Newsletter

Editorial Board

Abstract

Submission

Opens May 1!

6th World Congress on Women's

Mental Health

22-25 March 2015

Keio Plaza Hotel

Tokyo, Japan

Co-Hosted by the 

International Association for Women's Mental Health

and the

Institute of Women's Heath, Tokyo Women's Medical University

IAWMH Leadership

For detailed info -  click here!

President:

Vice President:

Immediate Past President:

Anita Riecher-Rössler

(Switzerland)

Treasurer:

Secretary:

Silvia Lucia Gaviria (Colombia)

Advisory Board:

- Unaiza Niaz (Pakistan)

- Teri Pearlstein (USA)

- Donna Sewart (Canada)

To join & pay online - click here!

For a pdf of the membership form - click here! 

About IAWMH

Established in 2001 to improve the mental health of women throughout the world,  the International Association for Women's Mental Health is a Not for Profit, Non-Governmental Organization.

The mission of IAWMH is:

-  To improve the mental health of women throughout the world.

 -  To expand the fund of knowledge about Women's Mental Health.

-  To promote gender-sensitive and autonomy-enhancing mental health

services for women.

-  To advance collaboration between Societies and Sections.

For more information:  www.iawmh.org  

Contact us:

 www.iawmh.org

Please note:

The views and opinions expressed in these reports are solely those of the individuals noted and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by IAWMH, its leadership or members. 

Spring 2014

Welcome - Editor's Note

The IAWMH newsletter strives to be the comprehensive and balanced voice of IAWMH workings, and a very resourceful media channel in improving interaction and communication between its members and the other women's mental health organizations globally.

The Newsletter at this time reports the First International Conference on Women's Mental Health in Al Khobar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. IAWMH co-sponsored this pioneering event and the IAWMH President Marta Rondon and Unaiza Niaz, member of the advisory council and editor of the Newsletter presented, keynotes and conducted workshops (read the detail report)

IAWMH members have been actively promoting WMH, locally in their countries, region and globally. Participation in conferences, conducting research studies and training workshops for th postgraduate students and young psychiatrists are significant activities of the organization..

I am sure that along with the competent editorial board, the newsletter will continue to serve our organization with zest; and be an effective means in assisting our efforts to raise women's mental health awareness. I look forward to your continued support and receive your contributions, as it will only then be a fully balanced and comprehensive newsletter

Welcome - President's Message

Warmest regards to all

Marta B. Rondon, MD

President, International Association for Women's Mental Health 

Abstract Submissions Open May 1 for

6th World Congress on Women's Mental Health

22- 25 March 2015 - Tokyo

CLICK HERE FOR CONGRESS WEBSITE! 

We cordially invite you to participate in our next Congress to be held in conjunction with the Institute of Women's Mental Health, Tokyo Women's Medical University.

From Spain: 

Marina Diaz Marsa, who sits on the IAWMH Advisory Board, has been appointed National Coordinator for the Management of Eating Disorders by the Spanish government. Recently, she was reelected President of the Psychiatry Society of Madrid, the first Spanish society that incorporated from its foundation, a Task group on Gender and Mental Disorders, which deals mostly with depression in women. The clinical research group led by Dr Diaz Marsa at the Universidad Complutense has found evidence that a history of trauma in women suffering from eating disorders is strongly linked to brain malfunction in the striatum. This paper is up for publication now.

From Argentina: 

The Argentinian-Australian Meeting for Women's Mental Health took place in Buenos Aires on March 5, at the Residence of the Australian Ambassador. This event was organized by our Latin American representative, Elena Levin. The topics included women's rights and the building of citizenship, the problems of migrant women and involuntary hospitalization of women as a punishment, analyzed from a gender perspective. Elena also presented excerpts from "La Stupenda", a homage to Dame Joan Sutherland. This meeting exposed the problems that impinge on women in developing countries. And allowed discussion of viable alternatives to the issues posed by a combination of traditional roles and morals in the context of rapid modernization due to globalization.

From Myanmar:

Donna Stewart, IAMWH Advisory Board, met with psychiatrists interested in women's mental health in Yangon, Myanmar in January and had interesting discussions about psychiatry in their country and the feasibility of them coming to our Tokyo congress.

First Saudi Arabian Women's Mental Health Congress

From Silvia Gaviria, IAWMH Secretary:

The V International Conference on Women´s Mental Health, "From birth to transcending", organized by CES University, held in March in Medellin, Colombia, had the participation of nine international speakers from United States, Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain and several Colombian speakers and the support of IAWMH and WPA. Both the local and regional government offices endorsed the meeting.

The selected topics were mental health, psycho-oncology, senior women, new approaches and new therapies. About 300 people attended. We had two activities with the community and a research (poster) competition; Renault invited Dr Donna Stewart to present on gender equality at work, for its women executives and workers.

Thanks to the work done during ten years, we have been able to position the event in the Latin American region. This time we had attendees from Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia, United States, Canada, Spain and Colombia.

All of this leads us to conclude that together we make the difference!

From left to right:  Marta Rondon, Maria Inés López-Ibor, Donna Stewart, Michelle Riba,  Javier Escobar, Silvia  Gaviria, Samir Sabbag, Maria Adelaida Rueda, Gloria Bachman, Monica Kimelman, Ana Maria Morillo.

North American Socety for Psychosocial Obstetrics & Gynecology Biennial Meeting

The North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics & Gynecology held their biennial meeting in Columbus, Ohio in April.   In addition to the US and Canada, registrants came from Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Held in conjunction with the Marce Society, the meeting presented several symposia:

• Stress and Social Stressors in Pregnancy

• Psychosocial Aspects of Cancer Treatment

• Psychosocial Education in Women's Health

• Fear and Anxiety Surrounding Labor

• Impact of Psychotropic Drug Exposures in Pregnancy

• Stress and Preterm Labor

• Psychological Issues Related to Abortion

The next NASPOG  Biennial Meeting will be held in April 2016 in New York City.  IAWMH member Shari Lusskin, MD, is President-elect and IAWMH Board Member Teri Pearlstein, MD is Immediate Past President of NASPOG.

22nd Annual Congress on Women's Health

Washington, DC, USA

From left to right -  Wendy Klein MD, Acting       Surgeon General RADM Boris Lushniak, and     Susan Kornstein MD

From Susan Kornstein,

IAWMH Past President:

The 22nd Annual Congress on Women's Health April 4-6 in Washington, DC., presented by the VCU Institute for Women's Health, the Journal of Women's Health, and the Academy of Women's Health, in collaboration with the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, the DHHS Office on Women's Health, and the Society for Women's Health Research. We had close to 1000 health care professionals in attendance from across the U.S. and nearly 20 countries.  

Report by Ann Sterling Farneti, IAWMH Member

The new structure for women, called Blue Strawberries, is the first of this kind in Italy. It is an exciting, challenging experience for both the patients and the staff workers. Much of the attention is centered on the issue of abuse, and dependency in affective relationships...their history of trauma and violated childhood are the themes that are repeated. Patients are very demanding and needy, competitive in their requests for attention and compulsive in their behavior, but less destructive than in the mixed structure. They are open in their expression, intelligent, and difficult to manage. They require intense stimulation, particularly in regard to their creativity, so the daily program is full of varied activities, including art therapy, painting, ceramics, gardening, and many others. Both staff and patients have a rich program of supervision, and there is a comprehensive program for monitoring progress.

14 - 17 May 2014 - St.Petersburg, Russia

Congress of World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry

Multidisciplinary Approach to and Treatment of Mental Disorders: Myth or Reality

For info:  http://www.wadp2014spb.com

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22 - 24 May 2014 - Prince Edward Island, Canada

Atlantic Psychiatric Conference  

For info: http://www.healthpei.ca/atlanticpsychiatricconference 

Donna Stewart - Keynote Speaker

Depression and the Use of Psychotropic Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation 

4 - 5 June 2014 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Forum Specialists in Mental Health

Critical Thinking and Psychiatry

For info:  elenalevin@fibertel.com.ar

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4 - 7 June 2014 - Florence, Italy

XXIV European Congress of Perinatal Medicine

For info:  www.ecpm2014.org

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11-14 June 2014 - Hong Kong

10th International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society

For info:  http://www.socsc.hku.hk/icgb2014/index.html      

Unaiza Niaz - Invited Speaker

Major Issues in Women's Mental Health in Disasters: Personal Experience in Islamic Culture, Pakistan

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26-28 June 2014 - Yokohama, Japan

110th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology

Psychiatry to change the world: from community psychiatry to global psychiatry

For info:  http://www.congre.co.jp/jspn110/eng/  

Helen Herrman - Invited Speaker

Partnerships for mental health and vulnerable young people

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10-12 September 2014 - Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

International Marce Society Biennial Scientific Conference

"Creating Change in Perinatal Mental Health"

For info: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/marce/

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11-13 September 2014 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadian Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting

For info: http://www.cpa-apc.org/browse/documents/92

Donna Stewart - Invited Speaker

Depression on Determinants of Resilience in High Risk Women 

14 - 18 September 2014 - Madrid, Spain

16th World Congress of Psychiatry 

Focusing on Quality, Access and Humane Care

For info:  http://www.wpamadrid2014.com/

This is the WPA's main congress held every three years. The WMH Section members are actively participating in this event.

Official WMH Section Symposium - "Women's Mental Health and the Law"

Chairs: Helen Herrman, Michaela Amering

Presenters: Donna Stewart, Unaiza Niaz & Josyan Madi-Skaff

Other sessions at WPA related to Women's Mental Health presented by IAWMH Members:

1) Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy

Chairs:  Silvia Gaviria, Josyan Madi-Skaff

Presenters:  Donna Stewart, Marta Rondon, Anita Riecher-Rossler

2) Human Rights for Women Psychiatric Patients

Presenter: Donna Stewart

3) Intimate Partner Violence and Women's Mental Health

Chairs:  Helen Herrman, Marta Rondon

Presenters: Donna Stewart, Louise Howard

4) Three Current Issues in Women's Mental Health

Chairs:  Marina Diaz-Marsa, Gislene Valadares

Presenters:  Silvia Gaviria, Marta Rondon

5) Intrafamily Violence and Mental Health: Intervention Strategies

Chair: Elena Levin - Presenter: Alejandra Maddocks

6) Psychosis and Gender

Chair:  Gemma Garcia-Parés  - Presenter: Judith Usall

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22-26 November 2014 - Cartagena, Colombia

XXVIII APAL 2014 Congress

For info: http://psiquiatria.org.co/Apal2014/index-en.html

Presenters:  Silvia Gaviria, Donna Stewart