Summer school "Psychotrauma: from Epigenetics to Psychotherapy" aroused the interest of over 300 experts from Central and South-East Europe

Insula County Hospital organized a hybrid summer school from June 20-22, 2022 as a sign of attention and cooperation with all colleagues, teachers, and associates in anticipation of its 67th anniversary. It hosted excellent lecturers from the USA, New Zealand, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia, and over 300 registered participants from the countries of Central and Southeastern Europe (Austria, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Croatia), i.e. participants from different target professions (MD and specialist doctors, nurses and technicians, psychologists, pedagogues and social pedagogues) who attended the event live or online.The summer school focused on various aspects of trauma and related psychotherapeutic approaches - the role of epigenetics, the life cycle of the individual and trauma, attachment and attachment disorders, the concept of dissociation related to trauma and the application of the EMDR psychotherapeutic technique, the treatment of trauma within body psychotherapy, etc.

 

The summer school was officially opened by Assoc. Prof. Vesna Šendula Jengić, MD, director of the Insula County Hospital and summer school Scientific Committee Chair.

 

 

 

After the opening of the school, Prof. Mila Goldner Vukov, MD, PhD, psychiatrist, introduced those present to the concepts of interpersonal and intergenerational trauma, their similarities and differences, and the sociocultural context through which these concepts are analyzed. In her very interesting lecture, she referred to transcultural specificities of psychiatry in the countries where she has lived and worked for decades (New Zealand, Australia, USA).

 

 

 

The second day of the summer school was opened by Prof. Mila Goldner Vukov, MD, PhD, as well as the first day, but this time with the topic of intrauterine life and trauma, an area that is very relevant and so far underresearched.

 

 

 

The following lecture by Mihael Rogač, MD, PhD, neuropediatrician and geneticist, and Prof. Borut Peterlin, MD, PhD, also a geneticist and neurologist from the Clinical Institute of Medical Genetics in Ljubljana about epigenetics and chronic maternal stress during pregnancy was an excellent thematic continuation of the previous lecture. It is especially noteworthy that the aforementioned Institute, led by Prof. Peterlin, has achieved significant success in research on both European and global level, which is recognized by the scientific community, since the head of the Institute, Prof. Peterlin, was appointed president of the European Society of Human Genetics.

 

 

 

The second day concluded with the workshop "Mother-daughter relationship", led by psychiatrists Prof. Mila Goldner Vukov, MD, PhD, and Snežana Mijalković, MD, MSc. Systemic and family therapy and learning through role-playing were intended exclusively for participants who could physically attend the meeting. At the workshop specific features of the mother-daughter relationship, challenges of this relationship in different developmental stages, types of conflicting mothers, positive aspects of the mother-daughter relationship, etc. were worked out through practical exercises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last, third day of the summer school was also opened by Prof. Mila Goldner Vukov, MD, PhD, presenting knowledge about the position of men in contemporary societies and related traumas, violence, etc. in a very interesting and instructive way.

 

 

 

This was followed by a lecture by Ana Ristović, MA on the role of body psychotherapy in the treatment of trauma - the subject of study of body psychotherapy and the key role of the body or, more precisely, body processes. Prof. Ristović is an EMDR psychotherapist and a body psychotherapist with European license who has been using these therapeutic techniques in clinical work for the last twenty years. It was very interesting to listen to her presentation, which in the end, despite the communication via video link, also provided a practical exercise.

 

 

 

The last lecture was given by Roger M. Solomon, PhD, one of the world's leading experts in the field of trauma-related dissociation and EMDR therapy. In the lecture, he discussed the concept of personality as a dynamic biopsychosocial system made up of parts, the concept of personality dissociation and how the EMDR psychotherapeutic technique can be used in the treatment of these complex traumas.