On the Edge

At this year’s conference we’ll be focusing on the provision of mental health and addiction care services to those who are living on the margins of life, in circumstances verging on the untolerable. What’s it like for patients and their families to live ‘on the edge’? What’s it like for us to deliver healthcare in the face of such demanding challenges? 

We’ll be considering the balancing-act between risk and safety that we are all facing, as individuals and as healthcare professionals; complex questions of life and death; power and hopelessness, control and autonomy; trust and mistrust. We will devote particular attention to clinical conditions that cross diagnostic boundaries challenging both patient and helper, including suicide and violence . We’ll also look at the factors that can promote resilience and recovery,

How can we as health workers deal with such profound issues? We’ll look at the dilemmas facing us, from psychological, ethical, legal  and existential perspectives, and will explore the broader questions about our services that we as a society are facing.

Working ‘on the edge’ demands the ability to exercise selfcare, but also requires workplaces and systems that support and nourish us. These are challenging times in primary and community mental healthcare. How can we tolerate the gravity and strain of what we are faced with, and at the same time provide quality healthcare that takes care of our patients, their families and ourselves?

Join us in November for an exploration of these questions and a whole lot more!

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Cecilie Sunde Hetland, Specialist in Clinical Psychology; Head of the Scientific Committee, Schizofrenidagene 2024

Elin Skogen, Head of the Organisational Committee, Schizofrenidagene 2024

Check out the programme for the main conference here