NCTTP’s 15th Annual Symposium “A Long and Winding Road: Ongoing Challenges and Healing Processes for Forced Migrants and Survivors of Torture”

The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs (NCTTP) is a U.S. based network of programs which exists to advance the knowledge, technical capacities and resources devoted to the care of torture survivors living in the United States and acts collectively to prevent torture worldwide.

The symposium is a full-day event and open to the public. The objective of the symposium is to offer the opportunity of a multidisciplinary forum for the exchange of original research and/or systematic literature review among professionals working providing clinical services or conducting research with survivors of state sponsored torture. This symposium is directed to physicians, psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, and lawyers in disciplines like medicine, psychology, social work, case management, epidemiology, justice and reparation.

The keynote panel of the Symposium, “The Paying It Forward Panel” will be held at 1:35 p.m. ET. Panel participants will talk about their experience/persecution, how they have benefited from a program that focuses on survivors of torture, and why advocating for survivors of torture and trauma is so important, along with their thoughts on how they are “paying it forward” and making a difference in their sphere of influence. The goal of the panel is to outline how survivors can use their creativity, talent, education, and occupations to further advocacy and policy work. The Panelists come from Guinea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Togo, Eritrea, and Cameroon. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Hawthorne Smith, a Georgetown School of Foreign Service & African Studies Alumnus and President of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs.

Registration is free for Georgetown University’s staff, faculty, and students. Use promo code “GUS” (GU GoCard must be presented at the check-in time on the day of the event).

This is a hybrid event, registration available for online and in-person attendance available in the links to the side. Deadline to register is March 17, 2023.

Schedule of Events:

9:00 Introduction with Hawthorne Smith, PhD, NCTTP President and Jose Quiroga, MD NCTTP Symposium Founder and Organizer.

9:10-9:30 Reflections from the South Border: Providing Destination Case Management for Asylum Seekers on the Move with Lisa Hattori, MPA, Léonce Byimana, MPH, and Leora Hudak, MA, LCSW

9:30-9:50 The End of the Beginning: The future of data-informed immigration policy, with Coleen Kivlahan, MD, MSPH

9:50-10:10 Utilizing Politicized Healing to Heal Survivors of Police Violence and Torture, with Aislinn Pulley and Nathaniel Gilham

10:10-10:35 Break+ Poster Presentations in the Lobby.

10:35-10:55 Persectution and Migration Experiences of LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers, with Cliffors Z. Liu, MD/PhD Candidate, and Olivia Moscicki, MD Candidate

10:55-11:15 The IRCT global movement’s strategic endeavor to promote Survivor Engagement across its membership, with Lisa Henry, Chris Einolf, and Susan Wyatt

11:15-11:35 Consequences of War for Ukrainian People: military sexual violence, treatment of prisoners of war, torture of civilians and military members, with Lesia Sad, MD/PhD candidate and Alla Prokhovnik-Raphique, PhD

11:35-11:55 Investigating Associations between Cumulative Torture Event Histories and Physical Health Outcome in Survivors of Politically Sanctioned Torture, with Leah Balter, BA Candidate and Martin Hill, PhD

12:00-1:10 Lunch Break

1:10-1:30 Themes of Distress and Resilience Among Iraqi and Congolese Refugees and Torture Survivors: A Thematic Analysis, Aya Cheaito

1:35-2:45 The Paying it Forward Panel, with Adamah Bah, Achiro P. Olwoch, Henok Getaneh, Yaovi Tamatekou, and Desire Lemoupa Aaron

2:50-3:00 Break

3:00-3:20 Client- Centered Model Design with Asylum Seekers Experiencing Family Separation, with Rihab Yako, LSW, MSW, MAPS, Martine SongaSonga,
LPC, NCC, MS, Emily Schwab Ledesma, LCSW, MSW

3:20-3:40 Evaluating Survivors of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting for Immigration Court – Opportunities and Challenges for Licensed Mental Health Professionals, with Adeyinka M. Akinsulure-Smith, PhD, ABPP, Evangeline I and Sicalides, PhD, Mariama Diallo, DSW

3:40-4:00 The Experience of Covid and Perceptions of the Covid-19 Vaccine Among Refugees and Survivors of Torture, with Linda Piwowarczyk, MD, MPH, Salma Amin, MPH, and Tithi Baul, MPH

4:00-4:05 Break

4:05-4:35 Introduction to Providing Forensic Mental Health Evaluations and Testimony for Asylum Seekers, with Katherine C. McKenzie, MD, FACP, and Virginia Barber-Rioja

4:35-4:55 Sew to Speak: Common Threads Project’s Trauma Recovery Circles, with Rachel Cohen

4:55-5:00 Closing Remarks, with Hawthorne Smith, PhD