Early Career Psychiatrists (ECP) Programme
The EPA invites recent graduates to participate in a specialist programme designed to meet the needs and interests of Early Career Psychiatrists. The ECP Programme features a networking evening and a dedicated track of sessions throughout the Congress.
Please note: The networking evening is a paid event and thus requires registration, which can be completed through the registration platform.
EPA 2027 offers a wide array of sessions throughout the Congress, covering the latest developments in psychiatry.
Depression of the Youth: From Phenomenology to Clinical Practice
- Gaia Sampogna (Italy)
- Giovanni Stanghellini (Italy)
- Martina di Simplicio (UK)
- Tamás Kurimay (Hungary)
- Giulio Longo (Italy)
The Clinical, Educational and Research Skills Needed from Early Career Psychiatrists
How prepared do Early Career Psychiatrists feel when facing the conditions they encounter every day in clinical practice? This symposium explores self-perceived competence across four key clinical areas. The first two presentations address adult ADHD — from the challenges of diagnosis and treatment to the added complexity of psychiatric comorbidity — drawing on clinical and research data. The third focuses on perceived preparedness in the management of schizophrenia. The final presentation presents original findings from a survey developed specifically for this project, assessing ECPs’ self-reported confidence in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, from pharmacological and CBT-based approaches to complex, treatment-resistant cases. Together, the four talks aim to identify areas where ECPs feel well prepared, expose gaps between training and clinical reality, and discuss the implications for psychiatric training and professional development.
Chairs:
- Julian Beezhold (UK)
- Federico Mucci (Italy)
Speakers:
- Olga Belugina (Belarus)
- Kezban Burcu Avanoğlu (Türkiye)
- Emre Cem Esen (Türkiye)
A Guide for Early Career Psychiatrists to Include Lifestyle Psychiatry in Clinical Practice
Lifestyle psychiatry utilizes six evidence-based dimensions to target the overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning both psychiatric and somatic disorders. Physical exercise modulates neuroplasticity via the upregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), demonstrating clinical efficacy comparable to pharmacotherapy for mild-to-moderate major depressive disorder. Nutritional psychiatry leverages the bidirectional signaling of the gut-brain axis; specifically, Mediterranean dietary patterns attenuate neuroinflammation and optimize monoamine neurotransmitter synthesis. Additionally, restorative sleep stabilizes circadian biology and facilitates emotional regulation through sleep-dependent affective processing. Collectively, these physiological interventions address systemic low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, thereby mitigating the premature mortality gap observed in psychiatric populations.
Psychological and sociological modalities complement this therapeutic framework. Stress-reduction interventions, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), downregulate amygdala hyperactivity and suppress chronic glucocorticoid secretion. Social integration and nature exposure act as vital psychosocial buffers, reducing the elevated systemic inflammatory markers associated with perceived isolation. Lastly, substance use harm reduction—targeting nicotine, alcohol, and illicit compounds—restores cognitive baseline performance and enhances the efficacy of concurrent psychopharmacological agents. By implementing these targeted lifestyle protocols, clinicians modulate the biological drivers of psychiatric pathology while simultaneously ameliorating cardiometabolic comorbidities.
For early career psychiatrists, this session establishes competency in formulating evidence-based “”lifestyle prescriptions”” alongside traditional pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Attendees will learn to identify the shared neurobiological pathways—such as chronic inflammation and gut-brain axis dysregulation—that link metabolic health to psychiatric conditions. Finally, the session equips young clinicians with motivational interviewing skills to help patients overcome severe cognitive and physical barriers to lifestyle change.
Topics of symposium’s presentations
1. Foundations of lifestyle psychiatry and the interlocking pathophysiological mechanisms of the mortality gap
2. Neuroplasticity in motion and the clinical efficacy of exercise for upregulating BDNF in depressive disorders
3. Nutritional psychiatry and the modulation of the gut-brain microbiota axis for mood regulation
4. Circadian biology and mindfulness interventions for restoring sleep architecture and downregulating amygdala hyperactivity
5. Psychosocial buffers and substance harm reduction strategies for mitigating systemic inflammation
6. Clinical formulation protocols and motivational interviewing competencies for Early Career Psychiatrists
Chairs:
- Norman Sartorius (Switzerland)
- David Gurrea Salas (Switzerland)
Speakers:
- Marton Asztalos (Denmark)
- Renato de Filippis (Italy)
- Thomas Gargot (France)
- Ivona Šimunović Filipčić (Croatia)
- Anna Szczegielniak (Poland)
- Imran Gokcen Yilmaz-Karaman (Türkiye)
Masterclass-Know How: Essentials and Updates in Clinical Management of Mood Disorders
Know How sessions bring together speakers from centres of excellence for clinical, research and policy masterclasses. Mood difficulties are among the most common clinical presentations in psychiatry, and it is essential Early Career Psychiatrists are aware of the most up-to-date evidence and clinical knowledge on the topic.
This Know How session will bring together some of the most renowned experts in mood disorders from the Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London. It will also provide an invaluable opportunity for Early Career Psychiatrists and other audience to interact with clinical academics who lead cutting edge research and clinical guidelines in the field.
Proposed structure
1. Clinical update on mood disorder treatments — Professor Allan Young (Editor-Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines; Chair of Academic Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Psychiatry in the Department of Brain Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine – Imperial College London)
An up-to-date overview of the clinical management of affective disorders, featuring key prescribing developments from the latest Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines. This section will focus on treatment selection, sequencing, escalation, and how newer pharmacological and biological approaches can be used in routine clinical practice.
2. First-episode and difficult-to-treat presentations — Dr Sameer Jauhar (Chair of the British Association of Psychopharmacology Schizophrenia Guidelines Group)
A practical approach to early and severe mood disorder presentations, including diagnostic uncertainty, affective psychosis, treatment resistance and relapse prevention.
3. Transdiagnostic and integrated management — Dr Carmen Moreno (Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense of Madrid – Head Section of the Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital general Universitario Gregorio Marañón) Managing mood instability and emotion dysregulation across diagnoses, with a focus on combined pharmacological, psychological and digital approaches.
When guidelines fall short: Shared gaps in commonly used mood disorder guidelines
4. A critical recap of gaps in commonly used treatment guidelines on mood disorders – Dr Lucie Bartova (Senior physician – Division of General Psychiatry (Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy)
Chairs:
- Asilay Seker (UK)
- Carmen Moreno (Spain)
Speakers:
- Lucie Bartova (Austria)
- Sameer Jauhar (UK)
- Allan Young (UK)
Training the Trainer: Communication Skills in Clinical Practice: a focus on Dual Disorders
An interactive session focused on training clinicians in non-discriminative language and empathy-driven communication when treating patients with dual diagnoses. The workshop includes live case simulation, peer feedback, and the development of practical strategies for reducing stigma.
Chairs:
- Willys Cantenys (France)
- Norman Sartorius (Switzerland)
Speakers:
- Alice Accoroni (Switzerland)
- David Gurrea Salas (Switzerland)
- Lamia Jouini (Switzerland)
- Alena Leonova (Russia)
- Anna Szczegielniak (Poland)
- Selin Tanyeri (Türkiye)
Rising Stars: Voices of the EPA Next Generation Winners
More information coming soon
Paired interview: Brain health vs. mental health? An EAN-EPA perspective
Chairs:
- Alice Accoroni (Switzerland)
- David Gurrea Salas (Switzerland)
Speakers:
- Geert Dom (Belgium)
Managing Sexual Dysfunction in Patients with Depression: A Clinician Dilemma
Sexual dysfunction presents a critical clinical dilemma in depression management, affecting up to 70% of untreated patients and 40–65% of those on SSRIs. For early career psychiatrists, the core challenge lies in distinguishing whether these symptoms are iatrogenic side effects or residual vegetative features of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This debate explores the complexities of establishing causality by contrasting two distinct clinical viewpoints.
The affirmative side argues for direct, serotonin-mediated iatrogenic causality, highlighting sudden-onset physical impairments—such as anorgasmia and genital anaesthesia—that persist even as mood improves, driven by dopamine and nitric oxide suppression. Conversely, the negative side views these symptoms as residual depressive pathology, emphasising that chronic HPA-axis hyperactivity and blunted reward neurocircuitry naturally impair libido long before medication initiation, often signalling incomplete treatment response. By analysing these contrasting biochemical and timeline mechanisms, attendees will learn to implement rigorous timeline assessments, utilize validated screening tools, and execute comprehensive differential diagnoses to rule out organic confounders. Ultimately, this session equips emerging clinicians with the diagnostic precision and communication strategies necessary to mitigate treatment nonadherence, optimise antidepressant selection, and preserve patient quality of life.
Chairs:
- Beren Özel (Türkiye)
- Nikola Zaja (Croatia)
Speakers:
- Renato de Filippis (Italy)
- Michal Lew-Starowicz (Poland)
- Patryk Główczyński (Poland)
Case-based Discussion on Psychiatric Emergencies a Psychiatrist: A Few Words With Those Who Made It
Early Career Psychiatrists and trainees are often the first clinicians on call for acute psychiatric presentations. However, supervision for on-call cases is not standardised, even within countries, and peer supervision is the norm in many clinical settings.
This session aims to provide a practical, case-based discussion of commonly encountered on-call scenarios. Early Career Psychiatrists will present semi-fictionalised cases based on real clinical experience, with identifying details changed for confidentiality. Each presentation will be followed by expert panel discussion, with interactive participation encouraged from ECPs in the audience, reflecting on their own experiences and local clinical contexts.
The proposed expert panel will bring together expertise in suicidology, medicolegal psychiatry and perinatal psychiatry, alongside diverse clinical-academic perspectives. This will allow for a holistic discussion of risk, capacity, safeguarding, acute treatment decisions, documentation, service limitations and professional responsibility.
The proposed ECP speakers will represent diverse areas of clinical interest and psychiatric cultures, ensuring that the cases are grounded in real-life frontline experience across different settings.
Proposed structure:
The session will include ECP presentations on common psychiatric emergencies, including suicide attempts, safeguarding concerns and acute psychotic episodes. Each presenter will highlight key clinical dilemmas and pose targeted questions to the expert panel. A focused panel discussion will follow each presentation, followed by an audience Q&A and broader discussion of practical take-home messages.
Chairs:
- Cécile Hanon (France)
- Asilay Seker (UK)
Speakers:
- Julian Beezhold (UK)
- Jorge Lopez Castroman (Spain)
- Michael Pinchuk (Belgium)
- Maurizio Pompili (Italy)
- Jordis Rausch (Germany)
- Livio Tarchi (Italy)