EWOTS 2005
Report by Miranda Olff
I think we can say that the EWOTS, the first European conference on traumatic stress in a workshop format was a big success. About 260 participants actively discussed, practiced, learned, experienced different aspects of trauma and PTSD. We saw video's on how children were treated with EMDR, we took our own saliva samples and tested our stress levels, we discussed how culture may interfere with group psychotherapy, segmented hippocampus volume (on paper) and many other experiences. Many speakers and workshop organizers from different institutes in the Netherlands have made this possible together with input from the board member of ESTSS.
We had two excellent key note speakers. Kerstin Bergh Johannesson talked about how the Swedes survived the Tsunami, with very impressive images of how their society responded to such a disaster. The next morning Jonathan Bisson talked about what really works in the treatment of PTSD. So after these two days we all know how to do it!
Even the lunches were productive. During one of them the Dutch society of traumatic stress was founded! In the Netherlands a relatively large number of people are active in the field of trauma and if we join forces we will all benefit from sharing knowledge and experiences.
Look forward to seeing you all on the next European conference!
Miranda Olff