At our most recent OEA (Organized and Extreme Abuse) Executive Committee Meeting, we discussed important points to share with you this year in the ISSTD News Community Spotlight Column.
The mission of the OEA SIG is focused on issues related to the etiology, evaluation, and effective treatment of trauma and dissociation in clients reporting all types of organized and extreme abuse histories.
We are thankful to experience our SIG truly growing in community over this past year. Our online ZOOM meetings are well attended, and conversation is always meaningful. Written inquiries/contributions in our Discussion thread in the SIG are welcome; reminders for our online meetings and the schedule are shared there, as well.
It isn’t unusual for some of our new members to attend wondering what our meetings are like:
- Friendly! (Please don’t be intimidated to come!)
- Shared knowledge
- Productive
- Various Perspectives / Diverse
- None of us have “all the answers…”
- Empathetic / Attuning
- Group-Led
- Progressive
Our OEA SIG was well represented at the 42nd Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts this March (2025). We had almost 30 members join us for our OEA in-person SIG meeting! Though we had only 45 minutes together, it felt like a deep breath to be in the same room with one another! Our discussion centered around: “Feeling ‘Seen’ as an OEA Clinician: For clinicians who work in the OEA field, commitment, empathy, passion, and knowledge collide with reality-based truths often hard to reconcile with. This intimate therapeutic process exposes underpinnings of dark, global infrastructure unheard of by many. What resonates with you? How do you feel humanly “seen” as one who holds this therapeutic space with clients who have suffered so much?”
We are excited to announce that, following our in-person time together, several others decided to join our OEA SIG. Several other members in Boston at the conference were not able to attend our meeting because they were presenting elsewhere during the hour. We are proud of their published work and representation, as well.
The OEA Executive Committee wishes to encourage all those offered the opportunity to serve OEA survivors in a clinical setting. Members noted the practical collaboration available through ISSTD and our SIG, pertinent literature published more consistently, and progressive advancements in the field of trauma studies as more current/supportive aspects of this important and compassionate work with this population.
For those who may be interested in JOINING our OEA SIG, please contact our acting secretary by email: Sherri Park at: sherripark4@gmail.com, and we will welcome you in!