The Great East Japan Earthquake which occurred on 11 March inflicted enormous damage. Many people were affected by the tsunami and earthquake and even now people are living in shelters and worries about the nuclear plant continue to persist.
On 2 June, the Meiji University School of Arts and Letters and the Center for Clinical Psychology, jointly with the Kwansei Gakuin University Institute for the Research of Disaster Area Reconstruction, invited Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and one of the world’s leading experts on traumatic stress care, to hold a lecture as part of support for the disaster victims. The lecture was held at the Surugadai Campus and introduced responses to trauma specific to natural disasters and the latest clinical methods for those people who provide support to trauma victims.
This lecture was held right after Dr. van der Kolk completed an inspection tour and workshop in the Tohoku region and it provided a valuable opportunity to consider support and traumatic stress care in Tokyo based on the situation in the affected areas.
Profile of Bessel van der Kolk. M.D.
Psychiatrist, Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Director, Complex Trauma Treatment Network, NCTSN, and past President, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He has authored the book Psychological Trauma as well as many papers. Dr. van der Kolk is one of the world’s leading experts on traumatic stress studies.
