newsletter vol.5 no.2 - january 2002 Reports from meetings held by local ISPS 3 News from the groups and chapters chairman The ISPS UK reports from a successful meeting with the 4 Interview with therapeutic relationship as theme. Benedetti The ISPS US reports from their third annual meeting, 6 Strindberg´s which had a rich clinical focus, but which also was psychosis influenced by reflections on the terror a few weeks earlier. 10 News from the In several other countries there are ongoing work to ISPS networks establish local groups as a part of the ISPS network. 10 ISPS 2003 in Melbourne 14 How to form local groups 15 Startup money for local groups 15 ISPS website 16 Need for destig- matization 19 WPA congress and ISPS 20 Book reviews From the ISPS UK meeting: Sarah Davenport, conference chair, Jan Olav 23 ISPSbook Johanssen, Chair of ISPS and Brian Martindale, Chair ISPS UK 24 Membership application form vol.5 no.2 - january 2002 1 1 isps newsletter On this newsletter Objectives of ISPS ISPS secretariat You may have noticed a small • promote the appropriate use of The ISPS secretariat is a link change in the physical format of the psychotherapy and psychological between members and the executive newsletter, compared with earlier treatments for persons with committee, updates the website, prints issues. By cutting the height with 2 schizophrenias and other psychoses and distributes the newsletter, keeps a cm (from A4 to the American database of ISPS members and local format), we help the chapters in the • promote the integration of networks, and helps the society and USA save money on distribution of psychological treatments in treatment the members with information and the newsletter to their members. But plans and comprehensive treatment for other services. Mail to the ISPS and we are not cutting the content! all persons with schizophrenias and the executive committee may be sent As a matter of fact, this issue of other psychoses to the secretariat, who will forward it the ISPS newsletter is the largest to the right persons. one so far in terms of number of • promote the appropriate use of The secretariat is hosted by Centre pages, which means that the psychological understanding and for Psychotherapy and Psychosocial members are submitting more psychotherapeutic approaches in all Rehabilitation of Psychoses SEPREP, material for mutual inspiration and phases of the disorders including both which is a non-commercial founda- enrichment. early in the onset and in longer lasting tion and a network of clinicians and We thank Brian Koehler, Johan disorders researchers promoting psychological Cullberg and John Read for their treatment of psychoses in Norway. major contributions to this newslet- • promote research into individual, ter, - three vaulable papers that family, group psychological therapies, Address to the supplement each other both in preventive measures and other ISPS secretariat content and in form. They are psychosocial programmes for those helping us to learn from experiences with psychotic disorders ISPS c/o SEPREP in the past to use htat in our efforts Jernbanetorget 4 A to give a better future for persons • support treatments that include N-0154 Oslo suffering from psychosis. individual, family, group and network Norway An increasing number of local approaches and treatment methods that groups or chapters of ISPS is being are derived from psychoanalysis, Tel +47 2310 3777 formed in different countries, and cognitive-behavioural, systemic and Fax +47 2310 3779 we are also thankful that these psycho-educational approaches groups take the extra work to share E-mail: [email protected] with us a taste of their work and • advance education, training and Website: www.isps.org discussions in their meeting. knowledge of mental health profess- All these signs of a growing and ionals in the psychological therapies Bank account 5005 06 56648 creative ISPS network, - also Den norske Bank, Oslo, Norway reflected in the newsletter and on the ISPS website, - is an inspiration ISPS thanks Pfizer as sponsor for to us all ! printing and distribution of the newsletter. Torleif Ruud, Editor The ISPS executive ISPS honorary committee life time members Jan Olav Johannessen, Yrjö Alanen, Finland Norway (chairman) Gaetano Benedetti, Switzerland Bryce Boyer, USA Johan Cullberg, Sweden Stephen Fleck, USA Courtenay Harding, USA Murray Jackson, UK Brian Martindale, UK Jarl Jørstad, Norway Patrick McGorry, Australia Theodore Lidz, USA Franz Resch, Germany Christian Müller, Switzerland Torleif Ruud, Norway Barbro Sandin, Sweden Ann-Louise Silver, USA Helm Stierlin, Germany Lyman Wynne, USA 2 vol.5 no.2 - january 2002 2 isps newsletter From the chairman optimistic measure is relapse rates measured by readmission, remission rates, Dear friends time to remission, symptom level, social functioning and so on. What are the most important goals for the ISPS? If we are to justify the place and role of psychological treatments we must attend to these questions. The board of I think we all agree that our main objective is to secure ISPS will encourage all members to give their contributions a room for the humanistic values in contemporary and to this important discussion. future psychiatry. In the western world the pressure in the economy is towards more and more so-called ”effective” Jan Olav Johannessen treatment strategies; that is, treatments of short duration Chair, ISPS and especially wit emphasis on short in-patient treatment. Of course, in itself this is not a wrong development, given that it produces the right results. However, these strategies as well as others, require that we know what we are talking about; that we do not simply lean ourselves on pure beliefs of what treatment really works. The great problem for the psychological inter- ventions often is that the result of the treatment first shows after a longer period of treatment. In modern health care system, we have imported quality measures, effectiveness measures, from the industrial world. We count length of stay, number of admissions and so on and uncritically see those measures as measures of an efficient health care system. It is my opinion that we need to challenge these rather primitive Scholarship from the David Feinsilver means of measuring the outcome and cost/effectiveness of Fund for presentation at the ISPS our health care delivery systems. Efficiency and productivity expressed by length of 2003 symposium in Melbourne hospitalisation, number of admissions, treated patients per time unit, and cost in Euro, Dollar or Pounds are David Feinsilver was a well known psychiatrist incomplete measures for quality in a medical context. The and psychotherapist at Chestnut Lodge Hospital, measures should be supplemented by measures of results organiser of the ISPS Symposium 1994 in based on the course of illness for specific diagnostic Washinton DC and member of the ISPS board. categories. The quality of our health services can be defined along He established a fund which would grant a three dimensions: scholarship to fund the travel expenses to the - Patients perceived quality. That is, do the patient get upcoming ISPS meeting for the best research or what he/she wants? clinical paper on the psychotherapeutic treatment - Professional quality. Do the professional use and provide of the severely disturbed. the methods necessary for treating the patient according to professional standards? The applicants will be those who would not -Administrative quality. This level will be about cost/ otherwise be able to fund their transportation and benefit within the resources available. accommodations. Those submitting abstracts to The real results of our psychiatric treatments very often the ISPS-Melbourne meeting should indicate on will not be apparent before many years after the treatment their submission that they wish to be considered commenced. For psychiatry, that is an enormous challenge for the award. and especially for the psychological treatments provided for years. The ISPS should try to make recommendations They should also send their abstracts and for outcome measures that are not limited to such simple papers by e-mail no later than August 1, 2003 to means as listed above, but measures that can be practical Ann-Louise S. Silver, M.D. tools for us to demonstrate the overall effectiveness of our ([email protected]) treatment; that is, what results we achieve. Such measures and Brian Koehler, Ph.D. can a brutal measure as survival rates, which, I am sorry to ([email protected]) say, is used in some countries already. A better and more vol.5 no.2 - january 2002 3 3 isps newsletter his ability to understand their psychodynamic life». Interview with Gaetano Benedetti, MD, Bleuler noted that Benedetti's empathy for his patients Co-Founder of ISPS in 1956 was similar to that of his father's. As the era of psychopharmacology began, reserpine from India came Brian Koehler, PhD, USA into use at the Burghšlzli in the 1950's, Benedetti increasingly focused his work on the psychoanalytic While in Stavanger, Norway attending the 13th psychotherapy of psychotic patients. He worked closely International Symposium for the Psychological Treatments with Gustav Bally, Medard Boss, Marguerite Sechehaye, of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses, June 5 - 8, and Christian Müller (with whom he founded the Interna- 2000, I had the honor to spend time with Gaetano tional Symposium for the Psychotherapy of schizophrenia Benedetti, MD and his younger colleague in the field of in 1956 at the psychiatric clinic at the University of schizophrenia, Maurizio Peciccia, MD. For six months Lausanne). In 1956, Benedetti was appointed professor of prior to my encounter with Professor Benedetti, I had been psychotherapy at the University of Basel. He continued his meeting with several colleagues on a biweekly basis to work with schizophrenic patients until he retired in 1985. discuss the clinical theories of Drs. Benedetti and Peciccia Benedetti has remained active until the present in his and to compare these with the work of Harold Searles, teaching and supervision of clinicians involved in the MD.