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Akiah Astral Ottesen is a clinical psychologist specialising in the treatment of trauma. She is a senior researcher at NORMENT, the Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital.

She completed her doctorate at the University of Oslo in 2011 and has further training in sensorimotor psychotherapy and EMDR. She has published around 40 scientific articles on subjects including trauma, PTSD and psychosis, and has taken part in the research on survivors of the 22 July attacks. She was previously a senior researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS).

Ottesen is clinical head of the Trauma Centre at Psykologvirke, which collaborates with Axonklinikken, and is engaged in the Norwegian psychedelic science community.

Selected publications

  1. Peritraumatic reactions during sexual assault: associations with assault characteristics and mental health

    Kreis I, Ottesen AA, Rustand A, Wentzel-Larsen T, Thoresen S, Blix I

    European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2026Peer-reviewed

  2. Prevalence and risk of psychiatric disorders in young people: prospective cohort study exploring the role of childhood trauma (the HUNT study)

    Stangeland H, Aakvaag HF, Baumann-Larsen M, Wentzel-Larsen T, Ottesen A, Zwart JA, et al.

    The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2024Peer-reviewed

  3. Childhood trauma and treatment resistance in first-episode psychosis: Investigating the role of premorbid adjustment and duration of untreated psychosis

    Wold KF, Ottesen A, Flaaten CB, Kreis I, Lagerberg TV, Romm KL, et al.

    Schizophrenia Research, 2024Peer-reviewed

  4. Unraveling the Concept of Childhood Adversity in Psychosis Research: A Systematic Review

    Sætren SS, Bjørnestad JR, Ottesen AA, Fisher HL, Olsen DAS, Hølland K, et al.

    Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2024Peer-reviewed

  5. ‘My child could have died’: counterfactual thoughts and psychological distress in parents of trauma survivors

    Blix I, Glad KA, Undset A, Wentzel-Larsen T, Ottesen AA, Jensen TK, et al.

    European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2024Peer-reviewed

  6. Childhood trauma, antipsychotic medication, and symptom remission in first-episode psychosis

    Ottesen A, Hegelstad WTV, Joa I, Opjordsmoen SE, Rund BR, Røssberg JI, et al.

    Psychological Medicine, 2023Peer-reviewed

  7. An epigenetic association analysis of childhood trauma in psychosis reveals possible overlap with methylation changes associated with PTSD

    Løkhammer S, Stavrum AK, Polushina T, Aas M, Ottesen AA, Andreassen OA, et al.

    Translational Psychiatry, 2022Peer-reviewed

  8. Trauma-related altered states of consciousness in post-traumatic stress disorder patients with or without comorbid dissociative disorders

    Bækkelund H, Frewen P, Lanius R, Ottesen Berg A, Arnevik EA

    European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2018Peer-reviewed

  9. Childhood trauma mediates the association between ethnic minority status and more severe hallucinations in psychotic disorder

    Berg AO, Aas M, Larsson S, Nerhus M, Hauff E, Andreassen OA, et al.

    Psychological Medicine, 2015Peer-reviewed