Advances in Resilience Building and Psychotrauma Prevention: Towards an Integrated System of Learning and Care  – Dr Joanne Mouthaan
In the past decade, global turmoil of wars and political unrest, the surge in displaced populations and refugees and the COVID-19 pandemic have put new light on the topics of resilience building and psychotrauma prevention and their feasibility. The consistency of insecurity and the scale to which people are affected challenges us to think about what type of help can create the most effect. In this keynote Dr Mouthaan presents an overview of historical advances in the field of resilience building and psychotrauma prevention and discusses possibilities for innovation in systems of care and professional education.

PTSD, Wearable Technology and Cannabis – Dr Daniel Leightley & Grace Williamson
In this talk, we will discuss preliminary results from an innovative international study. It revolves around the application of cutting-edge remote measurement technologies to observe cannabis use among UK and US veterans. The primary focus is on understanding its effects on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This research not only tracks usage patterns but also explores potential therapeutic benefits for PTSD management. Our findings are poised to offer new perspectives in treating PTSD, promising to significantly impact veteran healthcare.

Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Patients with Functional Neurological Disorder – Dr Tanya Edmonds & Dr Kelly Price
The presentation provides an overview of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), and explains how this condition relates to trauma and adversity. Scientific understanding of the condition and the Window of Tolerance Model is outlined, followed by discussion about the meaning of ‘wellbeing.’ The application of current theories and models of wellbeing to FND and other chronic conditions is considered. This is followed by discussion about how these models can guide intervention and service development to improve the outcomes for individuals with symptoms of FND, their families and society, as well as reducing the long-term costs of healthcare.

ConnectionWorks – An Innovative, Holistic Approach to Heal Complex PTSD – Dr Susanna Petche
We know that what is currently available on the NHS to treat those needing treatment and support with CPTSD is woefully inadequate; with vastly long waiting lists and often actually re-traumatises patients. What if there was a different way. Dr Susanna Petche a Functional Medicine GP, Trainer, Coach and expert in Psychological Trauma will share the life changing outcomes and client stories from an innovative 12-month NHS funded programme of holistic healing, treating Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The ConnectionWorks project facilitated 32 participants through a year of psychoeducation, lifestyle interventions and body work including yoga, TRE, acupuncture, foraging walks and equine therapy, the outcomes were incredible.

Patients’ and Therapists’ Experiences of Psychedelic Therapy in PTSD – Liam (Nadav) Modlin
Amid a renewed, at times hyperbolic, interest in psychedelics as a potential treatment for mental ill health, significant gaps of knowledge remain. In the context of traumatic stress, it has been suggested that psychedelics and entactogens such as MDMA, together with forms of psychological support or psychotherapy, may help overcome the limitations of current treatment options. MDMA-assisted therapy is well tolerated in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whilst demonstrating significant reductions in symptoms. Trials have also demonstrated preliminary data for psilocybin in psychiatric disorders and healthy volunteers. At King’s College London, an early phase 2a trial assessing the safety and tolerability of psilocybin therapy in PTSD is underway.

Correspondingly, across mental health diagnoses, trauma exposure has been associated with poorer treatment outcomes, including increased likelihood of suicide attempts, self-harming behaviours, longer and more frequent hospital admissions and higher levels of prescribed medication. Further, patients with histories of physical and psychological traumas are at risk of and vulnerable to becoming distressed or re-traumatised because of healthcare experiences. Accordingly, understanding the multifaceted interactions between pharmacological and non-pharmacological elements of psychedelic therapy may be even more pertinent in patients who have been exposed to traumatic experiences.

This workshop will explore salient themes in patient and clinician experiences of psychedelic therapy for mental health indications in the context of traumatic stress. The present will discuss the research history and neurobiology of psychedelics and highlight common patient narratives in psychedelic therapy. Further, the presenter will discuss points of intersectionality and divergence between treatment-as-usual and psychedelic therapy to explore the treatment process.

Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to Deal with Trauma and Adversity – Jan Bostock
The consideration of power influences are important for communities and individuals dealing with abuse, inequality and injustice. The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) enables us to co-develop holistic understandings of trauma and adversity that reference how power processes may be implicated in people’s experiences. I shall describe how the PTMF helps us to build on trauma informed approaches to change the dominant mental health emphasis on individual pathology. This means that we focus on people’s strengths and resources; consider with them their ideas about what has happened or is happening, and how power operates; and see their threat responses or signs of distress as strategies for survival in the light of threats they’ve experienced. Thus we can co-create meaningful and hopeful narratives that link what has happened to people with how they feel and function, and may inform organisational change.