About the Congress

I Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century
7-8 October 2016
Moscow, Russia

 

On 7-8 October 2016, the I Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century, focused on the creation of favorable environment that is conducive to maintaining mental health through the consolidated action of experts at the interdisciplinary and intersectoral levels, was held in Moscow, Russia.

Mental health is a subject, which is linked to the most fundamental aspects of human life, and goes beyond the boundaries of purely professional discussion. Therefore, the Congress convened more than 700 international experts from various spheres of public health, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychology, social security and occupational health, science & education, art & culture, sport & physical fitness, economics & law as well as the government, business & community sectors leaders from 33 countries to deliver a concerted global stance on mental health maintenance.

Scientific Program

The Scientific program was presented by three thematic fields, including Prevention & Promotion in Mental Health; Treatment & Rehabilitation in Mental Health Care; and Human Rights in Mental Health.

The Congress was opened by the Plenary session “Investing in Mental Health through Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Dialogue” where the leaders of the international professional organizations – official partners of the event, introduced global strategies on mental health promotion and prevention, improvement of health and wellbeing of people with mental health problems. Keynote speeches were delivered by distinguished experts and executives including: Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO, Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Mental Health; Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gaebel, President of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Heinrich-Heine University, Düssel-dorf, and Medical Director of the LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Director of the LVR-Institute for Mental Healthcare Research (LVR-IVF) and the WHO Collaborating Center on Quality Management and Empowerment in Mental Health (Germany); Prof. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association, President Elect of the World Association of Social Psychiatry, Professor & Head, Department of Psychiatry, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla, India (India); Prof. Norman Sartorius, President, Action for Mental Health (AMH), Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programs, MD, PhD (Germany and Switzerland); Prof. Alfred Pritz, President of the World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP), Ph.D in Psychopathology and Pedagogics, General secretary of the European Association for Psychotherapy, Rector and full professor of the Sigmund Freud University (Austria); Mr. Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, Secretary General of International Social Security Association (ISSA) (Switzerland); Prof. Zurab I.Kekelidze, Chief Psychiatrist of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Director General of Federal Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology, Vice-President of Russian Society of Psychiatrists (RSP) (Russia); and Dr. Afzal Javed, Immediate Past President World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR), Secretary for Sections World Psychiatric Association (WPA) (UK).

Three special sessions addressed differentiated approaches towards mental health maintenance on each stage of human life were held under the Plenary session “The Life Cycle Approach to the Individual’s Mental Health”. The keynote speakers having a unique expertise and vast experience in the field, shared their knowledge with the Congress attendees. Scientific celebrities included: Dr Gordana Milavic, M.D., F.R.C.Psych, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Maudsley Child and Adolescent International , London, UK, Co-chair of the WPA Section “Child and Adolescent Psychiatry” (UK and Serbia ); Prof. Emilia Afrange, President of Brazilian Association of Psychotherapy (ABRAP), President of Latin-American Federation of Psychotherapy (FLAPSI) (Brazilia); Prof. Tatiana T.Batysheva, Director General of the Federal Center on Children Neuropsychiatry, Chief Specialist for Children Medical Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, President of Russian National Association of Experts in the Field of Infantile Cerebral Paralysis, M.D. (Russia); Prof. Vitaliy V.Rubtsov, Rector of the Moscow State Psycho-Pedagogical University, President of All-Russia Association on Social and Educational Rehabilitation, Psy.D. (Russia); Prof. Mohammad Khodayarifard, Vice-president of the World Council for Psychotherapy, Ph.D., Professor of Child Clinical Psychology and Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education the University of Tehran (Iran); Mrs. Carol Povey, Director of the Center for Autism, National Autistic Society (UK); Prof. Nikolay G. Neznanov, President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists (RSP), Director of the St. Petersburg V.M. Bekhterev Psychoneurological Research Institute, President of the World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry (WADP), Psychiatrist Federal Agency for Public Health and Social Development, Head of Psychiatry and Narcology Chair of the Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University, M.D. (Russia); Prof. Nicole Aknin, Rector of the Sigmund Freud University Paris, Executive member of the World Council for Psychotherapy and the European Association for Psychotherapy, Vice President of European Confederation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (France); Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D., Chair of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs and the main representative of the World Council of Psychotherapy and the International Association of Applied Psychology at the United Nations, an internationally known clinical psychologist, professor, award-winning journalist, author, and mental health advocate, a clinical psychologist on the adjunct faculty at Columbia University Teachers College and Visiting Professor at Beijing University Health Science Center in China (USA); Prof. Dr. Joaquim Quintino-Aires, Founder of the Vygotskiy Institute, Clinical psychologist, professor of the New University of Lisbon (Portugal); Prof. Darlyne G.Nemeth, Co-Secretary General of the World Council for Psychotherapy, Council Member of the American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives (USA); Prof. Vladimir Mendelevich, MD, PhD, Director of Institute for Research of Problems of Mental Health, Head of Department of Medical and General Psychology of Kazan State Medical University, WHO-expert, The editor-in-chief of "Neurological Bulletin" (Journal named after V.M.Bekhterev) and “ Psychopathology & Addiction Medicine” (Russia); Prof. Jan Burns, Head of Eligibility for the International Sport Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Disabilities (INAS) (UK); Prof. Sergey P. Evseev, Director of the Science and Education Department of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation (Russia); Prof.Stavroula Leka, Director of the Center for Organizational Health and Development, Chair of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Scientific Committee “Work Organization & Psychosocial Factors” (Greece and UK); Prof. Dr. Ganesh Shankar, President of Yoga and Psychotherapy Association of India, Vice President of WCP (Asian Chapter), Founder President of the Asian Federation for Psychotherapy (AFP) (India), and others.

The WHO Special Session "Consultation on draft WHO action plan on dementia", chaired by Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO, Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Mental Health, opened the second day of the Congress.

 

The WHO Session was followed by four international conferences and two symposia.

The International Conference “Mental Health in the Workplace” was focused on development of practical recommendations for mental health care in the workplace, including identification of new areas in the comprehensive study of the problem at the interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral levels. The Conference was organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) under patronage of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation. The keynote speakers were presented by Mr. Hans-Horst Konkolewsky (Chair), Secretary General of the International Social Security Association (ISSA); Dr Veerle Miranda, Policy Analyst at the Division for Employment Analysis and Policy of the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labor and Social Affairs (Belgium); Dr. Malgorzata Milczarek, Project Manager, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (Poland); Dr Bonnie Kirsh, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto (Canada); Dr Richard Wynne, Director at the Work Research Centre, Ireland, Coordinator of the European Network for Mental Health Promotion (Ireland), and others.

The International Conference "Therapeutic Aspects of Mental Health" was aimed at discussing national models of psychotherapy and its role in achieving high levels of individual and social mental health. The Conference was organized by Russian Professional Psychotherapeutic League in cooperation with World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP) and Asian Federation for Psychotherapy (AFP). The distinguished scientists discussed the possibility of constructive cooperation of professional psychotherapeutic associations and institutions with clusters representing systems of psychiatric, addictological, psychological assistance, as well as systems of education, social care and the media. The keynote reports were delivered by Prof. Victor Makarov, President of the All-Russian Professional Psychotherapeutic League and Self-Regulatory Organization National Association "Union of psychotherapists and psychologists", Vice-President of the World Council for Psychotherapy (Russia); Dr. Edward Chan, Vice-President of the Asian Federation for Psychotherapy, President of the Malaysian Association of Psychotherapy (Malaysia); Prof. Zoran Milivojevic, President of Serbian Union of Associations for Psychotherapy (Serbia); Prof. Sergei Igumnov, National Coordinator of the Representative Office of Belarusian Association of Psychotherapists at the Professional Psychotherapeutic League (Belarus), and others.

The International Conference "Psychology and Mental Health" was aimed at generalization and dissemination of the achievements of psychological sciences and development of a consolidated position in the field of mental health care. The Conference was organized by Russian Psychological Society, Federation of Russian Educational Psychologists in cooperation with Moscow State Psycho-Pedagogical University, Department of Psychology at Moscow State University under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The best scientific and practical achievements of psychology in the field of mental health care were delivered by the keynote speakers including Prof. Joaquim Quintino-Aires, Founder and Director of the Vygotstky Lisbon Institute, Doctor in Psycholinguistics with graduation on clinical psychology, professor of psychotherapy and neuropsychology in Lisbon and São Paulo, clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist (Portugal); Prof. Yury P. Zinchenko, President of the Russian Psychological Society, Dean of the Department on Psychology at Moscow State University (Russia); Prof. Alfried Längle, President of the International Society for Logotherapy and Existential Analysis; Prof. Raymond C. K. Chan, Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing (China); and others.

The International Conference “Mental Health: National Policies Agenda” addressed modern approaches to psychiatry that is increasingly committed to open interaction with the society, responding, from its part, to the active integration processes and the obvious humanitarian request underway in the latter. The Conference was organized by Russian Psychiatric Society in cooperation with World Psychiatric Association (WPA), World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry (WADP), under the patronage of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. The national approaches to the system of mental health care protection, recent achievements in biological psychiatry, as well as innovative solutions in the field of prevention and rehabilitation were delivered by celebrities as it follows: Prof. Petr Morozov, Board member and Zonal representative of the World Psychiatric Association for Eastern Europe, Vice-President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, Ambassador of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Russia (Russia); Prof. Vladimir Borodin, Vice-President of the Union for Mental Health, Professor of the Serbsky Federal Medical Research Center of Psychiatry and Narcology (Russia); Prof. Sagat Altynbekov, President of the Association of Mental Health Professionals of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Head of the Department on Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Narcology of the S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Director of the Republican Scientific & Practical Center of Psychiatrics, Psychotherapy and Narcology of the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Republic of Kazakhstan); Prof. Tatiana Galako, President of the Kyrgyz Psychiatric Association, Head of the Chair on Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Narcology of the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy (Kyrgyz Republic); Dr. Armen Sogoyan, Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association, Secretary of Finance of the WPA, President of the Armenian Psychiatric Association (Republic of Armenia); Prof. Oleg Skugarevskii, CEO of the Belarussian Psychiatric Association, Head of the Chair on Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the Belarussian State Medical University (Republic of Belarus); Prof. Eka Chkoniya, President of the Society of Psychiatrists of Georgia, Ambassador of ECNP in Georgia, professor of the Tbilisi State Medical University, Clinical Director of the Center for Mental Health in Tbilisi (Georgia); Prof. Nadir Ismailov, President of the Azerbaijan Psychiatric Association (Republic of Azerbaijan); Prof. Nazira Khodzhaeva, Vice-President of the Uzbek Society of Psychiatrists, Professor at the Chair of Psychiatry and Narcology of the Tashkent Medical Academy (Republic of Uzbekistan); Dr. Evgeniia Sinitsa, Head of the Research and Development Department at the National Center for Mental Health of the Republic of Moldova (Republic of Moldova); Prof. George Woody, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), and others.

The Symposium “Law and Health” was chaired by Yury V. Voronin, Head of the Office of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. It was focused on legal basis for health management systems.

The Symposium “Mental Health & Sport of Inclusion” organized by All-Russia Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Disability in cooperation with International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Disability (INAS) under the patronage of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation, discussed organizational activities, summarizing tools, methods and technologies of formation, improvement and preservation of mental health in people with disabilities in the course of practicing adaptive sports.

The Congress attendees had an opportunity also to visit a Workshop on Yoga as Therapy for Mental Health conducted by Professor Ganesh Shankar, Honorary General Secretary of Yoga & Psychotherapy Association of India.

 

Social and Cultural Program

Social and Cultural Programs organized a diverse set of activities that explored the intersections among the arts, education and science in the mental health field. These activities included an on-air roundtable, a sightseeing bus tour around Moscow, the I Film Festival "Docu-MENTAL", the Arts & Crafts Fair For and With People with Mental Needs, the I National Awards Ceremony «Harmony», the showcase of the Opening film of the 38th Moscow International Film Festival “KE-DY (SNEAKERS)” directed by one of the most iconic directors of Russia - Sergey Solovyov, the Moscow Mental Health EXPO 2016, and networking activities.

Highlights

The I National Awards Ceremony «Harmony» is a prestigious Russian national event where the most distinguished professionals from various fields, — including public health, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychology, education & science, arts & culture, economics & politics, law & social welfare, sport, business, civil society, and the media receive official public recognition for significant contribution to mental health. Nine winners were awarded in five nominations. The special award was delivered to Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gaebel, President of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) for Distinguished Contribution to Global Mental Health.

The Union for Mental Health presented the I Film Festival "Docu-MENTAL" that was aimed to raise an awareness about people with mental disorders and to reduce stigma surrounding them. The Festival's program included first showings and iconic films about people with mental needs: Life, Animated, Gary Numan: Android in La La Land, Off the Rails, God Knows Where I Am, Don Juan, Why am I here?, If I only were, Rain Man, Forrest Gump. After watching, the audience were invited to participate in an open discussion held by distinguished experts and popular film critics.

The Arts & Crafts Fair For and With People with Mental Needs has become an amazing journey full of various master classes, extraordinary music program and special souvenirs including gingerbread painting, making eco-products from the recyclable materials, beaded floristry and bracelets making, carving and painting on wood, soap making, ebru art, weaving, cartoon therapy, sand therapy, and many others.

On-air Roundtable Discussion "Relations with the Patient: Ethic approaches" was held by the I Medical TV Channel (live broadcasting) under the Congress. The following experts took part in the Round table discussion: Professor Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, Secretary General of WPA, Professor Afzal Javed, Secretary for Sections of WPA, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Representative of the International Association of Applied Psychology and the World Council of Psychotherapy at the United Nations, Professor Darlyne G.Nemeth, Co-Secretary General of WCP, and Professor Vladimir I. Borodin, Vice-president of the Union for Mental Health.

The Moscow Mental Health EXPO 2016 has become an essential part of the official program of the Congress and a step forward in solving the mental health challenges the world faces today.

Volunteer Program played a crucial role in the success of the Congress. From October 5 to October10, volunteers-students of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia and the Moscow International Academy were the first point of contact for attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, and all visitors from around the world.

Outcomes and Results

The Congress resulted in delivering 11 scientific events, 165 scientific reports, publication of the Collection of scientific papers from different areas of scientific knowledge in the mental health fields and development of the Declaration where 700 experts representing 33 countries introduced their commitment and priority tasks in the field of protection of people's mental health.

Having been established on the initiative of the Russian NGOs uniting psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, teachers, lawyers, social workers, distinguished personalities from the world of culture and sport, and with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Congress has become a practical regional model for collaboration in the field of mental health.

The Congress, having been recognized and supported by the major international professional organizations including the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR), the International Association on Social Security (ISSA), the World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP), the Action for Mental Health (AMH), the Asian Federation for Psychotherapy (AFP), the French Federation of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (FF2P), and the others, has managed to create an interdisciplinary and intersectoral dialogue platform to discuss the ways of improving mental health at a global scale.

The Union for Mental Health of Russia is truly honored and grateful for the overall support and assistance of the members of the Local Organizing Committee and the International Organizing Committee, the Scientific Committee, our Partners and Sponsors!

We greatly appreciate the assistance of all our volunteers!

We hope that we will continue to cooperate in developing favorable environment that is conducive to maintaining mental health under the Second Edition of the Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century that will be conducted on 19-21 October 2018.