Plenary Sessions

Attachment and Trauma
Dr. Karlen Lyons-Ruth is Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Biobehavioral Family Studies Lab at Cambridge Health Alliance.   She is a recognized leader in the study of the effects of early trauma, disorganized attachment relationships, and disrupted parent-child communication on the development of adult psychopathology and neurobiological functioning.  A number of instruments for the assessment of disturbed attachment relationships in infancy, childhood, and adolescence have been developed in her lab and are now used internationally.

The Impact of Trauma on the Body
Pat Ogden, PhD, is a pioneer in somatic psychology and both Founder and Education Director of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute®, an internationally recognized school specializing in somatic–cognitive approaches for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and attachment disturbances. She is co-founder of the Hakomi Institute, a clinician, consultant, international lecturer and trainer, and first author of Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy.  Her second book, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment (2015) is a practical guide to integrate Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® into the treatment of trauma and attachment issues.  Dr. Ogden is currently developing Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® for children, adolescents and families with colleagues.

Neurobiology of Trauma & Dissociation
Dr. A.A.T. Simone Reinders is an award winning leading neuroscientist and international expert in the neurobiology of trauma and dissociation. As a senior research associate Simone is currently working on the research line entitled “Neuroimaging the Aetiology of Dissociative Identity Disorder” at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences (IoPPN) of King’s College London (KCL). Simone is considered to be in the top 10% of her peer group internationally with a total of 39 peer reviewed publications and she was successful in leading a multi-center neuroimaging project funded by a prestigious early career fellowship. Her research has shed new light on the aetiology of DID by showing that identity state-dependent rCBF patterns in DID cannot be simulated and that DID and PTSD share trauma-related neurobiomarkers.