I am writing this having just returned from the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation’s 9th International Congress, held in Katowice, Poland. The conference was well attended and held in a magnificent conference center, where you can feel the blend of old-world charm with modern technology and architecture.
As usual, there were several ISSTD members speaking and attending. I spoke on the pre-conference afternoon and gave a preview of ISSTD’s Adult Treatment Guidelines for Dissociative Identity Disorder. Bethany Brand presented several times, with focuses on the treatment structure of Finding Solid Ground and the assessment of trauma-related dissociation in forensic settings. Marilyn Korzekwa presented on the data that she and Paul Dell have developed regarding dissociation in borderline personality disorder. Wendy Lemke gave a very comprehensive presentation about Ego State Therapy. Suzette Boon-Langelaan, Dolores Mosquera, Sandra Baita, Anabel Gonzales, Ralf Vogt and many other prominent European therapists and researchers attended, as well as Matt Robinson, Kim Baranowski and Cori Palermo from McLean Hospital. Adithy was also in attendance and enjoying the breadth of options available at the conference. As usual, with parallel sessions, I couldn’t see and hear everything I wanted to. But I was again struck by how valuable in-person conferences are, where I met many new colleagues and had a chance to talk informally with Igor Pietkiewicz, ESTD’s President, and Radoslaw Tomalski, who will be coming to Boston next Spring to speak at our conference. It also gave me an encouraging sense of how much effort is being directed toward trauma and dissociation across the whole world.