At the beginning of April, Dr. Kamila Midor from the Trauma Institute had a remarkable opportunity to present her research at the 22nd Annual Hawai‘i International Summit: Preventing, Assessing & Treating Trauma Across the Lifespan. The Power of Connections: Uniting Communities for Action in Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA, thanks to the support from the SFU.

The summit hosted about 1400 participants, mostly from the United States, while the speakers included many mental health professionals, trauma survivors, and often both.

The topic of trauma was approached from multiple perspectives: one could hear about trauma experienced by the native Hawaiian people, trauma resulting from intimate partner violence, PTSD and C-PTSD, trauma in the military context, historical and intergenerational trauma, violence in schools and workplaces, secondary trauma in mental health practitioners, suicide prevention and postvention, natural disasters and trauma, and even a beneficial effect of Aikido in treating trauma (which was the topic of one of the awarded posters).

Apart from lectures, workshops, and panels, there was an opportunity to talk to various exhibitors coming from organizations supporting people who have experienced trauma. An important part was also a chance to decompress and learn practical techniques during one of the Self-Care sessions, which seems natural at the event heavy loaded with difficult topics.

Dr. Kamila Midor presented her research on the experience of a co-facilitator of support groups for suicide survivors, including challenges and things that could be helpful, for which she received a very positive feedback and a strong encouragement to continue her work on this matter. This was done during both a presentation and a poster session with 63 posters. Additionally, she volunteered during the event, helping with the participant registration and monitoring two sessions, which included a traditional lei greeting she offered to the speakers. The cultural aspect of this event was truly incredible and unique, and the possibility of experiencing it first hand was something that she will always remember.

In addition to spending time on the island of O’ahu, Dr. Kamila Midor made a quick stop in Berkeley, CA, where she met with a trauma researcher working at the University of California, Berkeley, with whom the Trauma Institute is currently discussing a future project together, and who will thus visit the SFU in July.

This was a very intense time filled with many inspiring talks and discussions and a wonderful learning and cultural experience.

Contact:
Dr. Kamila Midor
kamila.midor@sfu.ac.at
Institute for Transgenerational Trauma Transfer Research
Faculty of Psychotherapy Science | Sigmund Freud Private University