Happy May ISSTDWorld! Thank you for stopping by to read about what the Virtual and Regional Conference Committee (VRCC) has been up to in its second year of being a committee! The goal of the VRCC committee is to support the continued growth of ISSTD’s regional and virtual trainings. As a group, this committee includes both ISSTD staff and volunteers who meet to recommend locations for future conferences, brainstorm and develop conference themes and their corresponding branding, and support marketing initiatives to get the word out to the regions where conferences will be held. This committee also works closely alongside the Webinar Committee to create continuity between regional conferences and the yearly webinar series, the Member Engagement Committee to coordinate volunteer needs and develop fun social events to create connection and build community both during and after the conferences, and with the Center for Advanced Studies Committee to ensure continuity and cohesion with the overall education components across ISSTD training and education.
In 2022, ISSTD had regional conferences in Denver (June 17-18, 2022), New York (September 8-9, 2022) Phoenix (October 7-8, 2022), and Melbourne (November 11-13, 2022), and the 2022 Virtual Conference was held on October 22-23, 2022, “Compounding and Confounding Components in the Assessment, Treatment, and Healing from Complex Trauma and Dissociation,” with Shekar Shesadri and Daniel Shaw presenting plenary presentations.
For 2023, the VRCC is working to build one regional conference, one virtual conference, and is supporting the development of a couple of day-long themed seminar days. The 2023 regional conference will take place in Toronto, Canada from September 21-22, 2023, with the theme of “Contemporary Issues and Interventions in the Treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation.” This conference will feature presentations that focus on the use of Ego State Therapy alongside EMDR therapy and Clinical Hypnosis, decolonizing trauma therapy and neurodecolonization, and the use of online group therapy. The virtual conference will be taking place from October 21-22, 2023, with the theme of “(Re)building Hope, (Re)Orienting Safety, and (Re)Stabilizing Treatment with Complex Trauma and Dissociation and will feature plenary presentations from Sandra Bloom and Frank Corrigan.
Please stay tuned for email and ISSTDWorld updates containing information about the regional conference, virtual conference, and themed seminar days.