Lisa Matos

Lisa Matos is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at ISPA-Instituto Universitário in Lisbon, Portugal, where she works at the William James Center for Research. She serves as an Invited Lecturer and Science Manager, specializing in posttraumatic psychological adjustment to refugee trauma.

Dr. Matos holds a BA in International Relations, an MA in Political Science, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology. With over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of health and human rights, both in the field and in academia, she brings substantial expertise to her research and teaching.

Her primary research interests include posttraumatic meaning-making trajectories, cultural idioms of distress, vicarious responses to trauma exposure, and religious and faith-based meaning-making. At ISPA, she developed and teaches the course "Trauma and Human Rights" and supervises graduate students working on issues of primary and secondary exposure to complex trauma in both forced migrants and first responders.

Dr. Matos' publication record demonstrates a sustained focus on understanding how Syrian refugees process and make meaning of traumatic war experiences. Her work spans qualitative and quantitative approaches, examining religious coping mechanisms, ethical challenges in trauma research with vulnerable populations, pre- and post-displacement trauma effects, and the adaptation of psychological assessment tools for Arabic-speaking refugees. A consistent theme across her research is the exploration of meaning-making processes as central to psychological adjustment following extreme trauma.

She has provided subject-matter expertise to numerous international organizations including the Council of Europe's Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, the European Asylum Support Office, the US Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Portuguese Representation of the European Commission, helping to inform national, European and US policies on evidence-based best practices towards migrant populations.