WHO Mental Health Programs for Mental Health Interventions for Refugees and Displaced Persons
Prof Richard Bryant AC
Professor of Psychology,
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Prof Richard Bryant AC is a Scientia Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Professor Bryant has researched the nature, course, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for over 20 years. His work has identified key genetic, neural, and psychological factors underpinning PTSD. Much of his work has focused on early markers of recently trauma-exposed people who will develop PTSD.
Through many longitudinal studies he has developed the world’s leading screening tools for early identification of PTSD as well as development of the most commonly used early treatment protocols. These have been translated into over 15 languages and used in many countries.
Professor Bryant has written 5 books, 70 book chapters, and 570 journal articles. He has served on major international committees to define PTSD internationally. In 2016 he received the Companion of the Order of Australia for services to research and management of traumatic stress.
Childhood Trauma: What Does it Look Like and How Can We Treat it?
Prof Tine K. Jensen
Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, & Senior Researcher, Norwegian Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway
Prof Tine K. Jensen, Psych. Ph D, is a professor and a clinical psychologist at the University of Oslo, Department of Psychology and a senior researcher at the Norwegian Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies in Oslo, Norway.
Her therapeutic and research interests have been on understanding consequences of traumatic experiences and the impact they have on youth and their families, and on change processes in psychotherapy. She was the primary investigator of a RCT comparing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral therapy with treatment as usual for traumatized youth in regular mental health clinics in Norway.
She has been the primary investigator of a longitudinal study on children traumatized by the 2004 South East Asian tsunami, and of a study on mental health problems of unaccompanied young asylum seekers. She is also a senior researcher on a study of health effects on youth and their parents who experienced the 2011 Terror Attack on Utøya Island in Norway. She was a member of the ISTSS guidelines committee for early intervention and treatment of PTSD. After the terror attack in Norway, she was part of the Norwegian Health Directorates expert group for psychosocial interventions.
Psychological, Pharmacological and Technological Innovations in the Treatment of PTSD
Prof Barbara O. Rothbaum
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
Prof Barbara O. Rothbaum, PhD is Executive Director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. She is a Professor and Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Research at Emory School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program and holds the Paul A. Janssen Chair in Neuropsychopharmcology.
Dr. Rothbaum specializes in research on the treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly PTSD. She was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Study on Assessment of Ongoing Efforts in the Treatment of PTSD, and briefed the DOD, VA, House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees on the IOM report results (June 17-18, 2014). Dr. Rothbaum has been studying PTSD treatments since 1986 and has developed, tested, and disseminated some of the most innovative and effective treatments available for PTSD. She is an inventor of virtual reality exposure therapy. She was a pioneer in applying it in the treatment of PTSD in combat veterans.
She has authored over 300 scientific papers and chapters, has published 8 books on the treatment of PTSD and edited 3 others on anxiety, with 3 books under contract, and received the Diplomate in Behavioral Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is a past President of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), is currently on the Scientific Advisory Boards for the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), National Center for PTSD (NC-PTSD), and McLean Hospital, and the executive committee of the Warrior Care Network. She is a fellow of the ACNP (American College of Neuropsychopharmacology), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and American Psychological Association’s Division 56 (Division of Trauma Psychology) and was awarded the 2010 “Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Trauma Psychology” for APA Division 56 and the Robert S. Laufer Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Her outreach efforts include training community clinicians in evidence-based treatment for PTSD.
Trauma, the COVID Pandemic and adversity across the UK
Prof Simon Wessely
Professor of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry, King’s College, London, UK
Sir Simon Wessely is Professor of Psychological Medicine and Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College London and a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at King’s College and the Maudsley Hospitals.
Simon Wessely studied medicine and history of art at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and finished his medical training at University College Oxford, graduating in 1981. He obtained his medical membership in Newcastle, before moving to London to train in psychiatry at the Maudsley. He has a Master’s and Doctorate in epidemiology. He is a Foundation Senior Investigator of the National Institute for Health Research, past President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, current President of the Royal Society of Medicine and is also chairing the Independent Review into the Mental Health Act.
He has over 750 original publications, with an emphasis on the boundaries of medicine and psychiatry, unexplained symptoms and syndromes, population reactions to adversity, military health, epidemiology and others. He founded the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, which is now the main source of information on the health and well-being of the past and present UK Armed Forces and has been Civilian Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry to the British Army since 2001, He has co-authored books on chronic fatigue syndrome, randomised controlled trials and a history of military psychiatry, although sadly none of them are best sellers.
He is active in public engagement activities, speaking regularly on radio, TV and at literary and science festivals. He is a trustee of Combat Stress and his contributions to veterans’ charities include cycling (slowly) eight times to Paris to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.
MDMA-Assisted Therapies and the Healing of Trauma: Individual, Communal, Multigenerational
Rick Doblin
Founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients.
His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment.
Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist.