The United Nations has declared 30 July World Day Against Trafficking of Persons. This is an annual event that builds on their 2010 Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The UN urges governments across the world to make a coordinated effort to end human trafficking. Specifically, the International Day aims to educate […]
As we leave October, the month set aside to pay attention to domestic abuse (DA), thoughts of “how can we stop it” take the forefront. As research, and our collective knowledge, grows, the what and how is taking on much clearer perspectives. There is a long-held systemic, deeply ingrained notion that men have a natural […]
I recently completed a rigorous training to become a mentor to people affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence. The mentoring programme is an innovative listening service implemented by a charity called First Light who provide support to people across three counties in the Southwest of England namely Cornwall, Devon and Wiltshire. As a person […]
World Day Against Trafficking of Persons is marked each year on July 30. Facilitated by the United Nations, this day aims to educate communities about trafficking of persons. Each year approximately 50, 000 victims of trafficking are identified, across almost 150 countries. However, given the hidden nature of the crime, it is likely there are […]
This article has been previously published in the 2016 Spring edition of the newsletter for the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the editor Roselle O’Brien. Completing research on the topic of self-mutilation by women who have a dissociative identity disorder was fraught with the normal […]
This article first appeared in Attachment New Direction in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis, December, 2020 (issue 14/2). Reprinted with the kind permission of Phoenix Publishing House. Abstract: The unexpected appearance of the deadly coronavirus that landed on our doorstep has hit us from left field. For a while the boundaries between my personal life and […]
I wrote this paper for the ISSTD’s October 2020 virtual conference*, but these words take a newly urgent significance in the aftermath of the January 6th, 2021, attack at the US Capitol. I want to share them here in the ISSTD Newsletter. Na’im Akbar first coined the term Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome in his book, […]
Thursday, December 3, 2020 was the International Day of People with Disabilities instituted by the United Nations. Days named for particular aspects of our fellow-citizens provide a chance for us all to educate or re-educate ourselves. They also provide a sense of worth and pride in those who feel recognised. A name is a very […]
Given October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in the US, we offer this book review by Jackie Burke, long term member of ISSTD, a psychologist in private practice in Sydney Australia, and Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University. Published last year, Jess Hill’s book, See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse […]
In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is now recognised as another global epidemic. CSAM includes images, video, text and drawings of children being abused and exploited (previously called “child pornography”). For at least fifty years, CSAM has been a significant social problem, however CSAM victims and survivors have received […]
