Despite efforts to develop more effective therapies, PTSD remains a difficult disorder to treat. Insight into the dynamic nature of memory formation and its required molecular machinery can provide an opportunity to target pathological memories for emotionally arousing events. As memories become labile upon retrieval, novel information can update the strength and course of these consolidated memories. Targeting the process of reconsolidation may offer a relevant approach to attenuate fearful and traumatic memories.

Three and a half decades of research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced substantial knowledge on the pathobiology of this frequent and debilitating disease. However, despite all research efforts, so far no drug that has specifically targeted PTSD core symptoms progressed to clinical use. Instead, although not overly efficient, serotonin re-uptake inhibitors continue to be considered the gold standard of PTSD pharmacotherapy.

Introduction: This pilot study investigated asylum seekers’ needs and expectations in the mental health field to develop a culturally sensitive psychosocial intervention.

Method: Participants were residents of a certain asylum-seekers centre in the Netherlands, with most of them from the Middle East crisis. Needs and expectations were identified using therapy expectations questionnaire (11 participants) and two focus groups (17 participants).

Disasters are unforgettable events. Or so we think. But what if the people directly involved are gone, where does the memory of such events reside? And how is this memory accessed? On this site, we invite you to explore with us, students from the University of Amsterdam, how previous disasters in the Netherlands left their trace on the Dutch cultural landscape. What practices of memorialization exist? Is it easy to recognize the event years later, when make our way through these same locations? And when encountering these traces, how do we react and experience these places?