Dr Michael Paterson OBE, a clinical psychologist from Belfast, is travelling to Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia & Herzegovina to provide training in Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing therapy to local mental health professionals. Dr Michael Paterson OBE, an eminent clinical psychologist from Belfast, is travelling to the city of Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia & Herzegovina, on Saturday 28 November 2009, where he will deliver a lecture on Traumatology and provide training in EMDR therapy, through interpreters, to local mental health professionals.

The need for help in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is crucial in a country that has suffered so much violence and brutality in its recent past. In 2008 it was stated that, according to data from the International Committee of the Red Cross, during the 1992 – 95 war, 200,000 people were killed, 12,000 of them children, up to 50,000 women were raped and 2.2 million were forced to flee their homes. Incredibly, these figures take no account of the countless thousands of men, women and children who were wounded and injured.

Working under the auspices of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programme UK & Ireland, who have funded his travel and accommodation costs, Michael is qualified more than most for his role. As well as being an Accredited Trainer with EMDR Europe Association and a member of the faculty at the EMDR Institute in California, USA, he has firsthand experience of suffering severe personal trauma. In 1981, while serving as a police officer in Belfast, he lost both arms and sustained other life threatening injuries as a result of a terrorist attack on his vehicle.

During his week-long sojourn in Bosnia, Michael, who is volunteering his services free of charge, will be ably assisted by Dr Bridget O’Rawe. Bridget, also from Belfast, is an experienced psychiatrist and EMDR practitioner and will work as a Facilitator in small group practical exercises.

Michael regularly uses Eye Movement Desenitisation & Reprocessing therapy with his own patients. The treatment, which allows unprocessed trauma to be resolved in relatively few sessions, is a valuable tool when dealing with single and multi-incident Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Research indicates that, when EMDR techniques are applied, symptoms of PTSD such as distressing imagery, physical sensations, disturbing thoughts and uncontrolled emotions lose their impact.

It is, perhaps, appropriate that Tuzla is the location for the EMDR training conference. As well as being the site of a 1995 massacre and home to thousands of refugees its name is derived from the Turkish word for ‘salt’ and refers to the extensive salt deposits to be found underneath the city. Salt is an essential substance for life and wellbeing and without it all living things would perish. It can only be hoped that Dr Michael Paterson and the EMDR HAP can use the forthcoming event at Tuzla to revitalise and strengthen the mental life and wellbeing of all those who have suffered in Bosnia & Herzegovina.