Prof Christa Krüger, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Health Sciences, was inducted as a fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) earlier this year. This prestigious honour was bestowed on her at the 32nd Annual Conference of the ISSTD held in Orlando, Florida, USA.

The ISSTD is an international, non-profit, professional association created to develop and promote comprehensive, clinically effective and empirically based resources and responses to trauma and dissociation, and to address the relevance of these resources and responses to other theoretical constructs. The vision of the ISSTD is that social policy and health care will address the prevalence and consequences of chronic trauma and dissociation, making effective treatment available for all who suffer from the effects of chronic or complex trauma; and its mission is to advance clinical, scientific, and societal understanding about the prevalence and consequences of chronic trauma and dissociation.

Fellowship in the ISSTD represents recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of dissociation and the Society. To be considered for Fellow status, a person must have been a long-serving member of the society and must present evidence of outstanding contributions to the field of dissociation with respect to clinical work, teaching or research regarding dissociation and dissociative disorders (including scientific publications, presentations and consultative work), wide recognition by peers, service to the Society in its committees and task forces, and membership on advisory panels.

Prof Krüger has been a member of the ISSTD since 1995 and currently serves as a Director on the ISSTD Board. She is also a member of its standing Scientific Committee, Governance Committee, as well as its Clinical E-journal Task Force. She previously served on the ISSTD’s International Academic Task Force, the Task Force for the Internationalisation of Dissociation, as well as the Core Conference Committee.

She has published and presented original research on dissociation at several of the more recent annual ISSTD conferences. Her involvement with the ISSTD has also provided excellent opportunities for fruitful international research collaboration that has led to her co-authoring several international publications on dissociation. Her role as Fellow will include promoting and engaging in teaching and research in the field of dissociation, as well as serving as a leader and advisor to other members regarding contribution to the vision of the society.

Prof Krüger is a NRF-rated researcher and leading international expert who is jointly appointed between the University of Pretoria’s Department of Psychiatry and Weskoppies Hospital, a specialist psychiatric hospital in Pretoria. As a Professor, she has served as research supervisor to many successful psychiatry registrars and doctoral candidates. At Weskoppies Hospital she works as a specialist psychiatrist and is Head of a clinical unit.