The ISSTD United Nations Committee continues to participate in virtual meetings related to United Nations activities. While the UN has begun some in-person activity, we remain virtual and that is making it more difficult to do the same kind of networking that predated the COVID pandemic.
In February 2022 we co-sponsored a web presentation, Knowing and Not Knowing about the Climate Crisis: Through the Lens of Trauma and Dissociation. In this presentation our Co-Chair, Karen Hopenwasser briefly presented the concept of knowing and not knowing about trauma to help us think about the role of dissociation in failure to pay attention to urgency of climate change. Psychoanalyst Irit Felson presented some comparisons of the how mental health professionals came to acknowledge the importance of understanding trauma and PTSD. Psychoanalyst Sally Weintrobe presented “Children, including young children, are voicing strong feelings about Climate Emergency: How to listen better and what makes that hard”.
Navajo psychiatrist Mary Hasbah Roessel presented “Centering Indigenous Knowledges through Rematriaion to Adapt and Heal from the Climate Crisis”. This presentation is available for viewing on the website of the NGO Committee on Mental past events page https://www.ngomentalhealth.org/past-events.
In May 2022 the UN Committee co-sponsored the webinar Uprooted: The Mental Health
Impacts of Climate Displacement. Moderated by Thimali Kodikara, Co-host and producer of Mothers of Invention podcast , this webinar addressed the plight of climate refugees. It was co-sponsored by the Migrant Immigrant and Refugee Rights Alliance (MIRR) , the Climate Mental Health Network, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCI), and the NGO Committee on Mental Health. Chair of the ISSTD Committee, Karen Hopenwasser participated in an informal discussion about mental health, trauma and resilience in climate refugees. This discussion can be seen on the website of the Climate Mental Health Network, past events https://www.climatementalhealth.net/events
ISSTD’s Committee to the UN posts upcoming meetings that are open for anyone to attend. We invite ISSTD members to join and be a part of our involvement in the United Nations and have an impact on an international level.