Dear ISSTD Members,
Towards the end of 2019 ISSTD transitioned successfully from being managed by an external company, to managing ourselves. ISSTD now employs its staff directly. Mary Pat Hanlin, Executive Director and Bethany Bjur, Program Manager have been instrumental in facilitating the successful transition to ISSTD being a self-managed organization. We are grateful to them for their expertise, the professional way in which they apply their very relevant graduate education to the benefit of ISSTD, and their dedication to ISSTD’s mission. We also welcomed a new Professional Training Program Administrator.
ISSTD’s finances are healthier now than in they have been for many years, thanks to the mammoth efforts of Past President Christine Forner and current Treasurer D. Michael Coy. Through their tireless educational efforts, the financial IQ of Board members has also increased dramatically over recent years, contributing to improved financial governance by the Board.
ISSTD’s membership is now larger and more diverse than previous years, showing how the mission and offerings of ISSTD increasingly fulfil a global need. Differential membership rates according to the World Bank’s classification of countries by income have also made it possible for larger numbers of international professionals to join as ISSTD members.
The new website and new-look ISSTD News have significantly contributed to ISSTD’s recent growth, and for that, we thank D. Michael Coy and Kate McMaugh respectively. Similarly, the unlimited networking possibilities afforded by our online community ISSTDWorld have opened up numerous opportunities, including the new Special Interest Groups that have developed in the last couple of years. The collegial support that members offer each other in ISSTDWorld is also invaluable.
ISSTD’s formal educational efforts in the field of complex trauma and dissociation go unparalleled in the world. The Professional Training Program, Certificate Program and Webinar programme keep growing, thanks to the efforts of many ISSTD members. The Professional Training Program will offer a new Level 3 course on advanced topics in complex trauma and dissociative disorders from this year, thanks to the efforts of Joan Turkus, Su Baker and others. The rapidly expanding Webinar programme, under the leadership of Marilyn Korzekwa, provides affordable distance education to international members, through both real-time attendance and availability of past webinars for purchase at affordable rates.
Over the next two years, both the Adult and the Child-and-Adolescent DID Treatment Guidelines will be updated according to the large body of recently published research about the successful treatment of people with DID and other dissociative disorders.
Regional conferences are fulfilling a growing need to take ISSTD’s educational offerings and the warm connectedness of our conferences to a wider audience. Indeed, a pattern has emerged of at least one international regional conference per year.
Our 2020 annual conference is rapidly approaching, to be held in San Francisco, March 12-16. Here too, the conference registration rates are differentiated according to the World Bank’s classification of countries by income. This will hopefully make attending the conference more affordable for a greater number of international attendees.
I hope all ISSTD members will have a wonderful 2020, and that ISSTD will continue to serve your needs.
See you in San Francisco!
Best regards,
Christa Krüger, ISSTD President, Pretoria, South Africa