Course Co-Director: Nóra Kollárovics, Hungary

Organised by the EPA Section on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in adolescence and adulthood, can be a challenge even for experienced clinicians. ASD is manifested in a very heterogeneous way, even with the defined diagnostic criteria. Moreover, symptom formation in the same person also changes over time. Moreover, clients with ASD but not diagnosed often turn to psychiatric care with other diagnostic questions, and this often means that interacting and overlapping symptoms make it difficult to recognize the ASD behind surface. Consistent with research, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders allows additional diagnoses among individuals with ASD. The prevalence of comorbid disorders among people with ASD varied across studies: it is suggested that 54-70% of children and adolescents with ASD have an associated psychiatric disorder, 41% of them have two or even more comorbidities and above 18 years even a higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity (up to 94%) is described compared to younger people with ASD. Comorbid psychiatric disorders are anxiety, mood-, eating- , obsessive-compulsive – , disruptive -, impulse-control – and conduct disorder, substance use, attention-deficit/hyperactivity,schizophrenia and suicidal behavior. Comorbid psychiatric disorders cause high burden to people with ASD.Therefore, it is insufficient not only to have adequate knowledge of the diagnostic aspects of ASD, but also to have a comprehensive picture about the associated psychiatric disorders and their interaction with ASD. The aim of our course is to help deepen the diagnostic process and aspects of ASD, also in connection with possible comorbid psychiatric disorders.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Cecile Hanon, France

Organised by the EPA Section on Old Age Psychiatry.

Apathy is a symptom that can be encountered in various psychiatric (affective disorder, psychosis), neurological (neuro-cognitive disorder such as Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal dementia or Parkinson’s disease) and also general affections (for example stroke, cancers, hypothyroidism). It is frequent and associated with both poor health outcomes and the caregiver burden. It is not described in the international classification of mental disorders, yet a growing body of literature strengthen apathy as a strong component of neuropsychiatric disorders. It is currently understood as a trans-nosographic and multi-dimensional concept including reduced goal-oriented behaviors, cognitions and social-interactions. It has relied for a long-time on motivation, which, although difficult to define and to quantify, remains a psychological construct of interest. During this course, we will address i) the diagnosis pathway starting with apathy in light of the clinical context and of the concurrent symptoms ii) a clear strategy to lead a clinical examination of apathy (including the caregiver burden assessment associated with apathy) iii) the different screening tools and more advanced scales to quantify apathy iv) the most robust data related to the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying apathy and v) the possible psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutics available at hand. To this, we will provide clinical vignettes and enhance experience sharing using small groups discussion interactions. Role play will be performed so that participants can integrate the basics apathy clinical examination. Participants will be able to provide questions throughout the course and regular tests will be carried out to ensure appropriate understandings of the topic.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Sophia Frangou, USA

Scientific research is essential in improving care of patients with mental health problems. European Psychiatry is the official journal of the European Psychiatric Association and is published since 1986 with the aim to improve the lives of patients with psychiatric disorders and to promote professional excellence through education and research. The course will provide essential information on how to write and successfully publish a paper in European Psychiatry. The teachers of the course are the two editors of the journal who will actively interact with participants in order to improve their writing skills. In particular, during the course, participants will be invited to discuss their experience with scientific journals and will be provided with practical suggestions on how to write good papers. Participants will be guided through the journey of publication from the hypothesis-based approach to Editor’s expectations until acceptance of manuscripts.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Organised by the EPA Section on Schizophrenia.

The increased awareness that cognitive deficits in psychotic disorders are highly prevalent and have devastating functional consequences has expanded the target of therapeutic interventions beyond symptom management alone. The change in the focus of treatment for these disorders requires the implementation of cognitive assessment in routine clinical practice and in research. However, the routine use of a standardized neuropsychological battery is difficult to implement as the administration of a test battery requires more time and assessor training than is typically available in clinical settings. In addition, in clinical trials obtaining patient oriented information on cognitive functioning might supplement objectively collected neurocognitive and functional data. Interview-based measures of cognition such as the Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI), a method for assessing cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, were recently shown to be reliable, valid, and sensitive to treatment effects. Recent validity work has also shown strong relationships for the CAI with objective cognitive assessment and multiple domains of role functioning such as independent living, social interactions, family relationships, and school/work functioning. The CAI’s interview-based approach to the assessment of cognition can also serve a useful role as co-primary measure in clinical trials.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Umberto Volpe, Italy

Organised by the EPA Section on TeleMental Health.

Widespread use of video, mobile health and other technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic has given users a vision of what is possible in the future to reshape the delivery of healthcare worldwide. The pandemic has not only necessitated a shift in health technology adoption, but it has also highlighted a shift in the needs from health technology awareness, to an era where the focus is digital and cultural literacy to optimize the benefits that can be leveraged to health outcomes. Skills (i.e., competencies) and attitudes are as important knowledge to ensure patient-centered care. Published competencies focus on Patient Care (history, assessment, management, medico-legal issues, privacy, confidentiality), Communication (engagement, interpersonal skills), Systems-based Practice (quality improvement, safety), Practice-based Learning and Knowledge. Video and mobile health skills are now in demand, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. For clinicians and institutions to implement services, they need to consider the human-computer interaction, ethical and legal, models of care and quality of life issues.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Kolja Schiltz, Germany

Organised 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.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Pilar Lusilla, Spain

Organised by the EPA Section on Addictive Behaviours.

Motivational interviewing is defined as a patient-centered and collaborative approach that guides people to initiate and maintain a strategy of behaviour change through the resolution of their ambivalence. This approach has become in the last decades the golden standard to manage addictions as opposed to classic confrontational models. Different meta-analysis, have demonstrated its moderate but robust effect in improving both adherence to treatment and addictive behaviours. Brief interventions have proven its efficacy in primary health settings, to help patients reduce their drug use, specially concerning alcohol and tobacco. Motivational adaptations of those brief counselling interventions have been developed and tested in recent years. In this course, attendees will receive training on how to use brief motivational interventions (BMI) with patients suffering addictive disorders in the Emergency Room. The course will address the following topics: • How to identify which clinical situations are, and are not, suitable for a brief intervention • Key elements of a successful brief motivational intervention • Barriers (and how to overcome them) to deliver BMI in the Emergency Room • Elements that influence adherence to treatment and successful referral • Review of the existing scientific evidence.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Anita Riecher-Rössler, Switzerland

Organised by the EPA Section on Prevention of Mental Disorders.

Early intervention in psychosis has an already established role in reducing the duration of untreated psychosis, preventing or at least delaying psychosis onset, and relieving clinical high-risk (CHR) patients them from their presenting symptoms. However, as a thorough diagnosis is always the prerequisite of a good intervention, the accurate early detection of psychoses by their CHR states is a prerequisite for an early tailored intervention in psychosis. In this course we will therefore focus on the early detection. The course participants will learn and discuss: – the concept of early detection, the rationale for the clinical approach, and the existing evidence-base – to recognize potential early signs of psychosis and learn the basics of diagnosing CHR states using different instruments for their assessment – to discuss potential ethical dilemmas, – the main theoretical challenges and – common obstacles in early detection. The course is practical and interactive, and suitable for mental health professional of all levels of experience. The participants will be able to present cases and problems from their daily work. The knowledge and experience acquired in this course are relevant as basis for the EPA course on Early Intervention and applicable to all areas of mental health. After the course the participants shall be able to detect patients possibly at clinical high-risk for psychosis.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Filip Bouckaert, Belgium

Organised by the EPA Section on Old Age Psychiatry.

Depression is the most frequent mental disorder also in the elderly population and it is soften unrecognized and untreated. Compared to other age groups, there are differences in risk factors, symptomatology, comorbidity, differential diagnosis and management. In the course epidemiology and risk factors will be presented. Diagnosis will be discussed with special focus on the differential diagnosis to grief, dementia and anxiety disorders. Sleep problems and suicidality will deserve special attention. Regarding therapy relevant modifications of drug therapy and psychological therapies will be presented. The different types of psychotherapy for elderly (schema based therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy) will be discussed. We also discuss neuromodulation therapies, ECT, and exercise. The management in the presence of physical disability or in special settings requires tailored interventions. Case vignettes regarding diagnosis and therapy are discussed.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Martin Stuhec, Slovenia

Organised by the EPA Section on Psychopharmacology.

This interactive, evidence-based course has been designed for early carrier psychiatrists, however other colleagues – especially those, who teach/supervise residents – also may benefit from the structured teaching material. The content of the course is primarily built on landmark studies and the data which will be discussed includes real world evidence as well. The participants should be able after completing the course to individually plan antipsychotic treatment for patients with schizophrenia and with some other psychotic disorders. The course will have a clinical focus and includes the following topics: • Short and long term treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotics • Dose response relationship of antipsychotic drugs: How to define the right dose? Is there a therapeutic window? How do patients benefit from the use of therapeutic (plasma level) drug monitoring? • How to choose from different formulations of antipsychotics, e.g. different tablet forms, solution, rapid acting and long acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics? • Comparative effectiveness of antipsychotics • Pharmacological treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia • The role of antipsychotics and other drugs in the management of agitation, suicidal and violent behavior in schizophrenia • Partial response, non – response and treatment resistance: Antipsychotic monotherapy vs. polypharmacy and the role of clozapine treatment • Possible treatment strategies to avoid antipsychotic polypharmacy • Length of antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia; how to discontinue antipsychotic treatment; risks of antipsychotic withdrawal • Antipsychotic treatment in the elderly: schizophrenia and psychosis related to dementia • Management of the most frequent side effects and drug-drug interactions during treatment with antipsychotics.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Organised by the EPA Section on Schizophrenia.

The early phases of psychosis have been hypothesized to constitute a critical period, a window of opportunity. At the same time, the early phases of psychosis are associated with increased risk of unwanted outcome, such as suicidal behaviour and social isolation. This was the background for the emergence of early intervention services, and in Denmark, the OPUS trial was initiated as part of that process. Now there is convincing evidence for the effectiveness of early intervention services from trials all over the world- The different elements in early intervention services will be presented together with the principles for involving families. The psychoeducational multifamily treatment model will be presented. questions to the audience will be included in the presentations. there will be role play demonstrating the problem solving method.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Remy Klein, France

Issues: 1. BPD is a common mental disorder (1 to 2% of general population), as severe as schizophrenia or diabetes in terms of loss of years of life (10 to 25 years). 2. Psychotherapy is the first line treatment recommended, but availability and acceptability are limited. 3. General psychiatrists express difficulties treating BPD patients. Description: 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.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Dr Lucinda Green, UK

Organised by the EPA Section on Women, Gender and Mental Health.

1. Schizophrenia and women. What do we need to know and do to improve outcome for women? This presentation will look at the gender differences, lifespan course, risk assessment and care needs for women with schizophrenia. Dr Liz McDonald 2. Women with severe mental disorders: sexual health, fertility and planning for pregnancy and parenthood. This presentation will address the specific needs of women in relation to their fertility and how clinicians and services can best support women to ensure optimal outcome. Dr Lucinda Green. 3. Violence against women and mental health. This presentation will consider the many implications for mental health outcomes and services, of violence against women. Dr Hind Khalifeh. 4. Mental Health and Parenting. This presentation addresses risk factors and uses case examples to explore links between mental disorders and the barriers and challenges in relation to child safeguarding. Dr Lucinda Green. treatments and discuss prevention.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.

Course Co-Director: Jesper Nørgaard Kjær, Denmark

The methodology of scientific method can be sometimes difficult to understand and implement in psychiatry. Different tools exist to help this process by collecting and interpreting data but they can sometimes be quite expensive. Here we will present free and open source softwares that help to communicate but also randomize, collect, interpret and publish data. These tools can be easily reused and shared. That could improve validity and reproducibility of scientific research. In order to be interactive, we will involve the participants in the collection of the data of a prototypical scientific study, an international cake testing database! (http://bit.ly/cakereport) We will see a study protocol and how we can pregister this protocol defining the primary outcome. Here what is the best cookie from 2 different brands? We will discuss the issue of sample selection. Who will taste the cookies? Randomizer.org will help us to attribute a condition (cookie A or B) to each subject. Limesurvey helps to run easy online surveys. What did you think about each characteristic of your cookie? R helps to analyse and plot the data. What the mean score? How to plot the results? Is the difference significant? GitHub helps to publish publicly or not our data and analysis script. ArXiv systems helps to publish early works and manuscripts before publication. Equator-network.org can give guidelines that could help to write scientific articles. We can promote our work then on wikipedia and discuss what are the advantages and issues to promote your own work on wikipedia.

The course material is available only to registered participants via the following link.