Chicago—Some mental health experts are questioning the efficacy of treatments by volunteers who try to help people with trauma in countries struggling with war or natural disasters.
"People say doing something is better than doing nothing, but I'm not so sure," said Mark Van Ommeren, PhD, who spoke at a forum in July sponsored by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Department of Psychiatry. He is with the Netherlands-based Transcultural Psychosocial Organization and the Center for Victims of Torture in Nepal.
Van Ommeren and colleagues gathered at the UIC campus for "Exporting Training After Trauma: Questions and Concerns," the kickoff to a 3-day meeting that began ISTSS efforts to establish guidelines for international trauma training. They came together because so little is known about the effectiveness of trauma training. They also hoped to debate the ethics of . . . [Full Text of this Article]
