Atle Dyregrov, Ph.D., played a central role in preparing the trauma framework and in developing the crisis intervention approach. In addition to providing on-going consultation, Dr Dyregrov also acted as trainer in the annual seminars arranged by the center. The topics included psychological debriefing, traumatic crisis and grief, trauma and grief in children and adolescents as well as psychological aid for the traumatized and grieving children and adolescents.

Atle Dyregrov, Ph.D., has worked as the Director of the Center for Crisis Psychology in Bergen, Norway, since its foundation in 1988. Furthermore, he is a member of the Norwegian Psychological Associations, a member of the executive board of The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, and a founding member of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He gives lectures in the faculties of medicine and psychology at the University of Bergen, and has worked as clinician and researcher at the Bergen Children's Hospital and at the University of Bergren.

Dr Dyregrov is the author of numerous publications, journal articles, and books. His book Grief in Children has been published in eight languages. Two other books have been translated into Finnish. Disaster Psychology (Katastrofipsykologian perusteet) and Grief and Care within Schools (Sureva lapsi ja koulu).

Dr Dyregrov has lectured widely in the Nordic countries, in Britain and in the United States. He has worked as consultant to various UN organizations, especially to UNICEF, in order to help war-inflicted children in Africa, the Middle East and former Yugoslavia. He has also worked as advisor to UNHCR, helping to develop personnel support practices in various parts of the world.

Furthermore, he has done clinical work in the following areas: parents' grief reactions after losing a child, grief and trauma in children, organizing disaster aid, as well as critical incident stress management in disaster workers and other helpers. In addition, he has worked with children in war situations.