This course should be taken as part of the current innovative approach to psychotherapy, directed to address masses of people who might need psychological assistance. This approach is based on principles of the 3rd wave CBT and of Low Intensity CBT Interventions (LICBT-I). This course will present a universal short protocol mainly based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach, created for psychotherapy and implemented and adapted to a resilience prevention intervention. Based on the therapeutic protocol, an intervention that integrates emotional, physiological and cognitive behavioral techniques as well as attentional regulation, mainly mindfulness, was developed to build resilience and prevention in the community. Thousands of teachers and counselors have trained, to deliver resilience to their students (~1,000,000 nationwide). The program has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education of Israel to be part of the regular curriculum of every school. A series of empirical studies has shown the effectiveness of the program. This cost-effective approach, delivered by the teachers as mediators decreased by 50% the development of posttraumatic responses in children following severe stressful exposure. Based on this program we have developed and implemented resilience programs for different populations (e.g., parents and educational staff of infants in day-care centers and autistic kids, adolescents at risk, students in the university, medical stuff, and the elderly). The intervention is adapted to different cultures (Israeli Muslims, Refugees from Africa, Orthodox religious Jews and a pilot in schools in Norway).

Proposed by the EPA Section on TeleMental Health - Telemental health care or Telepsychiatry (TP) is the use of telecommunication and information technologies to deliver psychiatric and mental health services at a distance. The evidence-base for this field of psychiatry has rapidly grown, over the past years. Evidence related to faculty and trainee competencies is strong for TP direct service and consultation to primary care. Promising evidence is accumulating also for asynchronous video and Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy. New research fields concerning technology-based self-help and support groups, clinical use of social media, smartphone apps for self-care (e.g., anxiety and depression management) and other e-mental health applications are also rapidly emerging. TP interventions increase access to mental healthcare, result in quality of care equivalent to in-person care and often reduce costs. Competencies that focus on skills, more than knowledge, can help clinicians adjust to differences with in-person care, ensure quality, and prevent and manage potential challenges (e.g., boundary, privacy and other regulatory issues; barriers to assessment; therapeutic barriers). Telemental health care (spanning across psychiatry, psychology, social work, counseling, marriage and family) and social media competences are today necessary also in routine settings. The course will provide a knowledge base about TP, a rationale for use of TP approach in a variety of psychiatric settings and practical hints about how to deliver TP care in a wide range of populations. The course will be organized in collaboration with the EPA Early Career Psychiatrists Committee and its Chair (M. Pinto da Costa) will act as a Course Facilitator.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by attentional problems, deficient impulse control, hyperactivity and often also by emotional dysregulation. ADHD has its onset in childhood and affects approximately 5% of children. In over half of the individuals with ADHD, symptoms persist into adulthood and even old age. World-wide, ADHD in adulthood is under-recognised and under-treated. Undiagnosed or untreated ADHD in adulthood is problematic, because it often co-occurs with other psychiatric and somatic illnesses. Among the most prevalent ones are major depression, anxiety, substance use and obesity. These comorbid conditions considerably contribute to the disease burden of individuals, as well as to healthcare costs. In many instances, individuals with ADHD drop out of psychiatric healthcare in the transition from childhood to adult services. Later in life, they often return with symptoms of comorbid conditions; their ADHD often is not recognised at that point and there is a danger that they might receive treatments for their comorbid problems without awareness and adequate care for the underlying ADHD. Providing care throughout the lifespan, but especially in young adults, may therefore be pivotal to reducing this negative developmental trajectory later in life. In this course, experts in adult ADHD will inform clinical psychiatrists about the prevalence and characteristics of ADHD in adulthood and its most common comorbid conditions across the lifespan. Using real life examples of cases, participants will practice how to diagnose ADHD in the context of comorbidity, and discuss different (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) treatment and psychotherapy options.

Peer support work is an important part of mental health care. This is a particularly useful approach in inpatient settings where patients’ interactions with family, friends and others outside the care setting may be limited. Peer support work is beneficial for both patients and peer supporters themselves, as this bridges staff-patient gaps. Peer supporters are able to share positive experiences with patients and patients might find it helpful to receive support from someone they feel they can relate to. Peer support has a long tradition but is still novel in many mental health settings. This course will guide participants through the process of involving peer support workers within an inpatient care setting. It will present factors that may help or hinder this process. Special attention will be paid to organizational culture, the role of team leaders, attitudes of staff and patients, and administrative hurdles. This course will discuss some of the difficulties of involving peer support workers in specialized settings, such as forensic mental health clinics. It is important that peer supporters are themselves supported throughout this process, especially if they are new. Therefore, the course will address approaches to maintaining the wellbeing and occupational health of peer supporters. Participants will be given learning materials and vignettes that encourage them to reflect on how peer support may be implemented or sustained in their own care settings.

In medical schools we always hear that we are supposed to treat the patient, not the disease, but somehow by the time we graduate and become specialists we learn to focus on select aspects of our patient’s conditions and stop seeing the big picture, which includes a variety of health indicators and the determinants of health. We study guidelines and use evidence-based medicine to address symptoms by prescribing medications, using psychotherapeutic approaches, and too often we overlook endocrine disorders, nutrition, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, sleep disturbances, smoking and substance use. All these factors are underrecognized in current treatment models and this course is intended to bridge this gap and to provide our colleagues with all the tools necessary to provide truly integrated treatments to their patients, which will include nutritional and metabolic assessments, exercise and weight loss prescription, time management and sleep hygiene, behavioral activation and substance use treatments when necessary. We will focus on affective disorders, primarily on depression, but also on anxiety and fibromyalgia as the most prevalent conditions in which lifestyle modification was shown to be effective in scientific literature.

Proposed by the EPA Section on Old Age Psychiatry - Despite advances in psychopharmacology, up to 30% of patients with psychiatric condition continue to experience disabling symptoms despite being on medication. Thanks to their ability to modulate cerebral networks, non-invasive brain stimulation methods have been proposed as an alternative method to alleviate symptoms in patients with treatment resistant psychiatric conditions, especially depression, schizophrenia and substance use disorders. Non-invasive brain stimulation methods cover a broad range of approaches including electroconvulsivotherapy (ECT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial electrical stimulation (tES: tDCS, tRNS, tACS, tSOS,…). The course will have four sections: 1) Overview of rTMS and tDCS methods -Brief presentations of their main indications in psychiatry (depression, schizophrenia and substance use disorders) and their place in the treatment algorithm, with a focus on the elderly 2) Practice exercises with the devices 3)General Discussion about strengths, weaknesses and gaps in adult as well as elderly population The goals of this course are to: 1) Review recent non-invasive brain stimulation approaches (rTMS and tDCS) for the treatment of psychiatric symptoms and question their relevance in late-life psychiatric disorders. 2) Practice with available brain stimulation devices approved as medical device by health authorities. 3) Discuss the strengths, weaknesses and gaps of the various approaches in each indication

In the era of personalised and integrated mental health care, neuroscience will play an increasing role in psychiatry. To take advantage of this, clinicians need a robust foundation in neuroscience. Most psychiatrists are not experts in neuroscience, but they need to be knowledgeable enough and confident enough to effectively integrate into patient care the advances that will be made during their working lives. Early Career Psychiatrists and more established clinicians need to be prepared to model this integration for psychiatrists in training, because the next generation of psychiatrists, more than any before, will need to be able to understand, critically evaluate and translate new research findings into improved clinical care for their patients. This course will present an immersive experience of this new era of integrated neuroscience. Participants will gain experience of innovative strategies for teaching and learning in a range of settings, including patient education. Participants will take part in facilitated pair- and group-work, including role play of psychiatrist-patient interactions, and teaching scenarios, using examples of relevant knowledge and understanding gained from cutting-edge neuroscience research. Participants will interact closely with speakers to highlight and exchange best practice and to identify opportunities for adaptation of strategies to different national contexts. On completion of the course, our aim is that participants will better understand techniques to integrate modern neuroscience into psychiatric training and will have increased confidence in their didactic skills.

Guidelines emphasize on psychotherapeutic treatment as they are the most studied and successful type of treatment. However, a large proportion of BPD patients do not have access to psychotherapy for different reasons (i.e.: this kind of treatment does not exist in their area, patient is not motivated). In this course, we will review clinically useful strategies to improve the outcome for these patients, which can be used whether the patient has access to psychotherapy or not. First, we will present ways to review diagnosis and efficient ways to offer psychoeducation to the client. Then we will consider treating clinical comorbidities such as addiction, PTSD, depressive disorder, ADHD. Furthermore, we will present the common medical disorders in this population and some tools to improve their medical management (screening, follow-up). We will highlight the potential of lifestyle medicine (improving nutrition, sleep, physical activity). We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of psychiatric hospitalization and emergency services and offer guidelines for efficient case management. Considerations related to the usefulness of psychometric tools (screening and outcome measures) will be discussed. Lastly, we will introduce some new kinds of treatments and discuss prevention.

Proposed by the EPA Section on Tele Mental Health - Psychiatry is being highly benefited from the possibilities enabled by globalization and the digital world to conduct valuable international research. Researchers can set up diverse teams coordinated in real-time and easily design different studies and interventions to be applied globally. Moreover, the current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the value and need for such collaborations. This course aims at providing the audience with practical methods, tools, and skills for conducting internet-based international research, harnessing the growing expertise of a group of young European psychiatrists. The faculty will be available to assist each of the attendees before, during and after the course, and will be providing additional handouts, references, templates, written guidelines, and video tutorials. This activity is meant to be eminently practical and interactive, combining presentations with discussions of examples of work from the faculty and supervised individual and group exercises. The contents will include the introduction of skills, tips, and free tools for designing research proposals, team coordination, international surveys, systematic reviews, reference managing, analysis of social media contents, manuscript writing and publishing, and science dissemination, among other topics. The course would welcome any mental health practitioner/researcher. It will not necessarily require experience in the methods and tools to be presented and will be further tailored to the actual audience. It may be of particular use for early-career psychiatrists and trainees. This course aligns with the conference general theme and is a joint proposal of the EPA Scientific Section of TeleMental Health and the Early Career Psychiatrists Committee.

Routine challenges such as non-response at established daily doses, poor adherence or pharmacokinetic interactions with clinical consequences and adverse effects (pharmacovigilance) comprise a major part of psychopharmacotherapy. Therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacogenetic tests are valuable tools that allow fort treatment tailoring in routine clinical care. This course will be centered on the following issues: • Introduction: Definition of TDM in psychiatry, theoretical background, practical recommendations; cytochrome P-450: polymorphisms, clinical consequences of a genetic particularity in metabolism, practical recommendations for genotyping and phenotyping. • Presentation of vignettes: TDM alone and in combination with pharmacogenetic tests: general situations; situations of interactions, combination treatments; in special populations (elderly, forensic patients, pregnant patients, adolescents, somatically ill patients); pharmacovigilance

Clozapine is a much underused drug, due to lack of promotion by pharmaceutical companies and patient and prescriber fears of clozapine-related risks. The course fills this lacuna and teaches indication of patients for clozapine treatment (treatment refractory schizophrenia and off-label use), motivating patients for clozapine, preparation of the treatment, titration of clozapine, monitoring of clozapine plasmalevel and granulocyte counts, assessment and treatment of frequent and rare side effects, and weighing arguments for and against compulsory treatment and stopping granulocyte controls. Brief powerpoint presentations and video's will be alternated with discussions. Course director Schulte proposes to include a third course director: Dr. J. Bogers, M.D., who is a board member of the Dutch Collaboration Group too, and has been involved in many educational and scientific activities of the collaboration group.

Proposed by the EPA Section on Forensic Psychiatry - The course will provide the knowledge and research results about the risk of psychiatric patients of becoming violent and of becoming offenders with violent crimes. It will focus on the indicators of risk for violence and delinquency but also on the indicators of immediate threat and imminent aggression on wards and in outpatient settings. It will teach on how to develop a structure in the assessment and to come to a professional judgment on the severity and on the imminence of risk. It will also teach on risk formulation and risk communication among staff and outside of the clinicians' surroundings (relatives, police, courts, caretakers).It will address risk management, when to intervene and how, the methods of prevention and the long term guidance of risky patients.