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The PTSD SIG is focused on all stages of career mentorship, dissemination of research, and advancement of quality patient care. It provides a venue for professionals from all disciplines to network and create new connections in the field.
If you’re interested in joining this SIG, please login to your member account Please contact ADAA with questions. Please view the ADAA SIG Guidelines.
SIG Co-Chairs:
Lauren Sippel, PhD - National Center for PTSD Executive Division
Michelle Bovin, PhD - National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System
SIG Director of Communications:
Cecilia A. Hinojosa, PhD – Postdoctoral fellow; Grady Trauma Project
SIG Student Representative:
Alexandra B. Klein, MA – PhD candidate; Case Western Reserve University
Board Liaison:
Sheila Rauch, PhD, ABPP, Emory University School of Medicine
2021-2022 Annual Report
Accomplishments
This year, the PTSD SIG continued its mission to disseminate knowledge about the identification and treatment of PTSD. During PTSD Awareness Month (June), members of the SIG assisted ADAA leadership in preparing a new patient-facing infographic entitled How to Know if You Should Talk to Your Healthcare Provider about PTSD Infographic based on the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5). This infographic allows individuals to screen themselves and encourages those who are symptomatic to reach out to their primary care providers. In addition, at the request of Ms. Lise Bram, ADAA’s Deputy Executive Director, the PTSD co-chairs participated in interviews for a Healthcare Source blog post designed to guide employers on how to support employees with PTSD. We invited SIG members to share their interest in participating in interviews with us and hope to engage additional members with specific expertise for future opportunities. Additional information about new trainings as well as resources prepared by the National Center for PTSD were disseminated to the SIG throughout the year.
As a result of the feedback that we received from SIG members in a pre-meeting survey, the 2021 PTSD SIG meeting was a huge success! Consistent with members’ interests, we prepared an interactive presentation entitled “Learning More about Opportunities for Research Collaborations.” In this presentation we provided information about funding opportunities for researchers with research infrastructures in place; resources and strategies for clinicians in research settings to successfully get involved in clinical research; and methods for accessing data and securing collaborations for clinicians who are not affiliated with a research hub. The meeting resulted in SIG members being connected to both individuals and projects directly aligned with their interests.
Based on the success of our pre-meeting survey in guiding our plans for the SIG meeting last year, we administered another survey to SIG members in anticipation of the 2022 PTSD SIG meeting. This survey was prepared with the assistance of Ms. Susan Gurley (ADAA’s Executive Director), Ms. Vickie Spielman (ADAA’s Associate Director of Membership and Education), and with the support of Dr. Sheila Rauch, our ADAA board representative. A total of 32 SIG members responded to questions spanning a range of topics, including career stage, primary responsibilities (e.g., research, clinical work), and preferences for SIG meeting content. We are currently using this information to prepare for the annual SIG meeting, scheduled for March 2022.
Plans for the Future
We continue to consider ways to make the PTSD SIG as useful as possible for our members. Our recent survey indicated that members are interested in receiving regular updates about cutting-edge PTSD publications; this is an initiative we plan to take on this year. In addition, with the ongoing pandemic, we plan to continue to research creative ways to virtually network and to support our members in coping with the increased stress associated with the pandemic. We are also continuing to make ourselves accessible to SIG members so that they can make suggestions about areas within PTSD that they would like the SIG to address. Another goal for the year will be to review and revise ADAA website’s PTSD content with the assistance of SIG members. Finally, we are excited to continue to work with Ms. Alexandria Klein, a graduate student at Case Western University, to get students more involved in the SIG. This investment in early-career members is important for their career development and also the longevity of the PTSD SIG. We will continue to work with Ms. Klein and other interested SIG members to both help increase activity within the SIG and ensure that the needs of SIG members across career stages are met.
