Presenter: Benjamin Israel, MD
Presenter Bio: Dr. Benjamin Israel is delighted to be participating in the ISSTD’s online education series. Dr. Israel is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. He works at a variety of clinical sites focused on consultation-liaison and emergency psychiatry. In July 2022, Dr. Israel opened a trauma-focused outpatient community psychiatry clinic within the University’s Division of Addictions Research and Treatment. Dr. Israel is the lead author of a forthcoming publication exploring trauma-responsive addictions treatment and clinic management. Dr. Israel teaches and supervises psychiatry and psychotherapy trainees at all levels. He also sees private psychotherapy patients, most of whom suffer with complex posttraumatic and dissociative syndromes. Dr. Israel has presented to professional audiences locally, nationally, and internationally on the diagnosis and treatment of complex posttraumatic syndromes. He has developed and led workshops on trauma tailored for medical providers who are not mental health or trauma specialists. Previously, Dr. Israel worked at the Trauma Disorders Program at Sheppard Pratt Hospital, where he functioned as a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and Service Chief. Dr. Israel graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed residency training at the University of Maryland / Sheppard Pratt combined residency program in Baltimore. He is board certified in adult psychiatry. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife and their two sons.

Presenter: Rich Loewenstein 
Presenter Bio: Presenter Biography: Richard J. Loewenstein MD is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. He is the founder of, and from 1987-2020 was the Medical Director of, The Trauma Disorders Program at Sheppard Pratt, Baltimore, MD. He is rated by U.S. News and World Report as among America’s top 1 % of psychiatrists. Dr. Loewenstein did a research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. In the past he was a faculty member of the Departments of Psychiatry at Yale University, New Haven, CT; George Washington University, Washington, DC; and University of California, Los Angeles, CA. He is the author of approximately 100 papers and book chapters on dissociation, dissociative disorders, and trauma disorders, among others. He is the Section Editor, Dissociative Disorders, of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), DSM-5 Text Revision (DSM-5TR), to be published in Spring, 2022. He is co-editor of the 4th Revision (in preparation) of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Guidelines for Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults. Since 2000, he has been an author of the Dissociative Disorders chapter in Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. He is leading the revision of the Dissociative Disorders chapter for the upcoming (11th) edition of this textbook. He is distinguished life fellow of the APA and, among other awards, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the ISSTD.