Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Clinical Psychologist, Professor at Columbia University Teachers College, United Nations Representative of the World Council of Psychologists (WCP), Author and Journalist, one of the Key Congress Speaker, with welcome address to the Congress participants.

The title of her plenary address is:“Good News for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the XXI Century: How psychotherapists can benefit from the new Global Agenda and other Historical Steps on the International Stage”.

 

“I am greatly honored to be invited to participate in the highly prestigious Congress on Mental Health:Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century to be held in Moscow in October in commemoration of World Mental Health Day. The conference program and participants promise to provide an educational and exciting exchange among Russian professionals and international experts from diverse fields, constituting a holistic approach to mental health by integrating psychotherapy science, research, and practice with arts and culture, economics, sports, law, media, social and business. The presentations surely will offer unique perspectives and stimulate creative approaches, as well as surely lead to friendships and collaborations that will contribute to professional and personal growth and fulfillment, and partnerships that will contribute to the further valuable development of the field of mental health and psychotherapy.

I am indeed pleased to present this plenary in my role as the Main Representative to the United Nations of the World Council of Psychotherapy as well as the International Association of Applied Psychology, and as the Chair of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs accredited at the UN (PCUN). Our mission is to present psychological contributions to matters considered by governments and UN agencies and other stakeholders, and to communicate about the UN matters to the professional community, participate in UN high level meetings and commissions, and negotiate about policymaking.  I am excited to bring important news to share with everyone about the historic and important successful accomplishments in the past two years on the international stage that will greatly advance the practice of psychotherapy and the value of mental health and wellbeing in the global agenda, that can impact all of us and the entire field.

The Title of my plenary address is:“Good News for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the XXI Century: How psychotherapists can benefit from the new Global Agenda and other Historical Steps on the International Stage”.

In this address, I will explain how these developments are important for all of us in the field and how these advances can be harnessed for our work and for the good of people.

I will also describe how we put mental health and wellbeing in the limelight, and how the contributions of mental health professionals impact other goals of major global import, like combatting climate change, creating peaceful societies, empowering women and girls, and mitigating trauma of disasters and crises faced by refugees.  I look forward to sharing the successful advocacy we have done at the UN in the global agenda, partnering with many governments in negotiations and events, and in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk reduction, and in the World Humanitarian Summit, as well as the historic meeting at the World Bank/World Heath Organization meeting in Washington D.C. just recently to bring “mental health out of the shadows.” As a psychotherapist and as a journalist, I can attest that these successful steps are historic.

In my plenary address, I will also present innovative models of interventions in post-disaster conditions and in the face of epidemics, drawing on my experiences providing psychosocial support after earthquakes and other natural disasters in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the USA, as well as being in West Africa during the Ebola Outbreak.  I will describe psychological challenges to various sectors, short and long-term impacts on vulnerable populations, guidelines for interventions, explain lessons learned, and propose policy recommendations for future crisis. And I will highlight the importance of addressing the shocking prevalence of mental health problems in youth and what both youth and UN Ambassadors have to say about that. I will show many of these in videos.

Looking forward to the Congress in October, I extend great appreciation to Professor Victor Makarov, President of the Professional Psychotherapeutic League (PPL) of Russia, and to Sofia Kamalova, Scientific Secretary of the Central Board of PPL of Russia and Executive Editor of the Professional Psychotherapeutic Newspaper, and the entire organizing partners and committee for their hard work in putting this impressive international forum together.

I am touched to return to Russia again, the source of my roots, and where I have been greatly privileged to participate in the 2013 “First Eurasian Congress for Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy Without Borders: Past, Present and Future” in Moscow, co-sponsored by the PPL of Russia, the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) and the Asian Federation for Psychotherapy, where I presented about “Psychotherapy and the Media” and about “Psychosocial support in emergences and catastrophes: techniques for psychotherapists.” My fondness for Russia also extends to the PPL in Novosibirsk, where I presented about “Supervision and Training in Psychotherapy from an American Perspective: Principles and Practice,” performed public speeches, and conducted wonderful workshops and wrote articles, including about “Couples and Family in the XXI Century.”The partnerships and friendships from these times will last a lifetime. I look forward to similar experiences at this wonderful conference.

 

 

Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D. is an internationally known clinical psychologist, professor, award-winning journalist, author, and mental health advocate. She is a clinical psychologist on the adjunct faculty at Columbia University Teachers College and Visiting Professor at Peking University Health Science Center in China. At the United Nations, she is Chair of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs and the main representative of the World Council of Psychotherapy and the International Association of Applied Psychology, who recently led a historical successful campaign for mental health and well-being to be included in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in partnership with the UN Ambassador of Palau, Dr. Caleb Otto, a public health physician. Currently she is also an advisor to Ambassador Toriello of the Mission to the UN of São Tomé and Príncipe in Africa. Her many projects include a Girls Empowerment Program teaching entrepreneurship, HIV/AIDS education, and life skills. The founder of the Global Kids Connect Project, she has provided psychosocial support workshops and trainings after disasters in the United States, Japan, Haiti, Sri Lanka and China, and recently during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Her groundbreaking new book, “The Psychosocial Aspects of a Deadly Epidemic: What Ebola has Taught us about Holistic Healing,” weaves perspectives from government officials, experts from health and other fields, and survivors, with innovative intervention models, personal narratives, policy recommendations, the role of media, and research on other epidemics like HIV/AIDS and SARS, leading to lessons learned that inform other epidemics, like the current Zika outbreak. A TV feature news reporter and top-rated radio advice talk show host for 30 years, her many editorials and articles have been printed in the Singapore Straits Times, the South China Morning Post, ABCNews.com, FoxNews, the Huffington Post, and others. She recently produced the International Day of Happiness at the United Nations. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, she is the public policy liaison for the International Division. The author of many journal articles, her book anthologies include Sexuality Education: Past, Present and Future; Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Grassroots Peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians; Living in an Environmentally Traumatized World: Healing Ourselves and Our Planet, and Ecopsycology: Advances from the Intersection of Psychology and Environmental Protection. An expert in sexuality, love and relationships, she has also authored many books on these topics, including the “Complete Guide to Healthy Relationships.” She has conducted workshops at conferences in Moscow, and trainings about counseling for the Professional Psychotherapeutic League (PPL) of Russia.in Novosibirsk, and written papers for Russian journals, including about “Couples and Families in the 21st century: An Overview of Challenges in Russia and Trends and Solutions in America Useful for Psychotherapists.”