Sherry R. Winternitz, MD, has received the 2021 Cornelia B. Wilbur Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation in honor of her outstanding clinical contributions to the treatment of dissociative disorders.
Story Highlights
- Winternitz has served as clinical director of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Program at McLean Hospital for nearly 20 years
- Her research work has focused on complex post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder
As the clinical director of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Program at McLean Hospital for almost two decades, Winternitz has overseen the care of thousands of patients treated at McLean’s women’s inpatient, residential, and partial program programs. Through the years, she has trained scores of new physicians and faculty members in the assessment and treatment of trauma-spectrum disorders. Her particular passion has always been as a champion for those with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative identity disorder (DID).
Winternitz, center, speaks with colleagues
According to colleague Milissa Kaufman, MD, PhD, “Sherry leads by example, modeling for so many of us just what it means to be a trauma-informed, patient-centered psychiatrist. Her advocacy on behalf of her patients at McLean Hospital is as legendary as is her humility and kindness.”
Winternitz also is a champion of research on PTSD and DID. She is a vital member of the Trauma Research Coalition at McLean. She also serves as a senior clinician on several large-scale studies investigating the neurobiology of dissociation in individuals with DID, the dissociative subtype of PTSD, and classic PTSD. Over the past two years, Winternitz has been a co-author of a dozen publications in the area of trauma.
Winternitz also is highly involved in the community. She provides urgent consultations to community members and institutions following traumatic events. She has co-led an equine-assisted treatment study for women with DID. She also coordinated the 2019 Healing Together Boston Conference on McLean’s Belmont campus for individuals with DID, their family members, and treaters.
Dr. Kaufman added, “Dr. Winternitz has done so much on behalf of her patients, her community, and her staff members. As a medical student at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Winternitz knew Dr. Wilbur personally. I believe Dr. Wilbur would be proud of who Dr. Winternitz has become as a mentor for so many of us in the field of trauma and dissociation.”
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