EUROPEAN FAMILY THERAPY ASSOCIATION

CONNECTING FAMILY THERAPISTS AND TRAINERS

#1 January 2007

A word from the President

Dear Colleagues: members of the EFTA CIM, EFTA TIC, and EFTA NFTO Welcome to this first edition of the EFTA General Newsletter. In future, we hope to have special sections for the contributions of each of the 3 EFTA Chambers. In this Newsletter, we have included some important news from the UK Department of Health, and Institute of Clinical Excellence, in the hope it is of interest to colleagues in Europe. If you have news of health and social policy initiatives/directives from your country, of possible interest to other family therapists and systemic practitioners, please send it to us, and include the web link, so we can print it in future editions of the EFTA Newsletter. We have also included the EFTA response to the EU Green Paper on ‘Improving the mental health of the population: Towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union’, for your information. We hope in future, our membership will be willing to help us respond quickly to EU consultation documents on mental health and the family. If you are interested in helping us in this way, please let us know, so that we can compile a list of contacts. You may like to use this Newsletter to advertise conferences and events in your country to others in neighbouring countries – if so, please contact us. So, you can see that our wish is to connect family therapists in different services and different contexts at a European level, through collating and making available information on national and European health and social policy. Please help us, by sending copy, including local news and articles about service development, that could be of interest to others. We hope to hear from you soon! Arlene Vetere EFTA President

About Europe

EFTA response to the EC Green Paper

The EC Green Paper “Improving the mental health of the population. Towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union” was formally launched on 24 October 2005, under the UK Presidency of the EU. In the wake of this document the European Commission initiated an open consultation on the Green Paper, involving the European institutions, governments, health professionals, stakeholders in other sectors, civil society including patient organisations, and the research community. Please find for information the EFTA response (PDF 116 Ko) to this consultation. More about EC Green paper Report from Mental Health Europe Seminar “The EC Green Paper on Mental Health : Time for action !” (12 May 2006, Brussels)

Recognition of professional qualifications

EAP, European Commission and acknowledgment of Psychotherapy : Mony Elkaïm and Arlene Vetere, with colleagues from EAP, work with Annik Lambert, a lawyer specialised in the functionning of the European Commission. download the report (PDF 112 Ko)

Systemic competence – Key qualification for professional social work

Report of a symposium (PDF 96 Ko) at the International Federation of Social Worker (IFSW) World Conference in Munich

Document of interest

Mental health promotion and mental health disorder prevention across European Member States: a collection of country stories. This report issued by the “European Network on Mental Health Promotion and Mental Disorder Prevention” presents a snapshot of the situation of mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention across 30 European countries.

About the UK

Developing a Payment by results tariff for mental health

The introduction of a payment by results funding system for the provision of mental health services depends on the results of an ongoing classification project to determine currencies that could be used to describe and cost mental health activity across inpatients, outpatients and community services for adults of working age and older people. If the project is successful in producing meaningful currencies, these will be piloted and evaluated. Developping a payment by results (PDF 28 Ko)

The ten essentials shared capabilities 

Developed in consultation with service users and carers together with practitioners, provide in one overarching statement, the essential capabilities required to achieve best practice for education and training of all staff who work in mental health services. Ten essentials shared capabilities (PDF 160 Ko)

Conduct disorders

NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) issued new guidelines on how to help parents and carers who have children with conduct disorders. more information

Bipolar disorder in children and adults

NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) issued new guidelines set to raise awareness and improve identification, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder in children and adults. more information

Improving Primary Care Mental Health Services

As part of the NIMHE Primary Care and Commissioning programme, a resource suite had been developed to offer best practice guidance for improving primary care mental health services. more information

Recent publications / Publications récentes

Comment survivre à sa propre famille

Mony Elkaïm, Caroline Glorion, Ed. Le Seuil, collection Couleur Psy, Paris 2006. more information (in French)

Article of interest

Rebuilding the walls of confidence

Therapies: a suitable case for treating social anxiety disorder? read the article

Research

Cost of providing psychotherapy: individual versus family therapy

The cost of treatment provided by mental health professionals varies across health care systems. In this study of one large health care system, the costs and rates of recidivism for individual versus family therapy psychotherapy was considered. Across nearly four million cases, all mental health professions and DSM diagnostic groups, family therapy is associated with the lowest costs and lowest rates of recidivism. A study by D. Russel Crane, Ph.D. (PDF 68 Ko)

International congress

Beyond Oppositions: Individuals, Families, Communities

4th – 6th October 2007 in Glasgow more information REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN: Register using Pounds Sterling (£) Register using Euros (€)