KEYNOTES
Lora Dimitrova
Advancing an Evidence-based Understanding of Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dr. Lora Dimitrova is a researcher at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies UK and, after her Master degree in Mental Health Studies at King’s College London, she fulfilled her PhD affiliated with King’s College London (UK) and VU University Amsterdam (NL). Her thesis entitled ‘Trauma-Related Dissociation: Brain And Behavioural Measures Of Dissociative Identity Disorder’ explored the effects of trauma on brain function and structure focusing on neurofunctional and neurostructural biomarkers of pathological dissociation and traumatisation.
Some notable publications include “Inter-identity Amnesia in Dissociative Identity Disorder resolved: A Behavioural and Neurobiological study”, “A neurostructural biomarker of dissociative amnesia: a hippocampal study in Dissociative Identity Disorder” and “Sleep, trauma, fantasy and cognition in dissociative identity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and healthy controls: a replication and extension study”.
Dolores Mosquera
Adapting EMDR Therapy for Dissociation: Therapeutic Challenges and a Transdiagnostic Perspective
Dolores Mosquera is a psychologist and psychotherapist specialized in complex trauma, personality disorders, and dissociation. She is the director of the Institute for the Study of Trauma and Personality Disorders. INTRA-TP) in A Coruña, Spain—a clinical private institution founded in 2000. She collaborates with two different Domestic Violence Programs, one focused on Women Victims of DV and another one on Males with Violent Behavior. She belongs to the Spanish National Network for the Assistance of Victims of Terrorism, and also collaborates with an organization aiding victims of emergencies, accidents, violent attacks, kidnapping and other traumatic incidents.
Dolores has extensive teaching experience leading seminars, workshops, and lectures internationally. Dolores also teaches in several Universities, and collaborates supervising Clinical Psychologists in postgraduate training programs in Spain.
She has published several books, book chapters and articles on personality disorders, complex trauma, and dissociation. Dolores received the David Servan-Schreiber award for outstanding contributions to the EMDR field in 2017, was made Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation in 2018, for her contributions to the field of trauma and dissociation, and received from the Lorraine University (France) the MAM10 Prix David Servan-Schreiber award in 2021 to a foreign researcher who has made a notable international contribution, having advanced research in the field of EMDR. In 2022 Dolores received from the Board of Spanish Psychologists Association the Professional of the Year award in the category of Psychology for the trajectory and significant contributions in dignifying the profession. In 2024 she receved by the ESTD – European Society for Trauma and Dissociation an award for her contribution to the advancement of scientific culture in the field of trauma-related and dissociative disorders.
Olivier Piedfort-Marin
Dissociation: Clarification of the Concept and its Implication for EMDR Therapy
Olivier Piedfort-Marin Ph.D. is a psychologist and licensed psychotherapist in Switzerland, working in private practice in Lausanne. His main areas of interest are the assessment and psychotherapy of PTSD, complex PTSD and dissociative disorders. After a training in CBT, he trained in EMDR in 2004 and is an EMDR Europe accredited consultant and facilitator. He has undergone intensive training in the theory of structural personality dissociation and the treatment of dissociative identity disorder and made his doctoral thesis on the diagnostic and treatment of dissociative disorders.
He is president of EMDR Europe, honorary president of the Association Francophone du Trauma et de la Dissociation – AFTD, and associate-editor of the European journal of trauma and Dissociation. In 2023 he was awarded the ESTD - European Society for Trauma and Dissociation - Award for his "contribution to the advancement of scientific culture in the field of trauma-related and dissociative disorders".
Roger Solomon
Treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociative Symptoms through the Lens of AIP
Roger Solomon, Ph.D., is a psychologist specializing in trauma and grief. He is the Program Director and Senior Faculty with the EMDR Institute of Francine Shapiro, an EMDR Europe approved trainer, and teaches EMDR therapy internationally.
He has provided consultation and direct services to numerous agencies including the U.S. Senate, FBI, Secret Service, NASA, and US military. In Italy he consults with Polizia di Stato and University of Rome (La Sapienza), and is a visiting professor at Salesiana University in Rome. Dr. Solomon presents workshops on the utilization of EMDR therapy complex trauma and dissociative symptoms, grief and mourning, treating attachment issues, and EMDR Therapy Master Class (”Art of EMDR therapy”).
He has authored or coauthored 56 articles and book chapters and has authored a book EMDR Therapy Treatment for Grief and Mourning: Transforming the Connection to the Deceased Loved One (2024, Oxford University Press) which has been translated in 7 languages.