The International Federation for Psychotherapy (IFP) is a worldwide, interprofessional, interdisciplinary and intercultural umbrella organization for psychotherapy. The original objective of the Federation was to promote psychotherapy within the field of medicine. However, in the meantime, psychotherapy has come to include a wide field of professions both in scientific research and in clinical practice. Accordingly, the IFP extended its objectives. To know more, visit the web page http://www.ifp.name/index.htm. The IFP offers two newsletters per year to its members. Please find below a sum-up of the latest newsletter which was published in full athttp://www.ifp.name/newsletter.html.
In the newsletter published in December 2017 (http://www.ifp.name/newsletter.html), we propose a selection of the key lectures which were presented during the conference organized by the International Federation for Psychotherapy in Marrakech, Morocco, from April 20–22, 2017. The theme was “The Universal and the Cultural in Psychotherapy.” The site was the Faculty of Medicine and the scientific program comprised 9 plenary lectures, 4 symposia, and 3 workshops. Driss Moussaoui (Casablanca) was the local organizer of the conference and offered the great opportunity to build a bridge between Western and non-Western culture in psychotherapy. We warmly thank him for his job.
Paul M.G. Emmelkamp (University of Amsterdam) presented a plenary lecture on “How evidence-based are evidence-based psychotherapies in non-Western countries” highlighting the need to develop psychotherapy research in non-Western countries since the large majority of the studies on this topic are still conducted in the US. Publications from countries with a non-Western background (e.g., Asia, Africa, and Latin America) are largely exceptional cases. Further, many Western countries have ethnic minorities, but relatively few studies have addressed the effectiveness of psychotherapy in ethnic minorities within Western cultures.
Franz Caspar (University of Bern) presented a plenary lecture on “Therapy relationship: why is it relevant and are there any recipes?” stressing the important role of relational factors in psychotherapy and their influence on outcome. He also made suggestions and proposed elements on how to bring about an appropriate relationship.
Ulrich Schnyder (Zurich) presented a plenary lecture entitled “Trauma is a global issue.” Traumatic events are common in the daily lives of people all over the world, and the great majority of the global burden of disease arising from mental health conditions occurs in low- and middle-income countries, among populations in transition, and those struck by forced migration. These mental health problems frequently arise as a result of traumatic events, including war, mass violence, natural disasters, and accidents. By contrast, only a minority of studies in the field of traumatic stress research are performed in low- and middle-income countries.
We are pleased to announce the coming IFP World Congress on “Psychotherapy, Stronger through Diversity” held from June 7–9, 2018, in Amsterdam (The Netherlands). You can find more details at http://www.ifp2018.com.
The IFP Board wishes all of you stimulating and pleasant reading.
Fiammetta Cosci, MD, MSc, PhD
IFP Newsletter Editor