and supervisor in mental health and protection. Founder of Syria Bright Future organization: a Syrian organization specialized in MHPSS and protection. He is a co- founder of several other NGOs that works in the Syria context in the field of MHPSS, Women protection and youth empowerment. Over the last ten years, he designed and supervised many MHPSS programs and projects that supported Syrian inside Syria and in neighboring countries. He is a PM+ Trainer and Supervisor. He was an Advisory Board member for STRENGTH project that in which PM+ and its derivatives has been applied to Syrian refugees in & countries. He authored and co-authored several research papers about mental health of Syrians. He has special interest in adapting the MHPSS curriculums to the Syrian culture. Furthermore he is a specialist in building capacity of youths and grassroots organizations. Dr. Abo Hilal lives in Turkey Gaziantep and he is father of four children. Three daughters and one son.
Dr. Jackie June ter Heide
Jackie June ter Heide (1972) trained as a clinical psychologist at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and as a theologian at Cambridge University, UK. She currently works as a therapist at ARQ Centrum’45, an institute for patients suffering from complex psychotrauma in the Amsterdam area, the Netherlands. There she specializes in treatment of profession-related PTSD and moral injury. Jackie June is an EMDR Europe practitioner as well as an EMDR supervisor in training, and completed a PhD comparing the safety and efficacy of EMDR therapy and stabilization in refugees with PTSD. In addition, she is a senior researcher and coordinator of the ARQ research track on complex trauma. Jackie June has published on numerous topics including EMDR therapy for refugees, Complex PTSD, the dissociative subtype, moral injury and treatment of police officers. She is currently head researcher of several studies on moral injury in military veterans funded by the Netherlands Veterans Institute. Jackie June is a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology and a guest editor of a special issue on emerging treatments for moral injury of Frontiers in Psychiatry. When off work, she enjoys creative writing and has published several essays and short stories.
Dr. Oksana Kryvonogova
Dr. Oksana Kryvonogova is the director of Early Intervention Centre of Odesa, and head and founder of the Ukrainian NGO Healthy Society. She has a background in psychology and pedagogy. She is a docent of at the Department of Special Pedagogic and Psychology, South-Ukrainian National Pedagogical University, Odesa. Healthy Society is the Ukrainian partner of the “MHPSS for Rapid Response, Recovery, and Resilience: Supporting mental health care providers in Ukraine” which is carried out during the war in Ukraine.
Prof. dr. Shira Maguen
Shira Maguen, Ph.D. is Mental Health Director of the Post-9/11 Integrated Care Clinic and Staff Psychologist on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Clinical Team (PCT) at the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS), and Vice Chair of SFVAHCS and Professor in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. Maguen was appointed to and served on the Creating Options for Veterans’ Expedited Recovery (COVER) Commission. She is also the San Francisco site co-lead for the VA Women’s Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) and Director of the SFVAHCS PTSD MIRECC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Dr. Maguen completed her internship and postdoctoral training at the National Center for PTSD at the VA Boston Healthcare System after receiving her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University. She is involved with both the research and clinical components of the PTSD programme. Her research interests fall under the umbrella of PTSD, moral injury, and suicide, and include risk and resilience factors in veterans, with a particular focus on female veterans. Dr. Maguen was the recipient of a VA Health Services Research and Development Grant that examined the impact of killing in veterans of war and moral injury and is currently conducting a multi-site trial examining a novel treatment for veterans who have killed in war. She has three additional grants to develop an eating disorder screen and self-diagnostic tool for the Veteran population, to examine rates of eating disorders in the military population, and to test a treatment for PTSD and moral injury. She recently completed two additional grants that examine the effectiveness of evidence-based treatments in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans via natural language processing and the effectiveness of a behaviorally-based treatment for insomnia (BBTI) in primary care. Dr. Maguen is the author of over 160 peer-reviewed publications, most of which focus on veteran mental health. She also works in a clinical capacity within the Post-9/11 Integrated Care Clinic and treating veterans with evidence-based treatments for PTSD. She supervises research health fellows and other trainees in evidence-based treatments for PTSD, and provides mentorship for trauma-focused research fellows.
Dr. Bayan Kader Rasul
Dr Bayan Kader Rasul is feminist Psychiatrist, Gender and Women Health Expert; Co-founder of Emma Organization for Human Development in Kurdistan/ Iraq, Emma is a feminist origination, non-governmental, independent and non-profit organization. Emma wants to inspire breakthroughs in the way the current society treats women, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives and that of the community through rehabilitation and empowerment programs.
Currently supervising Emma’s program on SRHR and rehabilitation centers providing trauma healing program such as psycho-social support in Kurdistan targeting (S) GBV survivors particularly Yazidi women who survived SGBV during their captivity by ISIL.
A 40 years of experience in the field of women’s health and gender equality rights. Interest and experience in transcultural and social psychiatry (Community Mental Health), psycho-trauma counseling, gynecology and women’s health. Willingness to train others in capacity building, case management, women empowerment, (S) GBV, SRHR, women health rights
Completed postgraduate studies in psychiatry at the Netherlands; specialized transcultural team and post-trauma therapy.
Worked as Consultant for UNFPA, UN women as gender expert and Consultant for Gender affairs in UNAMI, has lectured at Salah Adin University in Erbil
Worked as Consultant and trainer for different UN institutions, (I) NGOs and governmental organizations in the Netherlands & Kurdistan on the topics of woman health, human (women’s) rights, conflict related sexual violence, gender-based violence, development and rehabilitation, developing specialized trauma healing program such as psycho-social and medical support in Kurdistan as a post conflict area particularly targeting Christian and Yazidi women who survived SGBV during their captive period by ISIS.
Also, she is involved in regional Initiative team in designing strategies such as compacting violence against women, women development (empowerment) and (Mental) women Health beside providing counselling and individual and group psychotherapy treatment.
Member of international women mental health association
Dr. Simone de la Rie
Simone de la Rie is a clinical psychologist, supervisor of clinical traineeships of behavioral sciences, senior researcher and coordinator of the research track on migration and psychotrauma. She is a senior lecturer of NET and BEPP, supervisor VGCt, NVP, NET and BEPP. She is a member of the VGCt and candidate member of the NVPP.
Her area of expertise is culture sensitive early identification & intervention, diagnostics and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers with trauma related psychopathology, in particular complex trauma, including PTSD, depression, dissociation, grief, moral injury and personality disorders, intergenerational trauma and the relation with postmigration stress. Next to research in this field, she is involved in developing and evaluating diagnostic instruments and innovative treatments, consultation and training of professionals in the field.
