History of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
The First European Conference on Traumatic Stress Studies, held in the United Kingdom in 1988, provided the inspiration for establishing a European Trauma Network for professionals in the field of psychotraumatology. Its aim was to facilitate networking between academic institutions, treatment centres and individuals with shared interests in the effects of trauma and their resolution. From the onset this regional initiative was supported by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) as a welcome development towards a worldwide network of international societies for traumatic stress studies.
Further steps towards formally establishing a European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies were taken during the Second and Third European Conferences on Traumatic Stress held respectively in The Netherlands and Norway. After convening a meeting of delegates attending the latter conference which endorsed the principle of establishing a European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) a founding Board of Directors met in June 1993 under the chairmanship of Dr. W.S. de Loos. As President of the ESTSS he automatically became ex-officio member of the ISTSS Board. This level of formal cooperation at Presidential level remains in place and has been extended to former ESTSS Presidents being part of the International Council of Past Presidents of Traumatic Stress Societies.
By May 1995 when the ESTSS held the Fourth European Conference on Traumatic Stress in France the Society had established a solid membership base and a society secretariat. Members receive the ESTSS Newsletter and subscribe to the Journal of Traumatic Stress at a reduced rate. In recognition of the linguistic diversity in Europe formal links exist with the Association de Langue Francaise pour l'Etude de Stress Traumatique (ALFEST).
It is envisaged European Conferences will be held every two years with smaller thematic regional conferences taking place with greater regularity. In a cooperative venture with the European Commission the ESTSS has sought to inform and influence policy decisions in respect of training requirements for professionals involved in the care of those subjected to traumatic stressors as well as standards of practice within centres of excellence.
Members receive the ESTSS Newsletter, can subscribe to the Journal of Traumatic Stress at a reduced rate and pay lower conference registration fees for scientific meetings arranged by any of the international societies for traumatic stress studies.
In 2002 the ESTSS introduced a Members Only section on the website. This section contains the latest and previous ESTSS Bulletins in English. In addition there are translations of some Bulletins in French, Italian and German. It is hope that translations into other languages will be available shortly.
In recognition of the linguistic diversity in Europe formal links exist with the Association de Langue Francaise pour l'Etude de Stress Traumatique (ALFEST) and DeGPT (Deutschsprachige Gesellschaft für Psychotraumatologie).
All these initiatives illustrate how the ESTSS seeks to fulfill its mission statements.