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ABOUT THE GCTS

Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress

Collaborating on topics of global importance
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The Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress 
brings together researchers and clinicians from around the world who collaborate on topics of global importance.... 

Trauma is a global issue

Worldwide trauma is the norm rather than the exception (Schnyder, et al., 2017; Kessler et al., 2017). The great majority of the global burden of disease arising from mental health conditions occurs in low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, traumatic experiences, trauma-related symptoms, as well as treatment approaches differ across cultures (Olff & Schnyder, 2021).

 

Therefore, we need to join forces and work together to tackle these significant topics of traumatic stress of global importance. 

Aims of the GCTS

To identify topics of global importance, facilitate development, and coordinate activities that benefit survivors of trauma or stressful events around the world.  

To create a community of traumatic stress researchers, practitioners, policy makers and trauma survivors and develop collaborations, and ultimately structures, that enable us to optimally support trauma survivors.

We commit to

Open Science practices: share the products we create for free, make the data we collect available, and enhance dissemination of evidence-based interventions.

- Consideration of demographic diversity of participants: we encourage consideration of sex and, if applicable, gender aspects across all projects, as well as representation of participants who differ in socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.

- Cross-cultural sensitivity across all projects, e.g., in study design (including measures), implementation, evaluation, publications.

- Inclusivity across all practices.

JOIN US HERE - Registration is free!

Aims of GCTS

© 2019 by Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress

How to use the website

We have organized the projects we work on together on this website under the following headings:

 

We present projects that address research methods or more fundamental aspects to better understand traumatic stress responses around the world:

 

We further offer to researchers and clinicians a range of resources, from e-pamphlets on child trauma to existing data  sets:

 

Finally, we list a collection of relevant trauma conferences around the world here where we hope to meet each other in real life or virtually:

Or use search bar in the header to find specific topics of interest.

Types of trauma

Sometimes things happen to people that are unusually or especially frightening, horrible, or traumatic. There are many different types of potentially traumatic events or experiences, from accidents and disasters to interpersonal violence including sexual transgressions. Trauma can happen to anyone, at any age, from children to the elderly. Some populations may be particularly at risk, such as people living in disaster prone areas, or in regions struck by war and conflict. Other examples are refugees, forcibly displaced persons, or individuals working in so-called high risk occupations (e.g military, police, frontline workers). The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have increased exposure to potentially traumatic events. All these aspects of trauma need to be globally addressed.

Professionals involved in the GCTS are working together on these topics, please find them here organized by types of trauma.

 

 

Assessment of trauma-related symptoms

While there are many types of potentially traumatic events there are even so many responses to trauma. Most people experience short term stress responses, others may develop a variety of posttraumatic stress reactions or disorders. The most typical is posttraumatic stress disorder, where a person keeps re-experiencing the event as if it happened recently (e.g. having nightmares or flashbacks, or in response to triggers). However, anxiety, depression, substance use problems, disturbed sleep and somatic complaints are also common responses to a traumatic event. Complicated grief and bereavement are often seen in cases of traumatic loss. Dissociative symptoms may arise, and sometimes life may not feel worth living anymore.

It is important to detect individuals at risk for mental health problems. Assessment is therefore an important topic of the GCTS. Validated psychometric instruments in various languages are provided here as well as under specific types of trauma such as moral injury, trauma and ageing, or bereavement and grief.

Interventions

Evidence-based interventions have been developed to address trauma-related symptoms like PTSD, depression, and anxiety (eg Bisson & Olff, 2021). However, these treatments have predominantly been developed in Western countries. Under the topic Interventions the GCTS is joining forces aiming to adapt these interventions for other communities and populations, looking into culturally sensitive trauma training, and merging global expertise to optimize interventions around the world.

We furthermore organize project specific and GCTS overarching Events and activities to create opportunities for mutual exchange and learning and for – on the long run - developing interventions as initiated by clinicians and researchers representing non-Western countries.

Methods and Mechanisms

We want to be FAIR! FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Inter-operable, and Re-usable. Under Methods and Mechanisms we work on making traumatic stress data more FAIR and provide data bases and tools for everyone to use. We share the products we create for free, we make the data we collect available, and we enhance dissemination of evidence based interventions.

Under Methods and Mechanisms we also have how to do an AI supported systematic review (ASReview), a very time efficient way to select articles for a review paper.

Projects on more basic (neurobiological) mechanisms related to traumatic stress are being prepared.

 

Resources

Under Resources we have collected products developed by the GCTS such as the iCAN child trauma e-pamphlets, but also relevant databases or tools.

Students are very welcome!

Enlarge your network and enjoy working together with fellow students around the world.  Feel free to volunteer in any ongoing project. In addition, there is a page dedicated to student initiated projects.

Types of trauma
Assessment
Methods & Mechanisms
Interventions
Steering committee
Students
Steering committee

Steering committee (click to stop autoplay)

Miranda Olff (Chair)

Prof. Dr. Miranda Olff is leading the Center for Psychological Trauma at the department of Psychiatry at the Amsterdam UMC of the University of Amsterdam. Chair: ‘Neurobiological mechanisms of prevention and treatment in trauma and PTSD’. She is Director of Research & Strategy at the ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre.

She is the past president of both the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). She has recently been trained in Corporate Governance. Miranda Olff is Editor-in-Chief of ESTSS’s Open Access journal: the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT). Her research focuses on the psychological and biological responses to traumatic stress and the effects of (early) interventions (e.g. oxytocin or e-Health) after mass trauma or individual events. In 2019 she received the "Wolter de Loos Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychotraumatology in Europe."

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Supporting societies

Traumatic stress societies join forces

Traumatic stress societies around the world have decided to join forces in order to enhance knowledge about psychotrauma around the world. The traumatic stress societies agreed to work alongside each other on an equal basis.

Who are the supporting societies?

The “Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress”  is supported by traumatic stress societies worldwide.

Representatives of the societies worldwide are member of the steering committee.
 

 Currently, in alphabetical order, these are:

  • Asociación Chilena de Estrés Traumático (ACET)

  • Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS) 

  • Canadian Psychological Association Traumatic Stress Section (CPA TSS)

  • European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS)

  • Deutschsprachige Gesellschaft für Psychotraumatologie (German language Society for Psychotraumatology, DeGPT) 

  • International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)

  • Japanese Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (JSTSS)

  • Korean Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (KSTSS)

  • Sociedad Argentina de Psicotrauma (SAPsi)

  • South African Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (SA-STSS)

For more see PartnersOther groups engaged in traumatic stress related issues are welcome.

For its development over the years see Olff, 2014; 2015; Schnyder, 2013; Schnyder & Olff, 2013;  Schnyder et al., 2017.

 

For the Japanese version on the history of the GCTS see:

Misari Oe (2021) Establishment and Development of the Global Collaboration Project

Steering committee:

  • Chair: Miranda Olff, Amsterdam UMC and ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre, The Netherlands

  • Co-chair: Ulrich Schnyder, University of Zurich, Switzerland

  • For the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS): Jana (Darejan) Javakhishvili

  • For the Japanese Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (JSTSS): Misari Oe

  • For Asociación Chilena de Estrés Traumático (ACET​): Carolina Salgado

  • For the Canadian Psychological Association-Traumatic Stress Section (CPA-TSS): Rachel Langevin

  • For the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS): Max Loomes  

  • For the Argentine Society for Psychotrauma (Sociedad Argentina de Psicotrauma, SAPsi): Juliana Lanza

  • For the Deutschsprachige Gesellschaft für Psychotraumatologie (German-speaking Society for Psychotraumatology, DeGPT): Matthias Knefel

  • For the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS): Diane Elmore Borbon

  • For the Korean Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (KSTSS): Jinhee Hyun

  • For the (South) African Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in formation: Soraya Seedat

  • Student representative: Dan JenkinsStellenbosch University, South Africa

Co-opted to the steering committee are theme leaders of the  larger GCTS themes 

Theme leaders Roles and Responsibilities

Social media (Twitter & LinkedIn) editor: Max Loomes

Newsletter editor: Stefanie Fréel (past newsletters)

GCTS conference organizer: Naved Iqbal

Topic leaders are welcome to the steering committee meeting when relevant.  Topic leaders Roles and Responsibilities

Theme leaders

References

  • Kessler, R. C., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Bromet, E. J., Cardoso, G., . . . Survey, W. W. M. H. (2017). Trauma and PTSD in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2017.1353383

 

  • Schnyder, U., Schafer, I., Aakvaag, H. F., Ajdukovic, D., Bakker, A., Bisson, J.I., Brewer, D., Cloitre, M., Dyb, G.A., Frewen,P., Lanza, J., Le Brocque, R., Lueger-Schuster, B., Mwiti, G.K., Oe, M., Rosner, R., Schellong, J., Shigemura, J., Wu, K., & Olff, M. (2017). The global collaboration on traumatic stress. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2017.1403257

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