The next edition of the “Recovery Congress” is in preparation. The sixth congress will take place on May 30 and 31, 2024, as before on the grounds of the Inselspital in Bern under the title Psychiatry in Crisis – reshaping mental health services.

At first glance, the title may seem alarmist, since the term crisis is also being used more and more frequently in other contexts. This is in order to name difficult situations that have been looming for a long time and require drastic changes in habits of thought and action. In this respect, from our point of view, the term actually fits the situation in psychiatry. Staff shortages, quality losses, structures and concepts that are no longer up to date are increasingly the subject of professional discourse and publicity in the media. In addition, the situation in psychiatry is also being critically questioned by users and their relatives and the professionals themselves.

At the same time, mental health in large parts of society suffers from numerous stress factors and the accumulation of ecological, political and economic crises. Utilization of mental health services is increasing and often exceeds capacity, especially dramatically among children and adolescents. Psychiatric care and health policy have not yet found convincing answers to this asymmetry. The expansion of existing services often does not seem to meet the needs of those seeking help. Moreover, it leads to an over-expansion of services, which cannot be maintained in sufficient quality in the foreseeable future due to the existing staff shortage.

New approaches are therefore required that are not based on the established understanding of psychiatric care structures, but instead focus “out of the box” on the needs of people with mental stress and their environment. The focus should be on prevention, health promotion, early intervention and easily accessible support services beyond existing psychiatric support. 

The 2024 congress will address this current topic and take a critical look at the psychiatric system. At the same time, new ideas and approaches for dealing with mental health, stress and illness will be designed and discussed. In a proven format, professional, social, activist, experienced and co-experienced perspectives on mental health, its impairment, recovery and strengthening will complement each other. We are already looking forward to numerous participants, active contributions, moving and stirring discussions.

The congress committee

THE CONGRESS COMMITTEE

Christian Burr
Dr. rer. cur, MScN, Pflegeexperte, Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern und wiss. Mitarbeiter, Berner Fachhochschule

Christoph Duwan
eMBA, stv. Pflegedirektor, Privatklinik Wyss

Walter Gekle
Dr. med., Chefarzt Soteria und Direktion Psychiatrische Rehabilitation, Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern

Sibylle Glauser
Lic. phil, Angehörigenberatung der UPD, Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern

Caroline Gurtner
MSc, Leiterin Recovery und Sozialpolitik, Schweizerische Stiftung Pro Mente Sana, Zürich (CH)

Anna Hegedüs
Dr. rer. medic., MAG., Berner Fachhochschule

Matthias Jäger
PD Dr. med., Direktor Erwachsenenpsychiatrie, Psychiatrie Baselland

Andréa Winter
Expertin durch Erfahrung EX-IN / Übersetzerin, Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern

Gianfranco Zuaboni
PhD, MNSc, Leiter Pflegeentwicklung, Sanatorium Kilchberg

WEBDESIGN UND SOCIAL MEDIA

Nico Hirschi
eMBA, Prozessmanager, Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern

 ADVISORY BOARD

Andreas Knuf
Dipl. Psych., psychologischer Psychotherapeut, Praxis für Psychotherapie, Konstanz (D)

Joachim Schnackenberg
PhD, Dipl. Mental Health Nursing, dipl. Sozialarbeiter FH, EFC-Institut, Hannover (D)

Peter Lehmann
Dr. phil. h.c., Sozialwissenschaftler und Verleger, Antipsychiatrieverlag, Berlin (D)

Caroline Suter-Sturm
Expertin durch Erfahrung und wissenschaftliche Assistentin, Haute École de la Santé La Source, Lausanne (CH)

Charles Bonsack
Prof. Dr. med., Chefarzt und Assoziierter Professor, Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik CHUV, Lausanne (CH)

Julie Repper
PhD, Dipl. Mental Health Nursing, Leitung Kernteam ImRoc, Nottingham (UK)

Sirkka Mullis
Lic. phil. hist., Angehörige, Projektleiterin und wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Bundesamt für Gesundheit, Bern (CH)

Michaela Amering
Prof. Dr. med.; Oberärztin und Leiterin integrative Psychosebehandlung, Universitätsklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie am AKH, Wien (A)

Janine Berg-Peer
M.A., Angehörige, Autorin und Coach (D)

Thelke Scholz
Expertin durch Erfahrung in der Gesundheitsversorgung EX-IN und Empowerment College Trainerin, Bremen (D)

Roberto Mezzina
Ehem. Direktor Dipartimento di Salute Mentale Trieste (IT); Former Head of Service, WHO CC for Research and Training (I)