International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

This award is the highest honor given to an individual who has made great lifetime contributions to the field of traumatic stress.

The award was established by Dr. Yael Danieli in commemoration of her father and mother. This award recognizes excellence in the traumatic stress field by an individual who has completed his or her training within the last five years. For men or women with primary childcare responsibilities, one year per child can be added up to an eight-year limit post training. For example, an individual who completed his or her post-doctoral fellowship in 2011 and has two children would be eligible until 2018. The traumatic stress field may include research, clinical work, advocacy, policy, clergy or media. The definition of training includes clinical internship, post-doctoral training and medical residency.

This award is given to an individual or group who has made an outstanding contribution to research in the field of traumatic stress. Robert S. Laufer, PhD, was a sociologist who made early and important contributions to the field of traumatic stress and PTSD through his research on the effects of war experiences on Vietnam combat veterans. Laufer was Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and an author of the groundbreaking study of returning veterans entitled Legacies of Vietnam: Comparative Adjustment of Veterans and Their Peers, published in 1981, with Arthur Egendorf, Ellen Frey-Wouters, and others. Laufer and colleagues expanded the concept of combat exposure to include multiple dimensions. In particular, he focused on witnessing or participating in abusive violence, an important new focus for a guerilla war where there were no front lines, and where enemy combatants and civilians were often difficult to distinguish. He found that abusive violence followed from more extreme exposure to combat, and was associated with distinctive psychological and behavioral outcomes, including different aspects of PTSD. Laufer died prematurely of cancer in 1989 at the age of 47. This award is made in his memory.

This award is given to a clinician or group of clinicians in direct service to traumatized individuals. This written and/or verbal communication to the field must exemplify the work of Sarah Haley. Sarah Haley, MSW, was a psychiatric social worker in the VA clinic in Boston, now a part of VA Boston Healthcare System. Beginning with her treatment of a My Lai veteran who was severely distressed and unable to remember aspects of his highly traumatizing experiences in Vietnam, at a time when traumatic experiences were rarely the focus of treatment, she sat with hundreds of veterans who gradually were able to trust her enough to tell their horrific narratives. Working with these men, who repulsed or frightened many other therapists, led to her landmark article entitled When the Patient Reports Atrocities: Specific Treatment Considerations of the Vietnam Veteran, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 1974. She established that the Vietnam veteran who had witnessed or taken part in atrocities presented a new and difficult challenge to psychotherapy, one that took courage and conviction on the part of the therapist to help bring about healing. Haley died prematurely of cancer in 1989 at the age of 50. This award is made in her memory.

This award is given for outstanding and fundamental contributions to advancing social understanding of trauma.

This award recognizes outstanding contributions by clinicians, researchers, graduate students and scholars working at the intersection of trauma with media and/or journalism. The Ochberg Award recognizes significant research and innovation which either: Advances understanding of the role and impact of media in traumatic events; elucidates the medical, ethical and/or social consequences of journalism practices relating to trauma; or contributes to the resilience of news professionals who cover violence, conflict and tragedy.

This award is presented to Student Members who submit proposals judged to have the greatest potential to contribute to the field of traumatic stress. The Scholars are named in honor of Dr. Frank W. Putnam, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the field of traumatic stress research, his service to children and families around the world, and his decades of mentorship and service to the Society. Previously known as the Student Research Grant Program, the Frank W. Putnam Research Scholars Program was endowed by anonymous donors who are friends and colleagues of Dr. Putnam.

This award is presented annually to recognize excellent work in a poster submission to the annual meeting.

This award is presented for outstanding contribution to trauma research methodology for creating and managing the Conference on Innovations in Trauma Research Methods.