D. Michael Coy – 2025 President
Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future
Dear ISSTD Community,
Welcome to the December 2025 edition of ISSTD News, which you are reading in early January!
This month, as is the case every year, I am, as outgoing President, accompanied here by incoming President Abigail Percifield and outgoing Immediate Past President Peter Maves for our respective reflections on 2025 and musings on 2026.
In my December 2024 letter as incoming ISSTD President, I mentioned looking forward to the then-upcoming 2025 Annual Conference in Boston, including the pre-conference Deep Brain Reorienting Level I training, as well as the October 2025 regional conference in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, and other educational offerings provided through ISSTD’s Center for Advanced Studies. Feedback from both the ‘anchor’ conferences and other events tells a story of connection, educational enrichment, and inspiration in this challenging work – whether clinical, research, or policy-based – we all do. (To learn more about our programs in 2026, including the upcoming Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, USA, visit https://cfas.isst-d.org.)
In my first message of 2025, I noted that,
[…] I am feeling my way into some sort of happy medium between thinking and acting, doing and sitting. It’s not always so easy to achieve, but what I’m finding in the in-between spaces is the mindful action required to contribute what I can to foster both the healthy communication and connection that I believe are necessary for ISSTD to continue along its developmental path. While we cannot always avoid the obstacles along that path, I do think that, if we all as Members can find a collective space between thinking and acting, doing and sitting, then within that space we can anticipate those obstacles and work together to either effectively manage or transcend them.
It really is up to other people to decide what the impact of such a stance may be. (Self-reflection has its limits.) However, what I can tell you from my own experience is that trying matters, even when it does not take us where we hope and expect to land. We can still grow, because we end up in a different place than where we began – hopefully a bit wiser for the effort.
It has been a great honor to serve you as President throughout 2025, and to walk alongside you as a fellow member of the worldwide community of students, clinical professionals, and researchers that is ISSTD. Always remember, it is you, and all of us together, that make this Society what it is… and determine how it will continue to evolve.
ISSTD News and our new President Abigail Percifield will be back to check in with you again next month. Please do stick around to read the other great articles closing out this last issue of the News for 2025. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.
Sincerely yours,
Michael
Abigail Percifield – 2025 ISSTD President-Elect
ISSTD enters this year well supported, thoughtfully organized, and carried by people who care deeply about the work. It’s an honor to take on the role of President within a Society that has been so carefully tended over time and that continues to show up for its members in meaningful ways.
Looking across the work completed by our committees this past year, what stands out most is the consistency and care behind it. So much of what makes ISSTD function well happens quietly: planning, revising, coordinating, reviewing, troubleshooting, and following through. This work would not be possible without the sustained effort of our volunteers and staff and the institutional memory held within our membership as a whole. Our new Executive Director, Tim Shaw, joins the Society during a period of steady organizational momentum, and I look forward to working together as he steps into this role.
As we move into the year ahead, my focus is on supporting and strengthening work that is already underway across the Society. That includes continued investment in education, training, and public-facing efforts that extend beyond any single region or professional setting. Over the past year, we’ve seen this reflected in the steady expansion of training programs, the successful delivery of virtual and regional conferences, and the work of the Public Health Committee, which designed and implemented a trauma-informed training program within a community health center in Australia and is now preparing to publish outcome data. These efforts reflect ISSTD’s capacity to translate clinical and scientific knowledge into settings where it can have broader reach and relevance, while remaining grounded in rigor and accountability.
I’m mindful that the strength of this organization lies not in any single role, but in the collective efforts that sustain it. My intention this year is to support those efforts, reduce unnecessary strain where possible, and help ensure that the Society remains a steady, credible home for clinicians, researchers, and students navigating increasingly complex professional landscapes.
I’m grateful for the trust placed in me and for the remarkable community that makes this work possible. I look forward to the year ahead and to continuing this work together.
Peter Maves – 2025 Immediate Past President
Moving On
As I reach the end of my Presidency cycle, I find I will be writing about much the same things I wrote about in my first Newsletter entry. ISSTD is now a primary source for education, training and research in complex trauma and dissociative conditions. We have moved from a small, brave new world venture started by the pioneers in our field, to a strategically managed, financially secure professional society with committed volunteers and an engaged membership. Our society’s functioning is guided by strategic planning and systematic financial management. These aspects were created and developed by Mary Pat Hanlin, our departed CEO, and Michael Coy, our current President. Mary Pat implemented structural changes and had future vision and comprehensive views that thrust ISSTD into its present positive position. Michael Coy, as Treasurer, developed a financial management system and brought insights and approaches which has put ISSTD at the forefront of society management. I was very fortunate to enter my Presidential term having Michael Slater as Immediate Past President and Michael Coy as President-Elect so I could gain good counsel about issues that arose. I also had a solid Board of Directors who consistently offered excellent problem-solving and support. And speaking of support, Casey Richman and Jasmine Butler, ISSTD staff members, pulled me out of more holes than you can imagine. I am confident that Abigail Percifield, as the incoming President, and Jon Cleveland, as President-Elect, will carry on and expand the leadership gains that have been made so far. I extend a warm welcome to Tim Shaw, our new Executive Director, and know that he is taking over a well-run ship. So, while I’m moving on, I’m not moving out. I will share Chair duties with Jules Trana of the new Virtual Training Committee, I will continue with the Finance Committee, and I will enjoy my teaching as a PTP instructor. I look forward to seeing everyone in Portland next year…. Hail and Farewell (sort of).
Peter Maves