After spending several decades working with victims of abuse, I began to realize how important theory and research about trauma was. I'm involved in Division 56 because it's important for there to be a home in APA for psychologists and other professionals who deal with some aspect of trauma.
We represent issues related to trauma at the APA Council of Representatives, and work with other divisions to develop APA Initiatives in response to traumatic stress.
Division 56 Takes the Lead in Responding to the NIMH Strategic Plan's Exclusion of Trauma
December, 2007
Under the leadership of Science Committee Chair Jennifer Freyd, Division 56 took the lead in organizing letter-writing campaigns in response to the absence of discussion of trauma-related factors in mental health in the Strategic Plan draft issued by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) last month. Please consider sending your own letter to NIMH calling for the inclusion of trauma as a variable to be prioritized by NIMH for research and funding. Comments are due by December 21, 2007. You can read Division 56's letter below.
- Read the strategic plan
- Science committee responds
- Email your comments to Strategicplanning2@mail.nih.gov at NIMH
Science Committee takes quick action again!
August 2006
Division 56 Science Committee Chair Jennifer Freyd responded to misuse of language in recent media coverage of the murder of Jon-Benet Ramsey. Her letter below summarizes how she wrote to her local Associated Press reporter about the inappropriateness of calling sexual abuse of a child "having sex with" that child, and the response of AP both locally and nationally. Thanks, Jennifer, for raising consciousness with the media about the reality of sexual trauma.
Division 56 takes its first action!
June 2006
When the Boston Globe published an article full of misinformation about trauma and memory, the Division 56 Science Committee, under the able leadership of Jennifer J. Freyd, Ph.D., composed a powerful, scholarly response correcting those erroneous data. The letter, co-authored by committee members Terry Keane, Cathy Classen, Mary Koss, and David Gleaves, with assistance from Judie Alpert, Bob Geffner, and Laura Brown, was sent to the Globe three days after the story was printed. We also communicated with APA staff about their role in the story, opening up important lines of communication with APA's press office. An Op-Ed piece is also in preparation. Our letter was co-signed by Eli Somer, President of ISSD, and by Paul Fink and Joyanna Silberg from the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence.
This sort of quick response is what Division 56 was created to do. Thanks to our colleagues for their great work bringing the most up-to-date empirical information to the attention of our profession and the public!