Lorie Ammon, TX, USA  
Barry Bryant, TN, USA
Fatin Hasan, ON, CA  

Frank Abate, VA, USA
Dena Bazzie, NC, USA

John Bredin, ON, CA

Dawn Brock, IL, US

Carolyn Burns, BC, CA

Dr. Daniel Casey, MN, USA

Michael Chalberg, IA, USA

Sherry Baldwin, NC, USA

Hilary Cohen, GA, USA

Darrell Coons, IL, USA

Lew Cox, WA, USA

Nancy Day, MO, USA

Kathleen Deakin, AB, CA

Linda Diaz-Murphy, NJ, USA

James Donckels, CA, USA

Mary Dunnigan, CA, USA

Barbara Dutton, MI, USA

Bill Elsner, BC, CA

Michael Fagel, IL, USA

John Fazio, OR, USA

Susan Ford, ON, CA

Bonita Fraser, NY, USA

Brent Goerz, BC, CA

Kathleen Gorman, AB, CA

Irene Hajisava, NY, USA

Ronald Hall, CA, USA

Candace Johnson, MI, USA

Christine Judy, TX, USA

Gary Kaplan, NJ, USA

Julie Kendall, CO, USA

Michael Kerman, ON, CA

Laura Kerr, CA, USA

Richard Levenson, NY,USA

Lisa Madron, VA, USA

Horbein Marrero, FL, USA

Hope Marrow, CA, USA

Wayne  Maxwell, NS, CA

Susan Miller, KS, USA

Margaret O'Connor, AZ, USA 

Teresa Parker, FL, USA

Nancy Poitou, CA, USA

Ross Priebe, BC, CA

Tima Priess, AK, US

Sharon Robertson, AB, CA

Peggy Ruesink, CA, USA

Heidi Salonia, FL, USA

Peter Smith, NC, USA

Joanie Tomar, NC, USA

Karen Wallace, ON, CA

Ronnie Weiner, NJ, USA

Dennis Westover, VA, USA

Lindsie Whitted, PA, USA

Robert Wisniefski, NJ, USA

H. Norman Wright, CA, USA

Jill Zimmerman, WI, USA

by Linda Hood, Certified Trauma  

The ATSS Niagara Networking Group held its inaugural meeting on Monday January 16, 2012.    

Approximately, 30 people were in attendance at this first meeting, representing a variety of trauma work areas including Emergency Service Workers, grief counsellors, Victim Services volunteers, private practice therapists and school counsellors.  Kent Laidlaw, ATSS president, presented a history of ATSS and explained the certifications available through ATSS.   

Dr. Paulette Laidlaw presented a session on Compassion Fatigue. Dr. Laidlaw discussed the meanings of Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burnout and the differences in them. There was much discussion from the group about how to prevent Compassion Fatigue which is a major issue for people in the caring industry. Ideas for self-care, early signs/symptoms of compassion fatigue were also discussed.  

The evening ended with refreshments and time for networking.  The group will be holding meetings 3-4 times a year with speakers presenting on topics relevant to trauma work and give time for attendees to network with other people in the trauma field from their community.

Editor's Note:  This is the 3rd ATSS Regional Meeting.  The others meet in Oakville, Ontario and New Jersey.  More groups are in development.

Several months ago, as a result of decisions made during our strategic planning meetings, the Board decided to develop a fully independent review of the three ATSS certifications.  

The Board reached out to about 15 well-known, creditable experts who we thought would offer a professional independent and objective view on the quality of our certifications.  ATSS was able to elicit support from seven reputable mental health professionals in the United States and Canada.

Each of them submitted a well developed review of our certifications.  This included both affirmations of our process, constructive criticism and  suggestions meant to improve the quality and reputation of the existing certifications. This review required a considerable investment of  time and effort.

All of these amazing folks provided their expertise and experience at no cost to ATSS.

The Expert Reviewers were:  

Dr. Lori  Gray, Ph.D. Psychologist, Toronto Emergency Medical Services, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;

Dr.Ricky Greenwald, PsyD,Trauma-Informed Training, Research and Consultation, Trauma Institute & Child Trauma Institute
Greenfield, MA, USA;

Dr. Jessica L. Hamblen, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Education at the National Center for PTSD and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School, White River Junction, VT, USA; 

Dr.Petros Levounis, MD, Director of The Addiction Institute of New York (formerly Smithers) and Chief of Addiction Psychiatry at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals in New York City, NY, USA.  

Dr. William McDermott, C.Psych.  New Orleans, LA, USA;

Shad Meshad, Los Angeles CA, USA; 

Dr. Angie Panos, Director of Crisis Response Program for Intermountain Health Care, Sandy UT, USA; 

On behalf of all our members and the Board of Directors, I offer a sincere thank you to each of you for your very kind and generous support.

Northern Ireland has the world's highest recorded rate of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a major international report.   

It estimated that PTSD costs the public purse around �175m a year.  The same survey was undertaken in 30 countries, including war-hit areas such as Israel and Lebanon.

The World Mental Health survey showed that violence had been a distinctive cause of mental health problems for around 18,000 people.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more prevalent in perinatal than general samples of women (6-8% versus 4-5%). To explore potential causes, this study examined the symptom profiles of women belonging to two separate samples: a perinatal clinic sample (n = 1,581) and a subsample of women in a similar age range from the U. S. National Women's Study (n = 2,000). Within the perinatal sample, risk ratios were higher for all 17 PTSD symptoms among women with current PTSD compared with unaffected women, suggesting that higher rates are not likely due to measurement error. The younger age and greater social disadvantage in the perinatal clinic sample contributed only a small proportion of variance in symptom levels compared with extent of trauma exposure and pre-existing PTSD.

Compared with the national study sample's symptom profile, the perinatal sample had higher rates of occurrence of five symptoms: detachment, loss of interest, anger and irritability, trouble sleeping, and nightmares. This analysis confirms that PTSD rates are higher in perinatal samples, which is likely due to exacerbation of pre-existing PTSD among women of a younger age and greater social disadvantage. Further elucidation is warranted, including identifying triggers and determining if there are needs for pregnancy-specific interventions.