Interdisciplinary conference
on the study of mental health

The gap between the disciplines: Bridging therapeutic practice and basic science

Although psychotherapeutic practice and psychological science emerged from neurology, differences in terminology, working concepts and perspectives have hindered collaboration throughout most of the 20th century. Indeed, clinical psychologists have developed a metaphor-rich language of the mind and brain, while cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology have built a detailed database of brain-behaviour relationships. However, an important gap that is rarely discussed is how to translate the data on brain-behaviour relationships to clinically relevant concepts and interventions. Psychological problems affect a person’s health at multiple levels, altering underlying physiological, perceptual, emotional, and cognitive processes. We therefore need a forum for interdisciplinary exchange between experts in basic brain science, practitioners, and clinicians to identify future research directions, formulate valuable new questions for basic research and re-evaluate practice guidelines.

This conference brings together leading experts and early career scientists in the field of perception, cognition, and emotion. In addition, we invite experienced clinicians and young therapists to share their practical knowledge and hands-on experiences with patients about successful behavioural and psychological change through psychotherapy.

The main objectives of the conference include:

Promote exchange and collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Align working concepts and constructs between disciplines of scientific research and therapeutic practice.

Develop new research hypotheses to identify more targeted and innovative interventions.

The three-day conference will take place from July 10th - 12th 2023 in Heidelberg, Germany, and is divided into a small number of keynote-like presentations and several specific symposia. With our keynote speakers, we invite early career researchers and students to submit talks and poster presentations. We particularly welcome contributions from early career researchers from a variety of disciplines in psychology who are interested in re-evaluating and improving active collaborations between cognitive psychology, mechanistic neuroscience, and clinical, therapeuticpractice.