Programme

One third of the UK has a disorder of gut-brain interaction, such as irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia, and 1% of the UK will have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by 2030. Dr Moulton will provide an overview of key areas in gastro-psychiatry, including how to discuss disordered gut-brain interaction; how to manage severe avoidant restrictive food intake disorder; and how to manage depression and severe fatigue in IBD. He will discuss how psychotropics can be used to restore the gut-brain-axis.

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Chair: Professor Fiona Gaughran, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Co-Chair: Professor Helene Verdoux, University of Bordeaux, France

Biological underpinnings of the association between childhood trauma and psychosis

Dr Luis Alameda, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Study of trauma and recovery (STAR) RCT - the results!

Professor Emmanuelle Peters, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Randomised controlled trials in treatment resistant schizophrenia - need and challenges

Professor James MacCabe, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, London

Chair: Dr Afia Ali, Queen Mary University of London, London

What are intensive support teams and how do they work for adults with intellectual disability?

Professor Angela Hassiotis, University College London, London

Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) in practice: what difference do they make?

Dr Rory Sheehan, King's College London, London

Making supported living feel like home: co-creating better supported living with people with intellectual disability

Dr Deborah Chinn, King's College London, London

Making supported living feel like home: co-creating better supported living with people with intellectual disability

Mr Shalim Ali, King's College London, London

Chair: Professor Subodh Dave, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

System-wide equity: transforming the NHS workforce to deliver superior patient care

Dr Navina Evans, Former-Chief Workforce, Training and Education Officer, NHS England, London

A blueprint for change: how diaspora advocacy drives systemic equity and workforce well-being

Professor Geeta Menon, 

Changing the equation: when inclusion becomes a measurable advantage

Dr Chinwe Obinwa, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Derby

The power of partnership: how BIPA's collaboration with diaspora organisations is advancing UK psychiatry

Dr Sridevi Sira Mahalingappa, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Chair: Dr Adrian James, NHS England, London

Findings from the ADHD independent taskforce: why change is desperately needed

Professor Anita Thapar, University of Cardiff, Cardiff

Why ADHD medication is safe, effective and essential

Professor Sam Cortese, University of Southampton, Southampton

Why neurodevelopmental conditions are linked to serious mental and physical illness including bipolar disorder, psychosis, and self-harm: brain-body links

Dr Jessica Eccles, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton

Why everyone should understand Tourette syndrome, and its link with emotional dysregulation and suicidality

Professor Hugo Critchley, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton

Chair: Professor Donna Arya, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton

Evidence on auditory hallucinations in deaf populations and implications for diagnosis

Dr Alexander Hamilton, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton

Insights into language deprivation, cultural challenges, and their clinical implications

Ms Chantelle De La Croix, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton

Stories that speak: clinical lessons from deaf mental health practice

Dr Margaret Du Feu, Author and retired psychiatrist

The differences in assessment and formulation

Professor Donna Arya, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton and Dr Sadra Ghazanfaripour, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton

As part of RCPsych initiatives in encouraging psychiatrists to look after ourselves and each other, experienced facilitators from the College coach-mentoring group explore the usefulness of coaching and mentoring, whether one-to-one or in groups, in peer support, training and professional development.

This is an interactive workshop to share reflections about individual experiences of coaching and mentoring across career grades, and includes a pairing exercise to practise mentoring skills.

The Masterclass objectives:

• Have a go with practical skills in coach-mentoring - keep it fun, flexible and friendly!
• Have better conversations - improve listening, questioning and reflective practice
• Understand your personal and professional drivers - develop a growth mindset

The session highlights skills-sets common to coaching and mentoring, essentially relational skills that are familiar to psychiatrists; in this regard we invite psychiatrists to realise their 'inner mentor'!

Chair: Professor Fiona Gaughran, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

From schizophrenia and homelessness to President of the CURESZ Foundation

Ms Bethany Yeiser, President, CURESZ Foundation

From prohibition to evidence-based monitoring: half a century of regulating the risk of clozapine-related agranulocytosis in Europe

Professor Helene Verdoux, University of Bordeaux, France

Now that we know how clozapine works...

Professor Sir Robin Murray, King's College London Psychology and Neuroscience, London and Dr Paul Morrison, Argyll and Bute HSCP, Argyll

Chair: Professor Raja Mukherjee, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Redhill

What do individuals with FASD and families need from psychiatrists

Mrs Sandra Butcher, National FASD, Hertforshire

Epigenetic markers of alcohol exposure on early neuronal development. What do we know and where does the future lie

Professor Arijit Mukhopadhyay, University of Salford, Manchester

Delineating the impact of pre and postnatal adversity in people with FASD

Dr Alan Price, University of Salford, Manchester

SPECIFIC: findings from a randomised controlled trial of a bespoke parenting education program to support families living with children who have FASD

Professor Penny Cook, University of Salford, Manchester

Chair: Dr Peter Byrne, East London NHS Foundation Trust, London

What has a public mental health approach got to offer the wicked problem of preventable premature mortality in people with mental health conditions?

Dr Peter Byrne, East London NHS Foundation Trust, London

How mental health and health services can better protect and improve the physical health of people living with mental health conditions: the role of health checks, vaccination and physical health care navigation support

Professor Russell Roberts, Charles Sturt University, Brisbane, Australia

From cradle to grave: how stigma-discrimination harms physical and mental health across the lifespan

Mr Jason Grant, North London NHS Foundation Trust, London

Health inequities as the ‘causes of causes’ of premature mortality in SMI: from evidence to solutions

Professor Jayati Das-Munshi, King's College London, London

Chair: Dr Katie Marwick, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Mental health and the menstrual life course: diagnosis, management and hormonal treatment from menarche to menopause

Dr Kate Womersley, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Researching from within: using lived experience to explore PMDD

Miss Nasara Al-Hassan, National Institute of Health and Care Research, London

Psychiatric dimensions of hypogonadism: research and clinical insights for midlife and older men

Professor Channa Jayasena, Imperial College London, London

Menopause and psychosis: towards hormone-informed treatment

Dr Bodyl A. Brand, University of Oxford, Oxford

Chair: Professor Jonathan Cavanagh, University of Glasgow, Glasgow

Chronic social defeat stress and meningeal neutrophilia

Dr Stacey Kigar, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Translational validity of the thalamostriatal neural circuit in anhedonia: preclinical and clinical alignment

Dr Deepika Sharma, University of Glasgow, Glasgow

The neurobiology of depression in Alzheimer's disease using human post-mortem tissue

Dr Lindsey Sinclair, University of Southampton, Southampton

• Halima Khan, Health and Inclusion Lead at parkrun UK, who will provide an overview of parkrun initiatives, research and future developments
• Pete Bailey, a retired Learning Disabilities Residential Care Home Manager who set up a new parkrun event
• Terry Damen, who has lived experience of mental health difficulties and will share how volunteering at parkrun supported his wellbeing, sense of purpose and connection with others
• Amy Frost, Prison Governor, who will share her experience of introducing parkrun to the UK prison estate, highlighting its role in rehabilitation and reintegration

We would like to invite all MRCPsych Examiners attending the International Congress on Tuesday 16 June to our Examiners lunch. This is an opportunity to get lunch away from the crowds, meet fellow examiners and discuss new developments.

Lunch will be served in the room.

Sensory distress experienced by over 90% of autistic people impacts education, employment, and healthcare; drives mental health problems; erodes Quality of Life; and contributes to €258 billion annual cost to the EU in lost productivity. A major priority for autistic people, by taking a neurodevelopmental perspective, we are making progress. Alterations in brain sensory systems at birth are upstream of broader autistic outcomes and studies in autistic adults confirm this arises from GABAergic imbalance but is restored by the GABAb receptor agonist, arbaclofen. Capturing individual arbaclofen responsivity brings hope for greater precision in sensory management and improved Quality of Life.

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Our information ecosystem is increasingly saturated with misinformation and disinformation - attacks on evidence itself have become increasingly common. In some countries, including now the United States, these attacks come from the State itself. Data are suppressed, distorted, selectively framed or even removed, eroding the foundations on which knowledge, policy and professional practice depend. This talk focuses on the importance of preserving evidence under pressure. I explore how contested information environments are engineered, the mechanisms through which evidence is undermined, and why safeguarding data, methods and independent institutions is essential for accountability, trust and effective decision making.

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Chair: Dr Alex Thomson, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London

Advances in clinical assessment and diagnosis of functional neurological disorders

Dr Tim Nicholson, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London

Specialist assessment of feigning: pitfalls and practice standards

Dr Derek Tracy, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Positive actions to protect patients

Dr Emma McAllister, Expert by Experience

When feigning is suspected: a clinical framework for psychiatrists

Dr Alex Thomson, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London

Chair: Professor Rohit Shankar, University of Plymouth Peninsula Medical School, Truro

Career trajectories of women clinical academics : barriers and facilitators to creating equitable outcomes

Professor Angela Hassiotis, University College London, London

From lived experience to leadership: British Indian Psychiatric Association (BIPA)'s data-driven initiatives for inclusion of women from ethnic minority background in academic psychiatry

Dr Sridevi Sira Mahalingappa, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London

The Academic balancing act: practical strategies for young ethnic minority female doctors with personal commitments

Dr Deepika Sharma, British Indian Psychiatry Association (BIPA), Gloucester

Bridging the divide: balancing academic ambition with clinical and family life

Dr Sweta Mittal, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Nottingham

Chair: Dr Lade Smith, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

Mental health inequalities and Mental Health Act reform - the need for choice and autonomy

Dr Lade Smith, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

The evidence base for interventions that can reduce the risk of Mental Health Act Detentions

Dr Mariam Namsaba

Practical steps to implement advance choice documents in a large mental health trust

Dr Rajesh Mohan, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Why Advance Choice Documents are necessary - and how they can address the impact of coercion in mental health

Mr Steve Gilbert, Steve Gilbert Consulting, Birmingham 

Chair: Dr Alvaro Barrera, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford, Oxford

Empathy, descriptive psychopathology, and clinical assessment

Professor Femi Oyebode, Institute of Mental Health, university of Birmingham, Birmingham

Empathy from a social neuroscience perspective

Dr Idalmis Santiesteban,  Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, Liverpool

Empathy and the care of people at risk of suicide

Dr Karen Lascelles, Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford 

Chair: Dr Guy Northover, Berkshire Healthcare NHS trust, Reading

Technology and mental health of children and young people: an update on the Royal College of Psychiatrists position statement

Chair: Professor Patricia Casey, Hermitage Medical Clinic, Dublin

Introduction to peer reviewing and the rational for training in this

Professor Asit Biswas, University of Leicester, Leicester

Basic principles of peer reviewing potential research project on peer reviewer training outcomes

Professor Patricia Casey, Hermitage Medical Clinic, Dublin

Conducting a peer review - part one

Professor Femi Oyebode, University of Birmingham, Birmingham

Conducting a peer review - part two

Chair: Professor Piyal Sen, Elysium Healthcare, Milton Keynes

Dignity, recovery, and the human experience of restrictive practice

Dr Adam Flynn, Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency, Belfast and Ms Lois Edmunds, Expert by Experience

Chair: Dr Emily Finch, Chair RCPsych Addictions Faculty and Consultant Addictions Psychiatrist

Alcohol Clinical Guidelines  - What's new for the psychiatrist?
Dr Jonathan Dewhurst, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester

Young people's drug use 
Professor Harry Sumnall, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool

Alcohol related brain damage (ARBD), including mental capacity
Dr Julia Lewis, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Wales

Chair: Professor Allan Young, Imperial College London, London

Co-Chair: Dr Ananta Dave, Black Country ICB, Wolverhampton

Psychedelic Psychiatry - a global update

Dr Niraj Singh, Psychedelic Action, London

The brain science of psychedelics

Psychotherapy with psychedelics

Chair: Professor Rohit Shankar MBE, Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health)

Dr Judith Allardyce, Imperial College London, London

Dr Josefien Breedvelt, King's College London, London

Dr Gonzalo Salazar de Pablo, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London

Chair: Dr Rowena Carter, South London and the Maudsley NHS foundation trust, London

Results of the Royal College survey on workplace violence and aggression: statistical analysis

Dr Kyrillos Meshreky, South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Results of the Royal College survey on workplace violence and aggression: themes

Dr Thomas Hillen, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London

The College’s 55th AGM will be held at the Convention Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus at 6.45pm on Tuesday 16 June.

All members are welcome to attend. Those eligible to vote (Members, Fellows and Specialist Associates) will need to have a web-enabled electronic device with them.

In this session, you will gain firsthand experience of practising yoga across a range of fitness levels and abilities.

You will learn practical techniques including postures, breathing exercises, and therapeutic practices that are particularly effective for managing anxiety, depression, and stress-related symptoms.

By the end of the session, you will be able to personalise these techniques for your own daily practice and experience their long-term benefits. You will also be equipped to recommend appropriate yoga poses to patients dealing with depression, anxiety, or other neurotic conditions. Finally, you will develop a deeper appreciation of this ancient healing system and its continued relevance today.

In this presentation, I will argue that modern evidence reconciles Kraepelin and Bleuler’s views of schizophrenia. Kraepelin correctly identified cognitive impairment as central, supported by robust findings linking deficits to functional outcomes and early developmental origins. However, his notion of inevitable deterioration is not supported; cognition is largely stable, favoring a neurodevelopmental model. Bleuler rightly emphasized heterogeneity, anticipating current biomarker-based classifications, but underplayed cognition’s centrality. Studies such as BSNIP demonstrate biologically distinct psychosis subtypes, especially those with severe cognitive deficits. The authors propose reframing psychosis as a heterogeneous “Bleuler syndrome” with cognitively defined “Kraepelinian subtypes,” enabling more precise, biologically informed diagnosis and treatment.

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The area of addiction is complex and the problem is growing and dynamic in nature. Addictions are also cross-cutting in terms of co-occurring conditions. The presentation focuses on the evolution of post-graduate training in addiction management in India. It also focuses on the integration of services into existing community models of care. Governmental approaches to addiction prevention and management and some of the recent public health approaches will also be discussed. Efforts from the non-governmental sectors will be highlighted. The presentation will also discuss challenges in the field and ways ahead.

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Chair: Professor Glyn Lewis, University College London, London

Neurobiology of antidepressant withdrawal

Professor Quentin Huys, University College London, London

Systematic review of withdrawal symptoms

Dr Sameer Jauhar, Imperial College, London

Withdrawal and relapse from the ANTLER study

Professor Gemma Lewis, University College London, London

Ethical and lived experience perspective

Professor Tania Gergel, Bipolar UK, London

Chair: Dr Ashok Roy, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry

Learning disability - the case and required actions to address the implementation gap

Dr Jonathan Campion, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Meeting unmet needs and upholding rights – what we know from lived experience

Ms Jacqui Shurlock, The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, Chatham

Ms Sue Battin, Family Carer

Death by indifference: nearly two decades on, have healthcare inequalities been reduced for people with a learning disability?

Mr Dan Scorer, Mencap, London

Filling the gap through policy

Dr Ken Courtenay, NHS England, London

Chair: Dr David Okai, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Brains on fire - patient experiences of autoimmune encephalitis

Dr Ava Easton, Encephalitis International, London

An overview of the working group and executive summary of guidance

Dr David Okai, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

The neurology of autoimmune encephalitis

Dr Sophie Binks, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford

How can routine mental state examination help triage and focus clinical identification of autoimmune encephalitis

Chair: Professor Tamsin Ford, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Asking the right questions: toward more accurate and inclusive measurement of gender in youth mental health research

Dr Emma Soneson, University of Oxford, Oxford

The LOGIC study: insights from children and adolescents referred to NHS gender services

Dr Eilish Kennedy, University College, London

Understanding the experiences and support networks of gender diverse adolescents

Professor Mina Fazel, University of Oxford, Oxford

As part of RCPsych initiatives in encouraging psychiatrists to look after ourselves and each other, experienced facilitators from the College coach-mentoring group explore the usefulness of coaching and mentoring, whether one-to-one or in groups, in peer support, training and professional development.

This is an interactive workshop to share reflections about individual experiences of coaching and mentoring across career grades, and includes a pairing exercise to practise mentoring skills.

The Masterclass objectives:

• Have a go with practical skills in coach-mentoring - keep it fun, flexible and friendly!
• Have better conversations - improve listening, questioning and reflective practice
• Understand your personal and professional drivers - develop a growth mindset

The session highlights skills-sets common to coaching and mentoring, essentially relational skills that are familiar to psychiatrists; in this regard we invite psychiatrists to realise their 'inner mentor'!

Chair: Dr Hind Khalifeh, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Mental health support for mothers and infants in war zones utilising telehealth: findings from the Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance study

Ms Yafa Ajweh, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham

Children cannot wait: meeting the mental health needs of children during a live war: Gaza as a case study

Dr Bahzad Al-Akhras, The University of Manchester, Manchester

Understanding and addressing the special needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders affected by armed conflict: an international perspective

Dr Ramzi Nasir, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London

A community-based intervention for war-affected children: evaluation of the teaching recovery techniques plus parenting, a cluster randomised controlled trial in Ukrainian schools

Professor Dennis Ougrin, Queen Mary University of London, London

The case for under-5s mental health and addressing the implementation challenge

Dr Jonathan Campion, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

From evidence to action: addressing the implementation gap in early childhood mental health

Dr Marcia Brophy, UNICEF, New York, USA

Shifting the dial: early in life and not just early in illness

Professor Valsamma Eapen, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Strengthening systems for children’s mental health: evidence and country experiences

Dr Chiara Servili, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Chair: Dr Stefania Bonaccorso, North London NHS Foundation Trust, London

The demise of psychopathology as unintended consequence

Professor Gareth Owen, Professor of Psychological Medicine, Ethics and Law, King's College London, London

Psychopathology or phenomenology?

Professor Matthew Broome, University of Birmingham, Birmingham

Common pitfalls in clinical practice when we forget psychopathology

Professor Femi Oyebode, University of Birmingham, Birmingham

Chair: Professor Naomi Anne Fineberg, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Hatfield

Electroencephalographic signatures of OCD: how uncertainty shapes habits

Dr Ana Maria Frota Lisboa Pereira de Souza, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Psychedelics and neurostimulation in OCD: clinical implications

Dr Jeremy Solly, University of Southampton, Southampton

Immunological, cannabinoid and lipidomic mechanisms and therapies including GLP-1 agents

Professor Eric Hollander, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA

In today’s fast-paced and digitally connected world, psychiatrists have a vital role in shaping public understanding of mental health. Whether you’re responding to a media request, commenting on a news story, publishing your own academic research, or sharing insight online, how you land your message matters.

In a world where your words can be shared in seconds and your online presence speaks volumes, being prepared is essential. Confident Communication - Media & Social Media training for Members is designed to equip psychiatrists with the practical tools to speak confidently and credibly about their work across traditional and digital platforms.

Led by senior media, communications and digital experts from the College, this dynamic session will guide you through how to navigate with clarity, confidence, and control.

You’ll learn how to craft powerful messages, deliver them effectively in interviews, and respond calmly to challenging questions. You’ll also gain essential skills in managing your digital identity including how to use social media professionally, build your online credibility, and protect your reputation in an increasingly visible world.

Whether you’re being interviewed for a health story, contributing your expertise to public debates, or building a digital profile to reach new audiences, this session will help you take ownership of your voice and use it to make a meaningful impact.

Learn how to represent your expertise with authority, both in the media and online.

This workshop will demonstrate a sensory, reflective and educational nature-based intervention, developed by the facilitators, which has proven to be a popular intervention with service users at South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust. 

The morning will be experiential, pragmatic and empowering, teaching clinicians how to facilitate respect for, enjoyment of, and knowledge about nature to support recovery in people with mental health problems

Mandala art, derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “circle", has been a symbol of wholeness, balance, and connection between the inner and outer worlds.

Across spiritual and psychological traditions, especially amongst Buddhist Monks, mandalas have been used as meditative tools to centre the mind and evoke healing. Within psychology, Carl Jung introduced mandala creation as a means of exploring the self and facilitating emotional balance.

Contemporary evidence increasingly supports the use of structured art-making, including mandalas, to enhance mindfulness, reduce stress, and promote overall psychological wellbeing.

This creative practice is used in treatment of anxiety, depression, anger management, dementia, bereavement and hyperactivity symptoms.

This session will allow you to engage experientially, through guided drawing and colouring exercises, reflective mindfulness practice, and facilitated discussion. There is no artistic skills required, only an open mind with a willingness to play with colours and patterns to see its effect on your minds.

In this session you will:

• Experience how creative engagement within circular forms promote relaxation, self -awareness, focus, and emotional expression, bridging art and psychiatry
• Learn how mandala-making can be a tool for mindfulness
• Reflect on practical ways to integrate creative practices into mental health and self-care routines

Facilitator

Dr Rajashree Ray-Bandyopadhyay, Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist

Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementia, and around one in five people with dementia have significant Lewy body pathology. Mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB) is the most well-studied prodromal presentation of dementia with Lewy bodies. The clinical presentation of MCI-LB and biomarker findings in this stage of disease will be reviewed. The features of two less-recognised presentations of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies will also be highlighted: ‘psychiatric-onset’ and ‘delirium-onset’. Clinical findings which should raise suspicion of Lewy body disease and options for further investigation will be discussed.

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Psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia are multifactorial and highly heritable. We have now identified several rare copy number variants that substantially increase an individual’s risk of developing schizophrenia and a range of physical health conditions. This talk will review the genetic architecture of schizophrenia and introduce the All Wales Psychiatric Genomics Service, a novel multidisciplinary clinic offering psychiatric genetic counselling and testing to patients and families across Wales. Through patient case studies, I will illustrate the clinical value of psychiatric genomics and highlight the importance of research to clinical practice.

Find out more about Dr Kimberley Kendall

Chair: Professor Marta Di Forti, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London 

Treatment with psychostimulants and atomoxetine in people with psychotic disorders: reassessing the risk of clinical deterioration in a real-world setting

Dr Olivier Corbeil, Laval University, Quebec, Canada

Riding the dopamine high: psychosis from stimulant and party drugs use

Professor Giovanni Martinotti, Department of Neuroscience, University G.d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy

How to guide pharmacological treatment of cannabis associated psychosis following the dopamine lead

Professor Marta Di Forti, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London

Chair: Professor Rachel Upthegrove, University of Oxford, Oxford

The mental health translational research collaboration: a coordinated national approach to embedding translational research  

Professor Rachel Upthegrove, University of Oxford, Oxford

Turbocharging psychosis research in the UK 

Professor Graham Murray, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Dr Jacqueline Robbins, Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, Canterbury

Dr Marie Bowers, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge

Research for everyone: Mood disorder research clinics embedded in routine care 

Dr Mourad Wahba, Newcastle University, Newcastle

Panel: Dr Lesley Booth, Betina Nair, Ms Sara Philips

Chair: Dr Marilia Calcia, King's College London, London

Rates of suicide in people men and women using mental health services with clinically identified domestic abuse victimisation and perpetration: a cohort study

Dr Vishal Girish Kumar Bhavsar, King's College London, London

66 ways to reduce domestic abuse related suicides

Mr Tim Woodhouse, University of Kent, Canterbury

Nothing to lose – the interchangeable risk between risk to self and risk to others

Ms Holly Thomas, Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London

Chair: Professor Owen Bowden-Jones, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

"To game, or not to game": video gaming and neurodivergence

Dr Hussien Elkholy, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton

Sensitivities and rules: neurodivergence and disordered eating

Dr Jessica Eccles, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton

Generative AI use in neurodivergence, friend or foe?

Dr Hamilton Morrin, King’s College London, London

Sensory seeking, risk taking: a neurodiversity-affirming look at chemsex behaviours

Dr Stephen Naulls, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Brighton

Chair:

Preliminary results from BootStRaP: a citizen science project designed to understand problematic usage of the Internet in teenagers

Mrs Natalie Hall, School of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Hertfordshire

What about when RCTs are difficult to conduct and interpret?

Professor Hamish McAllister Williams, Newcastle University, Newcastle

In this session, you will have the opportunity to learn about the Research Attachment Programme (RAP) in psychiatry training and to discuss how to reproduce it with the necessary adjustments in our own trusts/universities.

This initiative was born in 2024-2025 as part of the Maudsley training programme to integrate research training within postgraduate clinical education. It aims to develop research literacy beyond the IAT pathway, while remaining non-mandatory. Resident Doctors have the opportunity to join a research group for 6-12 months as part of their core or higher training. The programme offers flexible participation (from one day per fortnight to one–two days per week) and individualised supervision according to prior experience and career goals. Participants range from those with no prior research experience to post-doctoral researchers.

This session will present outcomes from RAP’s first year, including Resident Doctor feedback, research outputs, and implementation lessons. The discussion will also explore how this model can be adapted and embedded across other trusts and universities to strengthen research capacity and bridge the gap between scientific evidence and clinical practice in psychiatry. 

Chair: Dr Rebecca Lawrence, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh

An improbable author

Dr Rebecca Lawrence, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh

Yes, psychiatrists have mental illness too

Professor Linda Gask, University of Manchester, Manchester

Dr Benji Waterhouse, NHS London, London

Paediatric bipolar disorder (PBD defined as onset prior to age 18 years) is under recognised across the United Kingdom despite considerable evidence base across the world highlighting that like most mental health disorders it frequently presents in teenage years. This talk will present data from the surveillance studies of narrow phenotype bipolar I disorder and early onset depression across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland that highlights the need for accurate and timely diagnosis. It will also present data from the FAB trial highlighting the importance of involving the family including siblings in holistic management of bipolar disorder. It will also present some emerging data on the use of digital technologies in the diagnosis and management of bipolar disorder. 

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Chair: Dr Florian Ruths, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London

Mindfulness and medication: expert by experience perspective

Dr Mary Ryan, University of Exeter, Exeter

Mindfulness: new evidence for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in difficult to treat depression

Professor Thorsten Barnhofer, University of Surrey, Guildford

Chair: Dr Helen Bould, University of Bristol, Bristol

Eating disorders in diverse adolescents: insights from the born in Bradford age of wonder Cohort

Ms Eliza Shotton, University of York, York

Patterns of service contact among young people with disordered eating in England: findings from the MHCYP 2017 survey

Dr Benjamin Geers, University of Exeter, Exeter

From eating difficulties to eating disorders: mind the transition

Dr Clara Faria, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Chair: Dr Andrew Molodynski, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford

Final results from the national study of inpatient mental health rehabilitation services provided by the NHS and independent sector in England (the ACER Study)

Professor Helen Killaspy, University College London, London

Chair: Dr Mary Docherty, NHS England, London

The Birmingham experience – building citizenship and a research infrastructure in an urban 24/7 community mental healthcare

Dr Selvaraj Vincent, Birmingham and Solihull NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham

Neighbourhood health – workforce implications for psychiatric training and workforce

Dr Helen Crimlisk, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

Co-production and partnerships – the secret sauce of new ways of working

Professor Tim Kendall, Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield

Chair: Professor Swaran Singh, Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, Coventry

Spirituality: perspectives from Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism

Dr Padakkara Saju, Bradford District Care Trust, Bradford

Islam in the context of spirituality and psychotherapy

Dr Huma Khan, South West Yorkshire NHS Trust, Wakefield

Harmony in diversity: Sikhism new wisdom

Professor Swaran Singh, Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, Coventry

Faith and mental health: a Christian perspective.

Professor Patricia Casey, University College, Dublin

Chair: Dr Annabel Price, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge

Navigating complexity: process and impact of RCPsych influencing in Westminster on assisted dying/assisted suicide

Mr Oliver Kavanagh Penno, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

Is assisted dying a treatment?

Professor Gareth Owen, King's College London, London

What is the legal relationship between the right to die and suicide prevention?

Professor Alex Ruck Keene, King's College London, London

Chair: Professor Janet Treasure, King's College London, London

Guided self-help for anorexia nervosa: Evidence from the TRIANGLE Trial

Dr Katie Rowlands, King’s College London, London

Professor Valentina Cardi, University of Padova, Italy

From Trials to Practice: Implementing Digital Guided Self-Help in NHS CAMHS-ED Service

Dr Ashish Kumar, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool

Adapting Family-Based Treatment for Intensive Remote Delivery in CAMHS

Dr Laura Coglan, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Marlborough

Adapting CBT-E for Intensive Remote Delivery: Bridging the Gap Between Hospital and Community Care

Dr Agnes Ayton, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford

Chair: Dr Peter McAllister, RCPsych Lead for Veterans' Mental Health, London

The role of cross-organisational collaboration and strategies for a better mental health in the workforce

Dr Ananta Dave, Black County Integrated Care Board, Wolverhampton

Galatea Integral Care Program: 25 Years of a specialised mental health service for health professionals

Dr Dolores Braqueheis, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Caring for carers: establishing a cost-effective, scalable mental health service for healthcare workers

Dr Muzaffer Kaser, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge

Chair: Dr Mark Paramlall, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

Review of NICE guidelines of neuro-rehabilitation

Dr Himansh Tyagi, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London

Psychosis in Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr Elvina Chu, Kingston Health Sciences, Kingston, Canada

Offending in Acquired Brain Injury

Dr Czarina Kirk, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire

Chair: Dr Rajeev Krishnadas, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

A problem at the heart of precision medicine – are current clinical prediction models fully actionable for individuals?

Dr Samuel Leighton, University of Glasgow, Glasgow

Conventional prediction modelling, the gaps and introducing causality

Dr Fani Deligianni, University of Glasgow, Glasgow

The shortcomings of average treatment effects, introducing individualised parameters and counterfactuals with modern machine learning and AI

Dr Damian Machlanski, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Ethnic bias in prediction and decision making algorithms in precision psychiatry: challenges in a shrinking world

Dr Rajeev Krishnadas, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

About a third of people with depression experience only limited improvement despite adequate courses of standard treatments, and it is increasingly recognised that effective management of difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) requires approaches beyond pharmacotherapy alone. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been NICE-recommended for relapse prevention for almost two decades and there is now a growing evidence base for its use in DTD. This talk will review recent evidence on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, patient experience, safety, and mechanisms of MBCT for DTD, drawing on findings from clinical trials, meta-analyses, qualitative research, and mechanistic studies. It will argue that MBCT should now be viewed as an integral component of multidisciplinary care for DTD and discuss how, based on its psychological and biological mechanisms, it may most effectively complement existing and emerging treatments.

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Chair: Dr Mohamed Morsy, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation

SleepWell: a multimodal intervention to improve sleep on inpatient wards

Dr Kirstie Anderson, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Impact of SleepWell on mortality on inpatient wards

Dr Patrick Keown, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Treating sleep disruption on acute psychiatric inpatient wards: from randomised controlled trial to implementation

Dr Bryony Sheaves, Oxford University, Oxford

Chair: Dr Vivek Agarwal, Chief Examiner, RCPsych

Syllabus development for MRCPsych theory papers

Dr Rahul Bhattacharya,

Standard setting for the CASC

Mr Richard Teahan, Royal College of Psychiatrists

CASC - a personal journey

Dr Tushar Saikia

Chair: Professor Cynthia Fu, King's College London, London

Real world NHS experience of introducing tDCS in a mother and baby unit

Dr. Somayya Kajee, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich

Rapid-access neuromodulation: implementing tDCS in the Leicester urgent care pathway

Dr Mark McConnochie, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester

Is TMS cost-effective for treatment-resistant depression in the NHS?

Professor Richard Morriss, University of Nottingham, Nottingham