IRES högre seminarium med Emily Holmes

With the current ongoing war in Ukraine, healthcare staff and the general population are being continuously exposed to traumatic events and experiences. This can impede their ability to function and go on with their daily life. The project (GAINS UKRAINE) aims to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of a digital intervention (an imagery-competing task intervention – ICTI) for reducing intrusive memories after traumatic events. Intrusive memories (“flashbacks”) are a common symptom after psychological trauma. They are brief, typically visual, sensory fragments, which replay the trauma repeatedly in the mind's eye. Intrusive memories can be extremely distressing for an individual and lead to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

The discussion also raises the consideration of broader issues related to mental health in the context of trauma recovery and war recovery such as the impact of digital interventions on accessibility to psychological help, the role of mental health support in rebuilding the country, and the importance of trauma-informed policies for strengthening community resilience.

GAINS UKRAINE is a collaboration project between Department of Women’s and Children’s Health and IRES, (Uppsala University), Bogomolets National Medical University (Ukraine), P1vital Products Ltd (United Kingdom), and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany).

Emily A. Holmes, PhD, DClinPsych, is a Professor in the Department of Women's and Children's Health at Uppsala University, where she leads the PERCEPT— Mental Imagery and Mental Health group. Trained as a clinical psychologist at Royal Holloway University of London, she also holds a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge. She is the recipient of several awards such as the American Psychological Association and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Her research focuses on intrusive memories and mental imagery that arise involuntarily after trauma, particularly following traumatic events like accidents, childbirth, war, or the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research currently involves an innovative approach to reduce these "flashbacks" through a digital and scalable imagery-competing task intervention (ICTI), which aims to reduce flashbacks and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Prof. Holmes will present alongside colleagues from her research group, PERCEPT:
Michael Watson-Conneely
Paraskevi Palivani
Hen Yacobson