Marigold A. Edwards, PhD
Chairperson
240 Lytton Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
mae@pitt.edu

Michael G. McKee, PhD
Past Chairperson
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Department of Psychology & Psychiatry
9500 Euclid Ave, P57
Cleveland, OH 44195
mckeem@ccf.org

Paul Lehrer, PhD
Chairperson-elect (2007)
Department of Psychiatry
UMDNJ -- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
671 Hoes Lane
Piscataway NJ 08854
lehrer@umdnj.edu

Carolyn S. Massello, DBA
Secretary
111 Lake Harbor Drive
Johnson City, TN 37615-2972
carolynmassello@comcast.net

N. Blithe Runsdorf, PhD
Treasurer
240 Lytton Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15213-1410
brunsdorf@hotmail.com

Serena Wadhwa, M.A., CADC
Membership
bserenwad@aol.com

Camille Frey, Ph.D.
Special Events
14102 Marley Place
Louisville, KY 40245 USA
Isma2004usa@yahoo.ca

The objectives of ISMA-USA are to improve human welfare through:

• encouragement and improvement of scientific research and clinical and educational applications of stress management;
  
  
• improvement of clinical uses of stress management through high standards of professional practice, peer review, ethics, and education;
  
  
• increased knowledge about stress management to the membership by way of meetings, educational programs, publications, and special interest sections; and
  
  
• dissemination of information to the public about stress management.

Betty McGuigan provides the following history of ISMA (McGuigan, F.J., An Abbreviated History of the International Stress Management Association (ISMA), International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1994):

The International Stress Management Association (ISMA) was developed in 1973 under the leadership of Edmund Jacobson, Ph.D., M.D. (1888-1983), F. J. McGuigan, Ph.D. (1924-1998), and Marigold Edwards, Ph.D. It was originally named the Association for the Advancement of Tension Control. Divisions were established: dentistry, education, medicine, physical therapy, psychology, and speech pathology. There were no set requirements for membership such as level of academic degree or field of specialization. A board of sponsors was selected, and Jacobson was appointed as first President and McGuigan as Executive Director.

The Association's mission was to "facilitate the acquisition and dissemination of scientific knowledge about tension control, with emphasis on technological applications for the benefit of society throughout the world. The public was encouraged to use only relaxation approaches that had satisfied the highest criteria of scientific and clinical validation."

Annual meetings were held in Chicago at the Bismarck Hotel in 1974-1978. About 1974, through Jacobson, J. MacDonald Wallace and McGuigan began to collaborate, Wallace becoming Director for Europe. Name changes were made to reflect the international focus. First the Association's name was changed to the International Stress and Tension-Control Association and later to the current International Stress Management Association (ISMA).

In 1979, the Association held its first international conference in London. International conferences continued. The second conference was in 1983 in Sussex, England, then 1988 in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1992 in Paris, France, 1995 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and 1997 in Sidney, Australia. ISMA International Conference-7 was held on July 4-7, 2001, at the University of Warwick, England. The theme was "Taking the Stress Out of Work."

The International Journal of Stress Management, the official publication for the Association, was established in 1994 with F.J. McGuigan as editor. It continues today with four yearly issues and is edited by John G. Carlson. A website (www.isma-usa.org) was established in 1998.

ISMA now has branches in 13 countries: Australia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1999, a branch was founded in India and the newest branch in Brazil was founded in 2000 under the direction of Ana Maria Rossi, Ph.D.

The International Stress Management Association is the oldest ongoing international organization for stress management and, with its international branches, promises to fulfill its original purposes of 1974 of bringing relief from stress-tension disorders to the peoples of the world.

• Receive the International Journal of Stress Management
• Vote on officers and other issues
• Update on information relevant to the organization
• Receive Certificate of Membership
• Receive discounts on international conferences and workshops

The membership fee of $65 per year is a real bargain, especially when it also includes the Journal of the International Stress Management Association. Jac Carlson continues to serve as editor of the journal, and the content published each month continues to enlighten us all. Join now and become and ISMA-USA member.