Articles
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Torture’s Damage in Guantanamo Cases Goes Far Beyond Evidence
Dr Brock Chisholm has contributed to the contents of an Amicus Brief in the case of Encep Nurjaman. Encep Nurjaman who was apprehended on suspicion of funding terrorist activities and alleges he was severely tortured in a US run black site and in Guantanamo Bay prison. He was charged in 2017, some 10 years after his transfer to Guantanamo and 14 years after he was initially taken into custody. He is challenging his referral for trial before a military commission by petition for a writ of mandamus before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which lies just below The US Supreme Court in terms of hierarchy.
The article is written by John Summers and Andrew Erdlin and published in Bloomberg Law in January 2024. The authors ague that “Nurjaman and other Guantanamo Bay detainees were indisputably subjected to extensive torture, including physical and sexual abuse and psychological torture. Though the goal was to “break” them to gather information, the result was the irreversible deterioration of their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions.”
Contrary to popular belief, torture isn’t an effective means of extracting information. In fact, torture actually decreases individuals’ capacity to provide reliable information.”
The case is listed for February 2024.
We have evaluated torture survivors. Gina Haspel cannot head the CIA
We have spent a combined 40 years evaluating torture survivors, and our unique, intimate perspective leads us to just one conclusion: confirming Haspel to lead the CIA would be unconscionable.
Prisoners at the black site were kept naked in pitch black cells with their wrists and ankles shackled to one ring on the wall while loud music blared out 24 hours a day; rats and insects crawled over the men in cells that were either freezing cold or unbearably hot. So horrific were the conditions between interrogations that one prisoner reportedly preferred the “official” torture sessions, since they allowed him to move from his cell.
The enduring suffering inflicted by the CIA in this secret prison is as bad as what we witnessed in prisoners tortured under the brutal regimes of Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and ISIS.
Version published by Boston University available here
What Constant Surveillance Does to Your Brain
The impact these different forms of surveillance has on any of us depends on a couple of things: how aware we are that we’re being watched, and what we think the motivation is for surveillance, according to Brock Chisholm, a clinical psychologist who has studied the effects of surveillance on mood and behavior. Chisholm gave me the example of a study he did on human rights defenders who were campaigning in Ethiopia and under surveillance.
Guardian Article on Refugee Rights to healthcare and the case of Julian Assange
As clinicians with a combined experience of four decades caring for and about refugees and other traumatised populations, we recently spent 20 hours, over three days, performing a comprehensive physical and psychological evaluation of Mr Assange. While the results of the evaluation are protected by doctor-patient confidentiality, it is our professional opinion that his continued confinement is dangerous physically and mentally to him, and a clear infringement of his human right to healthcare.
Julian Assange's health in 'dangerous' condition, say doctors
Julian Assange’s long stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London is having a “dangerous” impact on his physical and mental health, according to clinicians who carried out the most recent assessments of him.
The pair renewed calls for the WikiLeaks publisher to be granted safe passage to a London hospital.
Sondra Crosby, a doctor and associate professor at the Boston University’s school of medicine and public health, and Brock Chisholm, a London-based consultant clinical psychologist, examined Assange for 20 hours over three days in October.
Human Rights, Mental Health Experts Discuss Reasons Congress Should Oppose Gina Haspel As CIA Director
We have evaluated torture survivors. Gina Haspel cannot head the CIA.
Sondra Crosby, associate professor at Boston University and medical consultant at Physicians for Human Rights, and Brock Chisholm, consultant clinical psychologist, founder of Trauma Treatment International, and director of Criterion A Psychology Services, discuss the use of controversial interrogation techniques and impacts on survivors, writing, “We have spent a combined 40 years evaluating torture survivors, and our unique, intimate perspective leads us to just one conclusion: confirming Haspel to lead the CIA would be unconscionable”
A Clinical Psychologist's Advice in coping following large scale trauma and terror attacks
Dr Brock Chisholm has some advice for those present, their friends and families and those in any way saddened or triggered by mass trauma.
A case brought against psychologists in covert CIA torture program
Dr Brock Chisholm acted as expert witness in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in a case brought against two clinical psychologists accused of designing and implementing a covert torture program at CIA black sites…
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against James Elmer Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen, two psychologists contracted by the CIA to design, implement, and oversee the agency’s post-9/11 torture program. The suit, filed in October 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, was on behalf of three of the program’s victims. All three were kidnapped by the CIA, and tortured and experimented upon according to Mitchell and Jessen’s protocols. One of the men died as a result of his torture. The other two continue to suffer the effects of the physical and psychological torture inflicted on them. In August 2017, after the judge rejected attempts to dismiss the case and a trial was imminent, the psychologists agreed to a settlement — a first for a case involving CIA torture.
Recent Cases in the Press
Westminster Bridge killer Khalid Masood 'believed he was a genius'
CIA torture: lawsuit settled against psychologists who designed techniques
Home Office contractors ‘cuffed detained migrants’ inside coach on fire
Britain apologises for 'appalling treatment' of Abdel Hakim Belhaj
Pret a Manger to label products after allergy death
Nepal's Colonel Kumar Lama charged in UK with torture
United Arab Emirates police accused of torturing two Britons after drugs arrest
Undercover police sexual relationships with female activists
Kent gangmasters in Lithuanian court over chicken catchers
Video Resources
Video: What actually is anxiety and how do you reduce it?
Anxiety is something that many people live with and have to conquer every day. Whether you suffer every so often in times of great stress or whether you feel crippled by it all the time, it can be debilitating. Luckily, there is help to be had. Psychologist Dr Brock Chisholm is here to explain some ways in which anxiety can be reduced.
VIDEO: Meet Dr Brock Chisholm
A quick introduction is available here on YouTube
Video: How can trauma affect us & how can it be treated?
Dr Brock Chisholm speaks about what is considered a traumatic event, how trauma can affect us and what a psychologist can do to help you cope and recover from trauma.
VIDEO: Could you be Working for a Psychopath?
The word psychopath is thrown around a lot these days. For some, it’s how they describe their last Tinder date. Others use the term to apply only to serial killers or movie villains. But what actually is it that constitutes a psychopath?
The reality is a psychopath is not just one thing, but a series of traits and behaviours. Working or living with people with psychopathic traits can be traumatic and harrowing. For example, you can be bullied at work. Not all of these traits are harmful, or even unwanted. As a psychologist, Dr Chisholm has worked with many victims of trauma and has also been trained to assess psychopathy.
Trauma and Psychosis Videos
Dr. Brock Chisholm explains some of the links between traumatic events and psychosis for mental healthcare.org.uk
PTSD or psychosis? The possibility of mis-diagnosis
Our Expert Witnesses in the Press
Dr Brock Chisholm in the Daily Mirror following terror attacks: Psychologists fear that those affected by recent tragedies may be in danger of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and say discussing feelings is an important way of remedying shock
The Metro: How to identify psychological trauma after the Manchester attack
Dr Brock Chisholm as Expert Witness in case against CIA torture
Police Apologise to Women Who Had Relationships with Undercover Officers
Mental health care
External Partnerships
We are proud to collaborate with Forrest Medico-Legal Services who, like us, provide a high standard of medico-legal reports for victims of alleged human rights abuses.
Dr Brock Chisholm is delighted to announce the formation of a newly created charity, Trauma Treatment International, which exists to provide specialist psychological interventions to victims of organized violence, such as torture, trafficking, slavery and political harassment anywhere in the world. Trauma Treatment International is unique organisation because they both support victims and the orgnisations that care for them. Trauma Treatment International brings together the expertise gained by several decades of work with traumatised populations in a range of geographical and political situations in conflict environments and stable settings.