Stigma of Mental Illness Among Healthcare Professionals Webinar Keynote Norman Sartorius

Dear Members of The CARe Network,

Welcome to the regular update of the Dutch International Mental Health Hub (of het Waardenetwerk Internationaal Verbinden)

Join our next webinar on stigma of mental illness among healthcare professionals with keynote Norman Sartorius

(click on the image for more information and registration)

An international perspective on how to identify and address stigma among social and mental healthcare professionals towards people with mental health problems

Date: 11-12-2020

Time: 13.00-14.30 CET

This webinar is for everyone who is interested in how stigma towards people with mental health problems among healthcare professionals can be identified and addressed. Every one of us has unconscious biases that underly stigma-related behaviour. This is also the case for care professionals working with people with mental ill health. Research consistently shows that these professionals tend to be pessimistic about the reality and likelihood of recovery rather posing a barrier than being a support (Knaak et al, 2017; Henderson et al, 2014).

How can professionals become aware of these unconscious biases and stigma related behaviours towards people with mental health problems, and how can they be overcome?

We have the honour to reflect on this question with the following speakers:

Keynote Norman Sartorius

Prof Norman Sartorius is described as “one of the most prominent and influential psychiatrists of his generation”. He is a Croatian psychiatrist and university professor and the former director of the World Health Organization (WHO) department of mental health. He is also the past president of the World Psychiatric Association and the European Psychiatric Association. Important themes in his current work are the rights of patients with mental health problems, the fight against stigmatization and prejudice of people with mental problems and the improvement of mental health care.

Anita Hubner

Anita Hubner is MD, psychologist, founder Stigmareduction & Mental Health Consultancy, expert by experience and ambassador of Samen Sterk Zonder Stigma (The Dutch Anti-Stigma Organisation). Anita worked as a psychologist in The Netherlands since 1999. In 2016 Anita started her business. Her focus is on reducing stigma on mental illness and participation of people with disabilities in society, especially participation in employment. Anita is a public speaker on mental health inside and outside The Netherlands on governmental or mental health conventions. She also performed on Tedx Amsterdam Women with her pitch ‘’There is no gap between people with hand without mental illness’’. She is also a policy advisor and The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights on topics related to Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Anita’s mission to contribute to inclusion stems from her personal experience with mental health care and stigma. In 1995, being a psychology student at the age of 21, she got a psychosis. Her psychiatrist told her ‘’Someone with a psychosis will never recover’’. Can you imagine what would have happened if Anita had listened to her psychiatrist? Her story shows the impact of stigma of mental healthcare professionals. But also, the impact mental health professionals can have when they keep faith in their patients’ recovery.

Micheal Wallies

Dr Micheal Wallies is a swiss MD, PhD, Psychiatrist and Chair of the Swiss Association of Young Psychiatrists. He has done research on mental health stigma among professionals and shares his findings.

Gerdien Rabbers

Gerdien Rabbers is the director of Samen Sterk Zonder Stigma (The Dutch Anti-Stigma Organisation). She is co-founder of the foundation and developed it into a professional organization with great impact on mental health stigma in the Netherlands. Samen Sterk Zonder Stigma creates and implements policies and interventions to raise awareness about mental health and counter mental health stigma. They do this with and for people who have experience with stigmatization, their environment and also professionals in mental health care, the labor market, media and education. The organization is now a serious partner of client organizations, umbrella organizations, and the ministry of health.

Frederike Kossmann

Frederike Kossman is a spoken word artist, anthropologist, expert by experience and ambassador of Samen Sterk Zonder Stigma (The Dutch Anti-Stigma Organisation). She speaks about her sometimes roiling cauldron of thoughts using visual metaphors. Although she says her thoughts have legs, she knows how to convey them to her audience in a clear, humorous and vulnerable way. In June 2019 her debut collection "Super spontaneous and not at all uncomfortable" was released. She has performed on the Liberation Festival The Hague, Divercity, the Mesopotamia Festival and she regularly speaks as an ambassador for mental health for Together Strong Without Stigma. As a project employee at Alles Goed, she has developed a card game to help people talk about mental health.

About Global Alliance Against Stigma (GASA) – partner of Samen Sterk Zonder Stigma

The Global Anti-Stigma Alliance (GASA) was founded in 2012 to share learning, methodologies, best practice, materials, and the latest evidence in order to achieve better outcomes for people facing stigma and discrimination related to mental health issues. GASA was co-founded by the Director of Time to Change in England (Sue Baker) and the Director of Opening Minds in Canada (Mike Pietrus). The core group includes Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, New Zealand, Scotland and the USA. Other global campaigns that form part of the wider Alliance include The Netherlands, The Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Catalonia, Sweden, and Wales. These countries are running significant national-level mental health anti-stigma programmes. As interest in tackling mental health stigma and discrimination is growing across the world, and at global levels, GASA members are keen to support others.

About the Dutch International Mental Health Hub (DIMHH)

The Hub is part of ‘de Nederlandse GGZ’ or the Dutch Association for Mental Health and Addiction Care. We link existing international initiatives to make them accessible to everyone who is interested in international developments in mental health; our members. In addition to our members, the Hub consists of seven core team members including Wieteke Beernink (Accare), Jan Berndsen (Lister, MHE), René Keet (GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord, EUCOMS, Council Clinical Leader IIMHL), Margret Overdijk (GGz inGeest, EAOF), Beverley Rose (User Research Center), chairman Sabien Raams (Emergis, Country Liaison IIMHL) and network coordinator Marjonneke de Vetten (de Nederlandse ggz). Check for more information our website or watch our introduction video (in Dutch).

Only in connection with the world around us we can successfully meet the common challenges for a mentally healthy society