The ISSTD Membership Committee is co-chaired by Warwick Middleton and Adah Sachs. The Membership Committee’s primary roles are to develop and sustain membership in ISSTD, to assist colleagues in finding their way to membership of the ISSTD, and once they are members to assist them in identifying solid reasons for maintaining their membership. The Committee also encourages members to take an active role in ISSTD. In this “Spotlight” Warwick highlights the importance of ISSTD membership for all who are interested in the trauma and dissociation field. Membership of the ISSTD As I write this, the current membership of the ISSTD stands at 1,250. Within this grouping are 
at least one individual who has been a continuous member and high profile contributor since our Society was formed in 1984 under the name of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation. Another member has managed the extraordinary feat of attending and presenting at every single Society Annual Conference, and he will be at our 35th Annual Conference in Chicago. The field we all collectively belong to, is one of the more challenging and rewarding areas of endeavor to incorporate into a career. Your Society strives to make this area of work as safe as possible from a professional viewpoint, and as fun and friendly as possible from a professional community viewpoint. It is gratifying that so many colleagues have over many years made the Society a home and have given time, expertise and resources to help make the Society a 
rewarding and educational experience for all our members – including our very valued student and emerging professionals groupings. Our members are protected by a prominent adherence to a set of Policies and Procedures that emphasize professional ethics and respect for colleagues. Clinically, we endlessly deal with traumatized individuals whose developmental history includes a virtual absence of boundaries, allied with physical, emotional and sexual abuse and the disrupted attachments that accompany such pain. Our many forms of professional interactions as Society members underscores our own professional attachment to a group of motivated colleagues trying to address the many issues that go with the prevention of abuse and the treatment of those grievously affected by it. We, as a Society, are constantly developing initiatives that we have not fielded before. In the course of this year we have launched our E-Journal, Frontiers in the Psychotherapy of Trauma and Dissociation, have offered our first ever full-day Webinar – due to be presented by the RAMCOA SIG on 6 October, have fielded, or are about to field no less than four regional seminars, and have had the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation publish its first ever Special Double Issue, the content of which was, like the E-Journal, a member benefit that comes at no extra cost. If you have cause to interact with interested colleagues grappling with the issues of trauma and dissociation, and who have not yet had involvement with the ISSTD, perhaps you can suggest that they might check us out? I, and my Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, Adah Sachs, are both very willing to be contacted by any colleague who has questions or feedback in respect to membership. Our Committee is also looking for new members who share our passion for promoting the benefits of ISSTD membership, and who are interested in creative ways to retain our members as well as attract new members. If you are interested contact myself or Adah. I have included pictures that suggest that aside from the hard clinical work and rigorous research endeavors, there is a strong attachment dynamic operating – being a member of our Society is fun. I look forward to catching up with you in Chicago. Warwick Adjunct Professor Warwick Middleton MB BS, FRANZCP, MD Co-Chair, ISSTD Membership Committee and Immediate Past President, ISSTD Suite 4D, 87 Wickham Tce Brisbane 4000 Ph: (07) 3831 4466 Fax: (07) 3831 4477 Mobile: 0417 629813 Email: warmid@tpg.com.au
