Workshops
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Workshop 1 Conservation of Resources Theory: Stress and Trauma Stevan E. Hobfoll, Ph.D. Professor Judd and Marjarie Weinberg Presidential Professor Rush Medical College, Chicago » view biography » view abstract Biography: Dr. Stevan Hobfoll has authored and edited 11books, including TRAUMATIC STRESS, THE ECOLOGY OF STRESS, and STRESS CULTURE AND COMMUNITY. In addition, he has authored over 200 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports, and has been a frequent workshop leader on stress, war, and terrorism. He has received over $12 million in research grants on stress. Dr. Hobfoll is currently the Judd and Marjorie Weinberg Presidential Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Rush University and Medical College. He is also a Fellow of the Center for National Security Studies at the University of Haifa, Israel. Dr. Hobfoll was formerly Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Kent State University, Director of the Summa-KSU Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress, and on the faculty at Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Universities, and an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. He remains involved with the problem of stress in Israel. Dr. Hobfoll was cited by the Encyclopadia Britannica for his contribution to knowledge and understanding for his Ecology of Stress volume and received lifetime achievement awards for his work on stress and trauma from several scientific societies. He was co-chair of the American Psychological Association Commission on Stress and War during Operation Desert Storm, helping plan for the prevention of prolonged distress among military personnel and their families, member of the U.S. task force on bioterrorism, and a member of APA’s Task Force on Resilience in Response to Terrorism. e-mail: Stevan_Hobfoll@Rush.edu Abstract: Work on war, terrorism, and disaster suggests that losses that individuals and families experience in the domains of personal resources (e.g., self-esteem, optimism), condition resources (e.g., marriage, employment), energy resources (e.g., time, credit) and material resources (e.g., house, car) are the key ingredients in outcomes of traumatic events. These reactions will include a range of negative sequelae ranging from moderate anxiety and sleep problems for those at the periphery of events to full-blown PTSD for those who are most directly impacted. Secondarily, because these events are usually outside of people's own control and coping repertoire and because the threat is often vague as to future possibilities, media construels of events and political processes will deeply affect people's reactivity. Hence, if politicians and news sources provide a clear message and promote a clear responsive strategy that fits people's value system it can supplement individuals' meaning systems and coping processes and help them navigate through these unfamiliar waters. In this regard, it is important to add to individual-level knowledge about traumatic stress responsiveness and resiliency, certain key family processes. Families can be a critical point of resiliency and stability. At the same time, a troubled family will accelerate the negative impact of traumatic events. These concepts will be presented in light of Conservation of Resources theory, spanning from individual to family level responding. The workshop will work on theory, research, and intervention within COR frameworks. GOALS: 1. To understand the basic principles of COR theory 2. To be familiar with the scientific basis for the application of COR theory to the study of traumatic stress. 3. To be familiar with key resources that operate in the trauma and recovery process 4. To be able to apply the principles of COR theory to research and intervention on traumatic stress |
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Workshop 2 All about social support: Conceptual, measurement & methodological distinctions that matter Krys Kaniasty, Ph.D. Professor Department of Psychology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA & Opole University, Poland » view biography » view abstract Biography: Dr. Krys Kaniasty studied psychology in Poland and the United States. He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in research methodology, social psychology, and stress and coping at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he is a Professor of Psychology. He also teaches at Opole University in Poland. He conducted and collaborated on several large-scale longitudinal studies (in the US, Mexico, Poland) investigating communal coping and social support exchanges in the context of stressful life events at both individual (e.g., criminal victimization, job loss) and community (e.g., floods, hurricanes) levels. He is perhaps the foremost authority on postdisaster social support dynamics in the world, having authored or co-authored numerous empirical and theoretical publications on the topic. In 2001-2007, he was editor of the STAR’s Anxiety, Stress and Coping: An International Journal. e-mail: kaniasty@iup.edu Abstract: It is not too much of an overstatement to declare that social support is presently considered an inherent constituent of the stress-to-health process. For many contemporary studies that examine how different stressors impact physical, psychological and social well-being it is almost imperative to include some feature of this multifaceted sociopsychological resource. Social support has become an expected analytical companion to standard status variables in stress and coping research such as gender, age, education or ethnicity. Ironically, this ascribed prominence of social support has not been accompanied by conceptual, measurement, and analytical sophistication this construct deserves and demands from the researchers. Too many studies still utilize generic assessments without much regard for important distinctions among various facets of social support (e.g., perceived, received, social embeddedness), types (e.g., tangible, emotional, informational) or sources (e.g., family, friends, outsiders). Likewise, too many studies still satisfy their mission of examining the impact of social support in theoretically and analytically limited contexts of the stress buffer and the main effect models. Social support operates through many different manifestations and pathways whose exposition will assure its continued theoretical and practical relevance for stress and coping research. The workshop will introduce many of these distinctions and provide ample evidence that they matter. Participants completing the workshop will be able to: 1. Recognize the multifaceted nature of social support construct 2. Judiciously select dependable social support instruments according to specific research hypotheses or intervention goals 3. Understand diversity of theoretical and analytical models attempting to explain the workings of this robust resource in successful coping and adaptation 4. Appreciate that failures of social support (it is not a panacea, and it can frustrate and disappoint) are as important for psychological well-being as its successes |
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Workshop 3 Dance Movement Therapy Robert Frank Psychologist, Dance / Movement therapist III. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Department Jahn Ferenc South-Pest Hospital, Budapest, Hungary » view biography » view abstract Biography: Robert Frank's first degree was achieved in ballet dancing. Starting in 1987 he graduated at the Hungarian Dance Academy. After graduating he won a scholarship and spent a year at the Elmhurst Ballet School in England. He then studied psychology at Debrecen University. During that time he visited the United States to study Dance Therapy with the major instructors in America. From 2004 he has worked at the Jahn Ferenc Hospital 111 in the Psychiatry Department where he uses Dance Therapy with psychotic and neurotic patients. From 2006 he has been a member of the Education, Research and Practice Committee at the Hungarian Dance Movement Association. He has used Dance Therapy with several groups with either cancer or epileptic illnesses at places such as the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology. Today he is the only one using Dance Therapy in clinical settings in Hungary. Abstract: Dance Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the use of movement as the medium of change. While the complex relationships between mind and body have long been recognized and studied, there has been limited exploration in modern western cultures on using the body as a healing force for emotional distress. Eastern cultures have more extensively examined this relationship. Many movement forms such as Tai Chi are meant for mediation and self growth. The mind-body is seen as a system that must function in ease and harmony. Disruptions of the flow and unity may indicate the presence of psychological and physical stress and conflict. Dance therapy is based upon such assumptions, built upon psychological and physiological concepts whit the strong belief in the psychic-physical relationship. Dance therapy is ideal for people suffering with stress or anxiety related problems and who have difficulty in communicating these problems. It can be shown that by the greater the improvement in the balance of body and soul the greater is the reduction in stress and anxiety At the end of the workshop participants will: 1. Understand the healing processes in dance therapy 2. Improve their communication skills and have greater empathy and become more assertive 3. Be aware of the use of Metacommunication through examination of individual styles and their development 4. Be able to promote real self image and self evaluation |
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Workshop 4 In extreme environment: Taught by Parents and Nature József Gál Sr., József Gál Jr. Budapest » view biography » view abstract Biography: József Gál Sr. was born in 1955. At a young age, he practiced many competitive sports: gymnastics, basketball, kayak, and sailing. Graduated from the Technical University of Budapest in 1981 as a mechanical engineer. With their self-built boat, he and a friend were the first Hungarians to circumnavigate the Globe. After his first trip, he designs a second boat, which he builds with the help of his family, and spends the next four years arranging his next trip, on which he embarks with his wife and five year old son. Films, writes and edits a documentary series. Edits an educational magazine program at a TV channel. Regularly publishes articles in sailing magazines. Former chairman of the „Megszállottak” club, whose members are distinguished representatives of non-Olympic sports. Honorary Life Member of the Hungarian Sailing Association, chairman of the Naval Committee. Operates a sailing school, composer of the HSA’s yachting education and qualification system. József Gál Jr. was born in 1986, accompanied his parents on their trip. Started junior high school at Budapest in 1997. Finished high school in 2005 and continued his studies at the Faculty of Medicine of Semmelweis University Budapest where he is currently an undergraduate. Abstract: In 1991 a boat set sails for the seas, and was on her way around the Globe for nearly six years. Members of the crew: József Gál, his wife Judit and their son József, who was only five years old at the time. The expedition had scientific aspects: they conducted communication experiments, collected soil and plankton samples from various locations, received researchers on board and also made a documentary series about their trip. With the cooperation of schools and teachers, they kept in touch and helped the work of various learning groups, where the students learned Geography, Biology and History in relation of the expedition. Prior to their departure, the parents sought out a few psychologists to help them prepare for the task, and to offer an interesting research subject: the development and learning process of a child in an extreme environment characterized by two circumstances: a lot of time spent together with the parents and the close proximity of Nature. The experts rejected the offer, deeming the enterprise harmful for the child, and thus a psychological study was not made. The boy was taught the curriculum of the first four grades by his parents using their own educational system. Today, the former child is the student of Semmelweis University, wishing to become an expert in forensic medicine. The lecture does not seek to approach the subject from a professional point of view, but to provide a reliable and first-hand narrative, from which conclusions can be drawn by the audience. The Workshop was put together by father and son, the attendants will have the chance to meet and converse with the latter. The central question of the Workshop: What effects do a natural environment; high parental presence and a special lifestyle have on personality development. |