(Françoise à la plage by NF)
I am back from a week away in Florida. We had tons of sun, saw dozens of dolphins and stingrays, collected shells, walked on the beach and ate lots of ice cream. I read a mediocre mystery novel right until the last page, and my kids did not watch a minute of tv or play on computers. A real getaway.
Now, a week is not really long enough to "décrocher" completely, as we say in French (the literal translation is to "unhook" which doesn't really work, let's say to tune out, check out) but it was a nice break.
I have been speaking to folks at the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists (ATSS).
"ATSS is an international organization dedicated to serving the needs of professionals working with the traumatized. Our members benefit from education, networking, resource linkage, and certification. Members may obtain one of our three certifications to help set them apart in the provision of trauma treatment and response including the Certified Trauma Specialist, Certified Trauma Services Specialist and the Certified Trauma Responder." (from their website)
Safely in Our Hands: Helping Our Helpers Stay Healthy
2010 Conference, September 29th - October 3rd, 2010.
Toronto
ATSS is holding a conference in Toronto in October that may be of interest to many of you. Registration has not opened yet but you can join their mailing list to be notified when it does. I am one of the presenters at this event, and am really looking forward to hearing Lieutenant Colonel Stéphane Grenier speak: "Lieutenant Colonel (LCol) Stephane Grenier joined the military in 1983. He has served in several missions abroad, most notably nine months in Rwanda in 1994/95 and Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007. He was also deployed for much shorter periods of time and has travelled to many regions of the globe including: Cambodia, Kuwait, the Arabian Gulf, Lebanon, Haiti, Norway and the Czech Republic, to name a few. Faced with his own undiagnosed PTSD upon return from Rwanda, he took a personal interest in the way the Canadian Forces was dealing with mental health issues. In 2001 he coined the term Operational Stress Injury (OSI) and conceived, developed implemented and managed a government based national peer-support program for the Canadian military named the Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) Program. Today OSISS is a highly successful program that delivers peer support to CF personnel, Veterans and their families affected by mental health issues, and assists those who have suffered the loss of a loved one through a Bereavement Support Program" (from the ATSS website)
Check it out: www.atss.info
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