Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
mental health, torture, trauma, cross-cultural, research methods,
Experiences & Accomplishments
Paul Bolton's main areas of expertise are program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. His work treats all four elements as part of an integrated whole in which applied research methods play a core role. He uses this approach to conduct needs assessments and to plan and evaluate programs with service providers including major NGOs. This work has encompassed programs dealing with physical health (including infectious diseases) and more recently psychosocial problems in North America, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. Much of this work has been with refugees and internally displaced persons during the disaster post-emergency phase, persons affected by violence, and other adults and children living in difficult circumstances. Dr. Bolton has also conducted program evaluations of psychosocial interventions in Africa and Asia in the form of randomized clinical trials.
Select Publications
Judith Bass, Bhava Poudyal, Wietse Tol, Laura Murray, Maya Nadison, Paul Bolton. ‘A controlled trial of problem-solving counseling for war-affected adults in Aceh, Indonesia.’ Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (in press).
Paul Bolton, Pamela Surkan,Amber Gray, Marine Desmousseaux. The mental health and psychosocial effects of organized violence: A qualitative study in northern Haiti. (in press, Transcultural Psychiatry).
Paul Bolton, Wietse A. Tol, Judith Bass. ‘Introduction to Special Issue: Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods to support psychosocial and mental health programmes.’ Intervention 2009, Volume 7, Number 3, Page 181 – 186.
Bhava Poudyal, Judith Bass, Theodora Subyantoro, Abraham Jonathan, Theresia Erni, Paul Bolton.‘Assessment of the psychosocial and mental health needs, dysfunction and coping mechanisms of violence affected populations in Bireuen, Aceh.’ Torture 2009:19(3):218-226.
Paul Bolton, Laura Murray, Judith Bass. ‘School based intervention improves PTSD symptoms in children affected by political violence (Commentary). Evidence Based Mental Health 10/3/09 15:43:34.