About

Ian Barron is a Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Youth Engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. His professional interests focus on child and adult traumatization and recovery in contexts such as war, military occupation, domestic violence, terrorism, disasters, and mass migration. He specializes in mass trauma response, school-based abuse prevention, clerical child sexual abuse, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and youth radicalization and trauma. Dr. Barron’s research aims to identify effective methods of child trauma education, prevention, and recovery, with a focus on children in war and domestic violence settings. His work emphasizes high standards of practice and rigorous evaluative research in complex and adverse situations. His interdisciplinary projects span local, national, and international settings, and have been recognized as outstanding and world-leading in impact. He has established the International Centre for Child Trauma Prevention and Recovery to develop global trauma recovery research projects, as well as the Trauma Response Network to respond to mass trauma events such as terrorism. Throughout his career, Dr. Barron has received several accolades, including a CARE Accolade from the Scottish Social Services Council for his work in juvenile detention, an Award of Excellence from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in occupied Palestine, and recognition as an Impact Champion by the University of Dundee. His recent activities include developing research themes on conflict and migration, organizing mental health symposiums in Palestine, and leading projects addressing child traumatization in Brazilian Favelas and youth transition in juvenile detention. His work also involves international trauma-informed training and seminars on various topics related to trauma and recovery.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Psychology
• Internal medicine
• Intensive care medicine
• Pathology
• Clinical psychology
• Psychiatry
• Physical therapy
• Emergency medicine
• Psychotherapist

Selected publications

• Posttraumatic Growth in Self-Referred Healthcare Workers to the Trauma Response Network UK During COVID-19: An Exploratory Study

  Journal of Aggression Maltreatment & Trauma · 2026-04-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Trauma-Specific Suicide Prevention in a Residential Secure Care Facility: A Case Study

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025-01-07

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This study aims to promote research into the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) program as part of suicide prevention in secure residential facilities. TRT, based on cognitive behavioral theory, addresses the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, arguably a driving force underpinning suicidal behavior. The case study involved a program worker and her suicidal 15-year-old female client, who, prior to TRT, presented with daily self-harm and suicidal ideation, and frequent suicidal attempts. A qualitative design involved two 45-minute semi-structured interviews, with the program worker and adolescent, at three months post-treatment. A 6-step quasi-qualitative systematic analysis was used to identify the codes of meaning, their frequency, and the themes from participants’ statements. An independent female researcher provided a measure of inter-rater reliability. Following TRT, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts ceased and the adolescent was moved from a secure residential facility to a foster placement. Only one relapse occurred in the 3-month follow-up period. Both adolescent and program worker perceived TRT to have had a significant contribution towards change. The adolescent emphasized the importance of a trusting relationship while the program worker emphasized that TRT needed to be delivered within a suicide aware environment. Future research needs to utilize rigorous experimental designs to evaluate TRT for at risk adolescents in secure residential facilities.

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• Capacity building trauma-specific school counseling in occupied Palestine: A narrative review (2009–2024)

  International Journal of School & Educational Psychology · 2024-12-20 · 2 citations

  review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Le statut actuel de la thérapie EMDR, les domaines cibles spécifiques et les objectifs pour l’avenir

  Journal of EMDR Practice and Research · 2023-01-01

  articleOpen access

  La thérapie de désensibilisation et de retraitement par les mouvements oculaires (EMDR) est considérée comme un traitement fondé sur des données probantes pour le traitement du trouble stress post-traumatique (TSPT) chez l’adulte, mais il y a des différences dans la façon dont les diverses directives internationales de traitement jugent la solidité de cette base de preuves. En outre, dans des domaines autres que le TSPT de l’adulte, les principales lignes directrices diffèrent encore davantage quant à la solidité de ces preuves et quant au moment où on utilisera l’EMDR. En 2019 a été lancée la Commission de chercheurs sur l’avenir de la thérapie EMDR ( Council of Scholars : The Future of EMDR Therapy Project ). Plusieurs groupes de travail ont été créés dans cette commission, l’un d’entre eux étant centré sur la recherche. Le présent article a été produit par ce groupe de travail. Le groupe a tout d’abord conclu qu’il y avait cinq domaines pour lesquels il existait une certaine base factuelle indiquant que l’EMDR était efficace, mais que davantage de données étaient nécessaires pour augmenter la probabilité qu’elle soit prise en compte dans les futures directives internationales de traitement. Ces domaines couvraient le TSPT chez les enfants et les adolescents, les interventions EMDR précoces, les TSPT liés aux conflits armés, la dépression unipolaire et la douleur chronique. Les recherches portant sur le rapport coût-efficacité de la thérapie EMDR ont été en outre identifiées comme l’une des priorités à aborder. Nous avons employé un système de hiérarchisation pour classer et évaluer les preuves dans les différents domaines abordés. Après avoir évalué les 120 études de résultats relatives à ces domaines, nous concluons ici que pour deux d’entre eux (le TSPT chez l’enfant et l’adolescent, et les recherches portant sur les interventions EMDR précoces), la force des preuves est évaluée au niveau le plus élevé, tandis que les autres domaines obtiennent le deuxième niveau le plus élevé. Nous formulons également quelques recommandations générales pour améliorer la qualité des futures recherches sur l’efficacité de la thérapie EMDR.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Young Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Experience as Participative Action Researchers (PAR)

  Journal of Family Violence · 2023-04-20 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Parental Abuse of Children in Saudi Arabia: Nature, Prevalence and Effects

  Asian Journal of Social Science Studies · 2023-03-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background The physical abuse of children is a worldwide problem, which has received much attention in developed countries but remains less well-attended in developing and third-world nations. Objective The current study sought to determine the nature, prevalence and effects of physical abuse of children by parents in Saudi Arabia. Participants and setting The participants included high school students in two Saudi cities together with parents of students from the same schools. Method A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 768 of students and, in addition, interviews were conducted with 20 parents. Analysis of responses involved demographic patterns, weighted means of Likert scores, chi square analysis, and correlation and regression analyses. Results Results indicated that 37% of adolescents had been subjected to some form of physical violence by parents. The most common form of violence reported was being struck with an object other than a stick. A small but significant number of students were subject to burning, punching, or whipping, in some cases on a daily basis, and some reported having been scarred or hospitalised as a result of their injuries. No significant gender difference was found for types of physical abuse. However, a correlation was found between lower levels of parental education with the frequency of certain types of violent behaviour. Conclusions The study indicates that a high level parental physical violence persists in Saudi Arabia, including regular extreme forms that have severe health consequences. Recommendations are made for future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Group early intervention eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy as a video-conference psychotherapy with frontline/emergency workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury—An RCT study

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2023-03-23 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  Objective Frontline mental health, emergency, law enforcement, and social workers have faced unprecedented psychological distress in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the RCT (Randomized Controls Trial) study was to investigate the effectiveness of a Group EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy (Group Traumatic Episode Protocol—GTEP) in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Moral Injury. The treatment focus is an early intervention, group trauma treatment, delivered remotely as video-conference psychotherapy (VCP). This early intervention used an intensive treatment delivery of 4x2h sessions over 1-week. Additionally, the group EMDR intervention utilized therapist rotation in treatment delivery. Methods The study’s design comprised a delayed (1-month) treatment intervention (control) versus an active group. Measurements included the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES), and a Quality-of-Life psychometric (EQ-5D), tested at T0, T1: pre—treatment, T2: post-treatment, T3: 1-month follow-up (FU), T4: 3-month FU, and T5: 6-month FU. The Adverse Childhood Experiences – International version (ACEs), Benevolent Childhood Experience (BCEs) was ascertained at pre-treatment only. N = 85 completed the study. Results Results highlight a significant treatment effect within both active and control groups. Post Hoc comparisons of the ITQ demonstrated a significant difference between T1 pre (mean 36.8, SD 14.8) and T2 post (21.2, 15.1) (t11.58) = 15.68, p < 0.001). Further changes were also seen related to co-morbid factors. Post Hoc comparisons of the GAD-7 demonstrated significant difference between T1 pre (11.2, 4.91) and T2 post (6.49, 4.73) ( t = 6.22) = 4.41, p < 0.001; with significant difference also with the PHQ-9 between T1 pre (11.7, 5.68) and T2 post (6.64, 5.79) ( t = 6.30) = 3.95, p < 0.001, d = 0.71. The treatment effect occurred irrespective of either ACEs/BCEs during childhood. However, regarding Moral Injury, the MIES demonstrated no treatment effect between T1 pre and T5 6-month FU. The study’s findings discuss the impact of Group EMDR therapy delivered remotely as video-conference psychotherapy (VCP) and the benefits of including a therapist/rotation model as a means of treatment delivery. However, despite promising results suggesting a large treatment effect in the treatment of trauma and adverse memories, including co-morbid symptoms, research results yielded no treatment effect in frontline/emergency workers in addressing moral injury related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion The NICE (2018) guidance on PTSD highlighted the paucity of EMDR therapy research used as an early intervention. The primary rationale for this study was to address this critical issue. In summary, treatment results for group EMDR, delivered virtually, intensively, using therapist rotation are tentatively promising, however, the moral dimensions of trauma need consideration for future research, intervention development, and potential for further scalability. The data contributes to the emerging literature on early trauma interventions. Clinical Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov , ISRCTN16933691.

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• Ritual Abuse Survivors’ Perspectives on Research Participation: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Online Study

  Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · 2023-05-09 · 4 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  This exploratory study sought a deeper understanding of the perspectives of self-defined ritual abuse (RA) survivors, who had experienced sexual victimization, on participation in research. A mixed-methods qualitative design involving online survey and follow-up virtual interviews included 68 adults across eight countries. Content and thematic analysis of responses indicated that RA survivors were keen to be involved in a range of research activities to share their experience, knowledge, and support for other survivors. Having a voice, gaining knowledge, and feeling empowered were reported as advantages of participation, while concerns included exploitation, researcher ignorance, and emotional dysregulation caused by content discussed. To enable their engagement in the future research, RA survivors identified participative research designs, anonymity, and increased opportunities for inclusion in decision-making.

  PublisherDOI

• Traumatic amputation: Healing the acute lawn mower injury- a case report

  Foot & Ankle Surgery Techniques Reports & Cases · 2022-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BackgroundAn estimated 84,944 lawn mower injuries occur annually in the United States, of those 16.2% involving the lower extremity.1Harris C Madonick J Hartka TR. Lawn mower injuries presenting to the emergency department: 2005 to 2015.The American journal of emergency medicine. 2018; 36: 1565-1569https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AJEM.2018.01.031Google Scholar Often, a significant soft tissue deficit is present leaving limited reconstructive options available to the surgeon or wound care provider. Split-thickness skin graft (STSG) has long been considered the mainstay for treatment of large skin defects caused by traumatic wounds. Issues related to graft loss, scar contracture, loss of elasticity, adhesions to tendons and unfavorable aesthetic results are regarded as limitations of skin grafting alone.2Ünal S Ersoz G Demirkan F Arslan E Tütüncü N Sari A. Analysis of skin-graft loss due to infection: infection-related graft loss.Annals of plastic surgery. 2005; 55: 102-106https://doi.org/10.1097/01.SAP.0000164531.23770.60Google Scholar As a result, acellular dermal matrices have seen an increase in usage due to their potential to overcome these limitations. 3Park JY Lee TG Kim JY Lee MC Chung YK Lee WJ. Acellular Dermal Matrix to Treat Full Thickness Skin Defects: Follow-Up Subjective and Objective Skin Quality Assessments.Archives of Craniofacial Surgery. 2014; 15: 14-21https://doi.org/10.7181/ACFS.2014.15.1.14Google Scholar

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• Clerical Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain: A Contemporary or Historical Phenomenon?

  Georgetown journal of international affairs · 2022-09-01 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  Clerical Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain:A Contemporary or Historical Phenomenon? Faisal Rashid (bio) and Ian Barron (bio) Introduction Studies on clerical child sexual abuse (cCSA) in the Spanish Catholic Church are scarce, as the phenomena have only recently been studied. In contrast, there have been numerous CSA scandals in European and Anglo-Saxon countries appearing in mainstream media and various government-led level inquiries since late twentieth century. The dearth of academic literature and empirical studies is attributable to the silence the Spanish Catholic Church has been able to maintain due to its privileged clerical status in the traditionally Catholic Spain. Drawing on historical context to trace the roots of cCSA in Spain, this study establishes that there has been widespread cCSA in the country since the sixteenth century, a statement supported by an analysis of Spanish Inquisition trial records from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. The study concludes that the Spanish Catholic Church has maintained silence to cover up abuse while denying victims help in their quests for justice. Despite changes to the Vatican's cCSA policies in the twenty-first century, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has so far failed to adopt any concrete child protection measures and has opposed a national inquiry into cCSA. As such, the paper recommends empirical studies on the subject and government-led inquiries into cCSA at the national level. A brief history of cCSA Literature on clerical child sexual abuse (cCSA) in Spain is scarce.1 In the absence of concrete evidence, myths have developed about the nature and scope of cCSA which in turn has hindered disclosure by the victims, undermined their credibility when reporting CSA, and limited the development of child protection policies.2 This study conducted a systematic review of published literature on cCSA in the Catholic Church in Spain to encourage research on the subject and to compensate for the aforementioned dearth of academic and empirical studies on cCSA and child sexual victimization.3 Clerical CSA in the Spanish Catholic Church has a broader historical context than just the recent scandals in the twenty-first century. The first available reference to cCSA in the Church's formal documents is about the Council of Elvira held at Elliberis in southern Spain near Granada in the years 305 and 306. Out of the eighty-one canons the council passed, thirty-eight pertained to cCSA.4 Specifically, canons twelve, eighteen, and seventy-one explicitly forbade communion (i.e., the performing of the service of Christian worship and last rites) at death for those engaged in cCSA.5 [End Page 227] The Papal Bull, a public decree by the Pope of the Catholic Church, 'Cum Sicut Nuper' issued by Pope Pius IV (1561), which condemned priests engaging in sexual acts during confession, was directly aimed at the Spanish Catholic Church. The papal instructions called for the removal of clerical status and privileges and then handing them over to secular authorities for punishment in accordance with secular law.6 Similar instructions were promulgated in 1566 through the Apostolic Constitution 'Romani Pontifices' for crimes against nature.7 Since Pope Pius IV's 1561 decree, the crime of solicitation, involving another in the criminal act of CSA, was not only against Christian doctrine but also an abuse of the sanctity of the sacraments and treated as heresy depending upon the nature of cases.8 Pius IV's decision also placed the crime of solicitation under the control of the Spanish Inquisition, which operated from 1478 through 1834.9 Boswell quoted records of ecclesiastical trials conducted against heresy to have included "sodomy and crimes against nature" and stated that the official terminology regarding heretics included "traitors, heretics and sodomites."10 Thomsett held that cCSA was treated as heresy by the Spanish Inquisition who inflicted harsh punishments including imprisonments, torture, and executions on the perpetrators, viewing homosexuality, sodomy, and pederasty as gross sins.11 As history demonstrates, policies need to be authoritative. In sixteenth century Spain, Pope Pius V ordered the death penalty for clergy involved in abusive sexual practices or "crimes against nature" through the Apostolic Constitution "Horrendumilludscelus" issued in 1568. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth century or until its disbandment...

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Frequent coauthors

• Faisal Rashid

  11 shared

• Ghassan Abdallah

  11 shared

• Keith J. Topping

  10 shared

• Laurie Matthew

  7 shared

• Ghassan H. Abdullah

  5 shared

• Derek Farrell

  Northumbria University

  5 shared

• Jonas Tesarz

  University Hospital Heidelberg

  4 shared

• Steven M. Anderson

  St. Vincent's University Hospital

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• CARE Accolade from the Scottish Social Services Council
• Award of Excellence from the Ministry of Education and Highe…
• Impact Champion (University of Dundee)