Title Author(s) Page11. By Way of Introduction Andrés Martin, New Haven, CT, USA 2

Joseph M. Rey, Sydney, Australia22. All Mixed Up Andrés Martin, New Haven, CT, USA 233. Eucalyptus and Responsibilities Schuyler Henderson, New York, NY 244. Not There, But Now Shewikar Farrag, Mansoura, Egypt 255. Nourishing Diversity: Where Should We Eat? Paul Plenner, Ulm, Germany 466. Footprints in the Sand Shirley Alleyne, Bridgetown, Barbados, 5

and New Haven, CT, USA77. Down Under, Fellowship Thunder Vishal Madaan, Omaha, NE, USA 688. Affiliative Behavior: From Finches to Friends Eva Ihle, San Francisco, CA, USA 799. Strangers on a Train Sefi Kronenberg, Tel Aviv, Israel 8

1100. Unexpected Pleasures Bibiola Oladeji, Ibadan, Nigeria 81111. Gratitude and Expectation Fan Fang, Changsha, China 91122. It’s All about People Guilherme Polanczyk, Porto Alegre, Brazil 101133. Nurturing Diversity Indeed Mukesh Prabhuswamy, Bangalore, India 101144. The Call Ninik Supartini, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 111155. My Heroes Patricia Ibeziako, Ibadan, Nigeria, and Boston, MA, USA 131166. A Homecoming at Home Mike Cunningham, Sydney, Australia 141177. Embracing Identity While Nurturing Diversity Muideen Owolabi Bakare, Cross River State, Nigeria 141188. YIBcap @ IACAPAP: Under the Acronyms, Florian Zepf, Frankfurt, Germany 16

A Truly International Experience 1199. TV or not TV: That Is the Question Feng-lin Cao, Changsha, China 172200. Stoked: The Depths of Fraternity Rebecca Coleman, Port Lincoln, Australia 182211. Research, Whether with Rags or Riches: Stefan Ehrlich, Berlin, Germany 19

Helping Each Other Help Children Nicolas Jefferson-Lenskyj, Brisbane, AustraliaPaul L. Plener, Ulm, Germany

2222. Creating Our Own Paths: Peer Mentorship Susan Milam Miller, Sacramento, CA, USA 21Among Women in the Donald Cohen Fellowship

2233. Congress Bag Colour Choice: Naoufel Gaddhour, Monastir, Tunisia 22A Cross-Sectional Naturalistic Study Christian Zeni, Porto Alegre, Brazil

2244. Spring in Melbourne Zhu Yan, Beijing, China 242255. Connecting Theory with Life, Professionals with Elizabeth Benson-Stott, Queensland, Australia 24

People, and Cohen Fellows with Each Other2266. Past Stigma and Onwards Grace Robinah Onyango, Kenya 262277. Clouds One Through Nine Susan Tan, Malaysia 262288. Lessons from Melbourne Tolulope Theresa Bella, Ibadan, Nigeria 262299. We’re Raising Children, Not Flowers! Yonghua Cui, Beijing, China 273300. Iraqi Children and Trauma: An Overview of the Abdul Karim S. Mahdi AlObedy, Baghdad, Iraq 28

Current Situation and Clinical Experience3311. Participants: Donald J. Cohen Fellowship for 29, 30

International Scholars in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions

IACAPAP Bulletin SupplementDonald J. Cohen Fellows’ Remarks on the 17th IACAPAP World Congress

Melbourne, Australia – September 10–14, 2006

By Way of Introduction

The thirty pieces that follow provide asense of the richness of the experienceshared by eighty-five people duringfive days spent together in Melbournein September of 2006. None of thisexcitement would have been possiblewithout the support of the leadershipof an Association that shows inconcrete actions how deeply it valuesits young. We extend our deepestgratitude to past president HelmutRemschmidt for believing in theprogram in the first place, to incomingpresident Per Anders Rydelius forremaining committed to its future, andespecially to immediate past presidentMyron Belfer for having been such achampion and supporter during theyears and days leading to Australia.John Sikorski, our treasurer, organizedkey financial support; Suzie Dean andCampbell Paul were gracious organi-zing hosts, and Patty D’Cruz and herMelbourne team provided impeccablelogistics throughout. Our thanks to allof them, and to the many others wecannot thank individually here. Aspecial kudos and thank you goes outto Schuyler W. Henderson, one of ourinternational fellows, for organizingthe writings of such a prolific group.Finally, and most importantly, ourappreciation to a superb line-up offellows and mentors, in whom themagic of this program entirely resides.We have concluded this supplementwith the contribution of Dr. AbdulKarim S. Mahdi AlObedy, from Iraq,who unfortunately was unable to joinus. We have placed his abstract at theend as a reminder that our work, our collaborations and our obligations donot end.

Andrés Martin, MD, MPHNew Haven, CT

andres.martin@yale.edu

Joseph M. Rey, MDSydney, Australia

jmrey@bigpond.net.au

All Mixed Up[Y]ou’ll need to practice the arts of self-opening:

to learn to tolerate and even cultivate the

leaving of known worlds.

Richard Broadhead

The argument can be made, and hasbeen, that broad-interest scientificmeetings have become an anach-ronism. Such logic suggests thatgeneticists, brain imagers, clinicians,policymakers, and Drosophila melan-ogaster enthusiasts should keep totheir own and attend congresses asrigidly defined as the journals of theirfocused subspecialties. My intentionhere is not to speak against thoseworthwhile venues, or against themerit of sounding a narrow field ofinquiry to its depth. Instead, basedlargely but not only on the recentexperience of the Donald J. CohenFellowship for International Scholarsin Child and Adolescent Psy-chiatryand Allied Professions, I wish to extolthe values of mixing it all up.

Sixty-four fellows and 21mentors, representing 29 countries andareas of interest too numerous tocount, came together for five days inMelbourne this past September. Thespecific demographics of the parti-cipants and their unique perspectiveson child mental health can be gleanedfrom the statistics and pieces includedin this special supplement of theBulletin. So rather than furthercataloguing their achievements here, Iwill highlight salient differences in theFellowship experience since the timeof its inception in Berlin two shortyears ago.

First, it is a pleasure to see thisSupplement edited by one of thefellows. It is true that as editor of itsearlier iteration, I have good reason tobe happy by this succession. But sucha transition is just one of many ways inwhich the fellows made this programtheir own. Take for example theweblog designed by another fellow –one who may have been more unique

in cybernetic prowess that in his desireto remain connected to this group afterthe Australian days were over. Take asanother case in point the way in whichpast student-observers became fellows,past fellows became mentors, andfellows and mentors alike became,well, hooked. There may be no betterway of speaking to the value of thisprogram than to see this transmissionof knowledge, enthusiasm andnurturance from one cohort to the next.Donald Cohen, so fond of the Hebrewsaying midor l’dor (from generation togeneration), is surely smiling down onthe program named in his memory.

At a moment when ‘focus,focus, focus’ is the dictum so many ofus have been socialized into, and whenour specialty demands further refine-ments in order to advance its scientificbase; at a moment when we eachshould be doing more and more aboutless and less, it was instructive andrefreshing to be reminded of the powerof taking the broad approach.Broadness can of course quicklydescend into messiness and caco-phony, into a Tower of Babel, into acheerful but inconsequential gatheringwhere little of substance takes place. Ittakes a special vitality, focus, andopenness of mind to make sense of theseemingly incompatible; to realize thatcomplementary synergy is ours for thetaking – if we are only wise enough tofind it. And find it these remarkableindividuals did.

In closing, I quote once againfrom President Richard Broadhead ofDuke University. His words weredelivered in 2000 to the incomingstudents of Yale College, of which hewas Dean at the time:

For the sake of your growingwisdom, instead of insul-ating yourselves with thosewho already exactly agreewith you, you will need notjust to tolerate but to seekthe company of those whodiffer with you, and find outwhat they actually think.Argument and exchange arethe stuff of education; well-guarded unanimity is not.

2

To the wise, un-insulated,tolerant, educated and unguardedgroup of arguers who came together inMelbourne, fellow and mentor alike, Ihave this last bit to add: thank youeach for mixing it up, thank you forsharing of yourselves, thank you forthe privilege of letting us know you.Thank you, in brief, for showing ushow vibrant the future of ourdiscipline is.

Andrés Martin, MD, MPHNew Haven, CT

andres.martin@yale.edu

References

Broadhead, R. (2005)The Good of This Place: Values andChallenges in College Education. NewHaven: Yale University Press, pp. 52-58.

Martin, A. (2004) Dignified Returns: Berlin and Donald J.Cohen in 2004. IACAPAP Bulletin XIVSupplement, pp. 2-5 (available online atwww.iacapap.org/bulletin).

Eucalyptus andResponsibilities

Of all the advertising jingles thatrattled around in my head as a child,two have remained into adulthood,ready to pop into my thoughts at anytime: “Fosters – The Australian forLager” and “Australians wouldn’t givea Castlemaine XXXX for anythingelse.” It must say something that thetwo advertising memes that somehowincorporated themselves into the DNAof my memory were both Australian –and both for lager. Long before wewere drinking, my friends and I wouldtry to emulate those comically flatvowels and that cheerful intonation. Atsome level, I suppose, it should bedeeply concerning that as kids we tooksuch pleasure in alcohol advertise-ments; on another level, it should beconcerning that the friendlyinnocuousness of the Australian wasevoked just for the purpose of sales

But we matured, and stopped recitingadvertising jingles to one another, andsoon were addicted to another pair offrothy Antipodean imports: Neighboursand Home & Away.

Things got a little bit moreserious, though, when we wereexposed to Australian culture that wasnot about beer and boys: Gallipoli, ofcourse, and the music of Midnight Oiland Yothu Yindi. Midnight Oil sangabout the heat and the outback, thevastness and the life there, and bothbands sang about the dispossessionand the decimation of the Aborigines –their songs were indeed protest songs.

I had heard of the Australiantradition of beginning conferences andaddresses with an invocation andacknowledgement of the originalinhabitants, owners and protectors ofthe land, and so I was not surprised bythe opening ceremony of IACAPAP –but I was moved, and delighted, too, tonotice that the music piped into theassembly hall was none other thanYothu Yindi. The continued sufferingand enduring resilience of the Aboriginepeoples were evoked, including in apowerful speech by Professor LowitjaO’Donoghue, and we were allwelcomed with speeches and dance(including a lovely performance by“One Fire”).

What seemed to make thenewly-traditional acknowledgement ofthe Aborigines and their custodianshipof the land more than just lip service,more than just a post-colonial tic, isthe combination of regret and pleasurethat underlies these moments. It is ashifting set of values: regret aboutwhat happened and what still happens;a regret for some that their ancestorswere attacked and displaced, and forothers that their ancestors attacked anddisplaced. But this is mixed withpleasure, too: the shared appreciationof the dance and didgeridoo, theshared admiration for the resilienceand endurance, the shared goal ofrestitution, both symbolic and actual.

It is hard to imagine that themotto of this year’s IACAPAPconference, Nurturing Diversity, could

be realized without this binary ofregret and pleasure, the acknowledge-ment that diversity takes place alongthe battle lines of racism, colonialism,genocide, and culture wars, in whichinnocent parties are few and farbetween; and also the acknowledge-ment that this diversity takes placealongside the delight in difference, theworld of appreciation for strangeaccents and perspectives, the meetingof men and women from ten nationsaround a single table for dinner, andthe movement in cultures that, forexample, could have a little boy inEngland not giving a CastlemaineXXXX for anything else.

And if there is anywhere that“nurturing diversity” can be found, it isin the Donald J. Cohen Fellowship.The moments of regret were few,limited to a few blank stares ofincomprehension; a few stilted silenceswhen, through language, culture,geography, or custom, meanings wereunclear; and yes, there wasoccasionally another type of silence,that of topics that could not bebroached. The pleasures, though, wereshared: the shared goals of pediatricmental health, of making lives betterfor children and families throughscience, understanding, advocacy, andthe shared goal (not always realized)of getting together for a meal. I sawnobody drinking Fosters or Castle-maine, but we did share some beers. Inthe essays and pieces that follow, fullof optimism for the future, andmemories of a thoroughly enjoyableand inspiring week in Melbourne, youwill see diversity at work, laced withgratitude.

And so it was in this context –this specific context of Australianwelcome – that we were able tonurture diversity. And we owe ourhosts tremendous gratitude for invitingus to their land, with eucalyptus leavesand a reminder of our responsibilities.

Schuyler W. Henderson, MDNew York, USA

henderss@childpsych.columbia.edu

3

4

Not There, But Now

I am an Egyptian scholar whograduated from the University ofSheffield in the United Kingdom andam currently working as a lecturer ofchildren’s nursing (and children’smental health nursing, too) at theFaculty of Nursing, MansouraUniversity. Attending the IACAPAP2006 congress was a dream for me. Ihad applied to participate in theIACAPAP 2004 congress, and myabstract had been accepted andpublished in the conference book, but Iwas not able to join with mycolleagues in Berlin due to personalreasons. Therefore I kept dreaming ofattending IACAPAP 2006 until itcame true. I would like to express myheartfelt thanks to the DJC committeefor their generosity in providing methis travel award as recognition of myresearch work. I was so very excited toreceive my notification letter anddelighted to have been selected as oneof this year’s recipients, which meansa lot to me. It is an honor to berecognized for my hard work, andreceiving this award motivates me tocontinue to strive to excellence.

However, the real events of theIACAPAP World Congress weremore fruitful than I had even dreamed,and I could immediately feel theamount of effort spent in preparingboth the Congress and the Fellowshipas soon as I arrived in Melbourne. TheCongress was so well coordinated andorganized; the panels were chaired byhighly experienced professors; we allenjoyed the welcoming attitude fromour Australian colleagues and from theadministrative personnel at theMelbourne Convention Centre; andthe great diversity of participants fromall over the world was especiallyenhanced by the Donald Cohenfellowship participants. From the nicereception in the opening ceremony, tothe open access internet facility andthe kind support given by mentors toyoung researchers ... well, it was reallymore than great.

I feel that I got so many thingsto take with me back to Egypt besidethe scientific exchange of experiences.Perhaps one of the most importantthings is not what happened there, butwill happen now: the event was suchan inspiration that I will be cheerfullymotivating my Egyptian colleagues tobecome active participants in theIACAPAP, and to learn more aboutchild and adolescent psychiatry fromall professionals around the world whousually come to IACAPAP congress.

I will look forward to meetingmore nursing professionals in thecoming 2008 congress, which will beheld in Turkey. Thanks again for allthe great things you have done for us.

Shewikar FarragPh.D, MS, BSC, RN

Mansoura, Egyptshewikar_farrag@hotmail.com

Nourishing Diversity: Where Should We Eat?

Melbourne´s outstanding culinaryreputation comes from the array of

amazing quality produce used ininnovative applications by its

creative chefs […] Dining options in this town are everywhere, andalmost as conspicuous as footy.

–Melbourne City Guide, LonelyPlanet 2004

During the Congress I often wasreminded of a European film that cameout several years ago. It was called“L´auberge Espanol” (or “The SpanishHotel” in English-speaking countries)and told the story of five students fromfive different European countriesliving together in a flat trying to get by,discussing issues, and getting to learnabout themselves through theircontacts with other people from othercultural backgrounds. I often got film“flashbacks” during my time inMelbourne, finding myself in a sort of“Australian Hotel” situation, havingdiscussions not only with people from

five nations, but with people from fivedifferent continents – surely notmaking things easier, but certainlymuch more interesting.

One situation where this cameout quite clearly was when some of usCohen Fellows tried to get somethingto eat for dinner. “Tried” being theoperative word here. It always took usat least an hour and a half to leavewhatever bar we were meeting at,because somebody always knewsomeone else who he or she had talkedto earlier and who would love to joinin, and so we would wait for them toshow up. After that, as we prepared toleave, we realized that some other guyhad just vanished without furthernotice (thus creating space forspeculations on their whereabouts: “Ithought that she was going to theATM,” “I think he went to the toilet,”“No, he had to buy a metcard,”“Probably got hit by a tram”…). Andso we waited another half an hour,until the wanderer came back,explaining that he had to go get hiscamera, or was waiting in her room forher roommate who was just finishing apresentation for the next day.

By this time, we were hungryenough to eat our posters. When wethen managed to stand up and prepareto leave, there would be at least twopeople who recognized that maybe ajacket would be appropriate for thecool Melbourne nights and so wouldreturn to their rooms to get wrappedup, prolonging the waiting but withoutanybody getting annoyed, because –and this stood out as a firm principle –nobody should be left behind.

When we managed to leave thebar, the group was on the lookout forsome cheap-eat that would beattractive and tasty enough for a largegroup of people, all of whom hadspecific likes, dislikes, allergies, andtastes, and the discussion continued.We toured Melbourne’s famousrestaurant scene like the pickiest ofculinary experts: “too expensive,”“looks shabby,” “they can’t fit a groupthis large,” “I can´t stand this sort offood!” It always seemed like a real

4

4

miracle when the group finallydecided to sit down somewhere andactually get some food. This was thenaccompanied by a whole new set ofdiscussions and differences, a lot of“Shall we put together the tables?”, “Idon’t tip – Why not, I think they werereally nice!”, “Please let’s just splitthat bill,” “How can you think that’sspicy? Don’t you have spicy foodwhere you’re from?”

This is, of course, partlybecause all of us are coming frompsychiatric practice, being rather goodat listening and talking, validatingeach other’s thoughts and getting intodiscussions, but the underlyingprinciple during all the chaos anddiscussion served one purpose:nobody should be left behind.

But what can we get out of it?Maybe it’s just the simple experiencethat in a world of “elbow tactics” thereare still some people who feel thatnobody should be left behind. This isessential as a paradigm both in ourclinical work and our research efforts.

It is necessary to provide carefor those in need, to step up in thename of a child, to protect its interests,to leave nobody behind. And it provesto be necessary to keep an eye on therequirements of colleagues fromdeveloping countries, who presentwith their own needs and ideas ofimprovement, some of which aredifferent from the needs in countrieswith established traditions of childand adolescent psychiatry – thusoffering not only new challenges, butalso a whole new set of solutions forproblems other countries might feelstuck with. To me “NurturingDiversity” stands for creatingacceptance and openness to new setsof thoughts, which might benefit all ofus, if we are patient enough to wait forone another, thoughtful enough tolisten to different perspectives, andwilling to tolerate a little bit of chaos.

Finally, I´d like to point outthat even if it always took a hugeamount of time to find a restaurantthat suited everyone, a crowd of

people from all continents wassatisfied with what we came up within the end.

Paul L. Plener, MDUlm, Germany

Paul.Plener@uniklinik-ulm.de

Footprints in the Sand

As a child psychiatry fellow fromBarbados currently training at YaleUniversity, I was keenly aware of vastdifferences in the practice of childpsychiatry in developed and less-developed countries. My aspirations toattend the 17th annual Congress of theInternational Association of Child andAdolescent Psychiatry and AlliedProfessions (IACAPAP) beganimmediately after learning about theorganization and its dedication toimproving child mental health on aglobal level. I frequently dreamed ofthe conference and what it could meanfor me. In my fantasies I would meetpersons who were like me but moreadvanced in their careers, who wereclinical researchers and advocates forchild mental health in developingcountries, and who remained inspiredand passionate about their work:professionals with whom I coulddevelop mentorship relationships thatwould serve me in the upcomingtransition back to Barbados, andthroughout my academic life.

Challenge, passion, and motivation propel humans to achieve great heights.Completing the research component ofthe Donald J. Cohen fellowship thatwould pave the way for myparticipation in the Congress proved tobe an immense challenge. Overcomingthe obstacles required several trips tothe Caribbean and a steady flow ofcommunication (electronic andwritten) with counterparts inBarbados. Developing my project andpreparing for the fellowship (including

the request that we share extensivelyabout our nations), increased myawareness of the resources, challengesto practice, and unique ‘flavor’ ofchild psychiatry in my country.

In the midst of my excitementand anticipation I was unexpectedlyflooded with moments of dread.Notwithstanding the conference themeof ‘nurturing diversity,’ there werelingering feelings of vulnerabilityassociated with being part of an ethnicminority and a national of a smallcountry travelling alone. Thesenegative feelings were dispelledcompletely by the warm reception ofour Australian hosts.

Nurturing DiversityThe conference got underway withinvocations led by a representative ofthe Australian aboriginal community.Graham Martin in the openingscientific address focused on the factthat each country, irrespective of theirresource level, faces unique challengesin child mental health. He usedMaslow’s hierarchy of needs todemonstrate that, as professionals,failure to identify the basic challengesin our countries will prevent us fromeffecting change at higher levels. Hepoignantly illustrated this point byusing an example from Vietnam. Herelated a conversation in which thequestion of what is the major issuefacing child psychiatry in Vietnamwas posed. The response to thisquestion was simple: ‘rice.’ Thisimmediately set the tone for theprogram, refocusing my way ofthinking from peripheral, complicatedand advanced to central and basic.This session enabled me to establishmy first ‘footprint’ in the conference.

The elements of the programthat resonated with me most werethose focusing on the use of clinicalknowledge and research findings toinform social policy. In a keynoteaddress, Matthew Sanders describedevidence-based research pertaining toparenting interventions and theprevention of psychopathology in

5

4

children and adolescents. He discussedhis efforts to use the research findingsto inform social policy. The keynoteaddress was followed by a seminarentitled ‘International child andadolescent mental health policydevelopment’ chaired by IACAPAPPresident Myron Belfer. It examinedperspectives from Turkey, Germany,The United States of America, andNigeria. Despite their many differ-ences, it became evident that there was ashared disconnect between researchersand policy-makers. There was aconsensus concerning the desirabilityof establishing a culture of clinician-policymaker collaborations as aprecondition for ensuring that clinicalfindings are translated into policyinitiatives. The footprints continued todevelop as I realized my interest inbecoming involved in such a trans-lation process.

The FellowshipThe most educational part of theconference was the fellowship. Itcommenced with our coordinatorAndrés Martin discussing the fellows’geographical representation. Hereminded us of the observationarticulated by Graham Martin that thepractice of child psychiatry in ourcountries is unique. He challenged usto embrace this uniqueness anddevelop expertise in providingsolutions to the problems encounteredby our countries. I met forty-ninefellows from twenty-seven countries,each possessing different experiencesand varying research interests. Aunifying factor was the great passiondisplayed for advancing the practice ofchild mental health in our respectivecountries. We discussed our challen-ges at a personal, professional, andnational level and shared solutions tothe challenges we encountered insimilar situations. The solutions werediscussed in formal mentorshipsessions and often informally overdinner, where robust debates wouldtake place and some of the bestbrainstorming occurred.

I was fortunate to meet Maria

Conceição do Rosario-Campos ofBrazil, Susan Milam-Miller of theUnited States, Olayinka Omigbodunof Nigeria, and Susan Tan ofMalaysia. These five women areoutstanding psychiatrists with uniquecareer paths. They shared a strongpassion for enhancing the practice ofchild mental health at the communitylevel. Each one offered a differentfootprint for the mentorship Iintuitively knew I would find at thisconference.

Finding Direction During the closing ceremony of theconference, the footprints began toform a clear path, leading to adirection for my very own place withinchild psychiatry. I was the fellow whorepresented the smallest country, butmy contributions were equally valued.A psychiatrist’s ability to understandclinical issues and make innovations inchild mental health is not determinedsolely by resource availability. Eachprofessional brings his or her uniqueexperience to an issue. We DonaldCohen fellows exploited our vastdiversity to facilitate the exchange ofknowledge, and contributed to the freeflow of ideas at the global level. Theconference reinforced the value ofcollaboration by child mental healthprofessionals.

Collaboration is the key toimproving child mental healthworldwide. The 17th Annual Congressof the IACAPAP, and the Donald J.Cohen Fellowship at its very center,have been instrumental in planting theseed for international collaborations –and helped me find my own footprintsin the sand.

Shirley Diana Angela AlleyneMB BS

Bridgetown, Barbados, andNew Haven, CT, USA

Shirleydiana.Alleyne@yale.edu

Down Under, Fellowship Thunder

An eight year old cricket enthusiastfrom India would often dream ofwatching live the blue shirt boys fromIndia beating the green baggy capsfrom Down Under at the MelbourneCricket Ground on Boxing Day! Theapplication for the Donald J. CohenFellowship looked to be a perfect wayto bring an age-old dream to life, andin fact, even perfecting that dream byadding a ‘once in a lifetime’opportunity to meet and learn frominternational colleagues and bementored by internationally acclaimedexperts in child psychiatry! AndrésMartin’s advice at the AACAP 2005Meeting in Toronto of not being “a flyon the wall” stimulated me to go for it,and lo and behold, in the process Iended up closely associated with alegend in global child psychiatry, thelate Donald J. Cohen. The more I read about Professor Cohen, the morehumble I feel; and often I do wonderif my ideology and my career wouldhave had an altogether differenttrajectory if I had an opportunity to meet this physician-scientist-humanitarian-philanthropist-visionaryin person.

The prospect of IACAPAPbringing together critical knowledgeand means of confronting challengesin child psychiatry across the globealways appeared to be an incrediblysatiating academic affair; the strikinglogo depicting six colorful hands fromAustralia seemed to be inviting us in,thus beautifully portraying the themeof promoting and nurturing diversity.Gradually, the romantic in me wasfalling in love yet again—initially withthe concept and then with the city ofMelbourne! The buzz across FlindersStreet effortlessly welcomes you to thescenic Yarra Valley and to thearchitectural heritage of this city,established in 1834. A walk throughthe Melbourne streets took me aroundto the Rialto Towers, the ImmigrationMuseum, Federation Square, and theMelbourne Aquarium.

6

The welcome reception was anincredible affair as it marked thebeginning of lifelong associations withfellow colleagues from all over theworld. Meeting all these exceptionallytalented men and women, and feelinga part of this immensely stimulatinggroup was the highlight of the day.Drs. Andrés Martin and Joseph Reywere instrumental in our feeling athome right away. The performance ofchildren from elementary schoolsduring the opening ceremony won thehearts of many, and strengthened thevery reasons why I joined thisprofession in the first place—fornurturing, enhancing and safeguardingthe emotional health of this verywonderful human treasure—ourchildren. The beautiful pictures drawnby children who suffered from one ofthe worst natural calamities, thetsunami of December 2004, was eye-opening and vividly depicted theinsurmountable resilience of thesechildren.

The small group I was involvedin was extremely vibrant and we easilyestablished a bond together. Despitetheir numerous engagements, Dr.Thomas Anders, Dr. OlayinkaOmigbodun, and Dr. Graham Martinled our group discussion. Our groupfelt unique, as our discussionsdiminished boundaries across India,Australia, the Middle East, Africa,Europe and the Americas as we sharedindividual experiences, the challengesin child psychiatry and potentialsolutions to these problems given thelimited resources in various countriesand cultures. It was obvious that boththe developed and the developingnations had lessons to teach and tolearn from. All of us worked towardsan aim of nurturing diversity bysharing resources and throughcommunication among all of us.Finally, we were all glad to invite eachother to our homes.

“Life Is With Others.” aninspirational collection of some of themost brilliant papers drawn from thebreadth and depth of Donald Cohen’sclinical and scientific wisdom, could

not have been released at a moreappropriate time. It was indeed verymoving to listen to the tributes and tocount the innumerable ways DonaldCohen had touched the lives of somany of his colleagues internationallyand helped them selflessly. I felt proudto be a part of this wonderful groupthat was uniquely selected to fulfill hisdream and passion for mentorship, forcarrying on lessons and valuesforward, and for facilitating effectivelearning relationships. I hope, as Iprogress in my own career, to launch,nurture, shape and enhance some ofmy students’ nascent careers andimpressionable minds, to touch someof their lives and to give back what Itake now from Donald Cohen’s legacy.

I am sure that all of my fellowfriends and colleagues share myfeelings and determination. See you allin Istanbul!

Vishal Madaan, MDOmaha, NE, USA

VishalMadaan@creighton.edu

Affiliative Behavior: From Finches to Friends

It has been a month (give or take oneday—I still haven’t figured out thisInternational Date Line thing) since Ireturned to San Francisco fromMelbourne, and I have yet to stopreminiscing about my experience atthe IACAPAP Congress as a Donald J.Cohen Fellow. The overarching themeto my reflections is that the Fellowshipwas a tremendous opportunity forpersonal and professional growth. Andthe Congress itself was a remarkablyenriching experience.

I was impressed with thesupport (monetary, logistic, affiliative)that the Donald J. Cohen Fellowsreceived during our tenure before andduring the Congress. The epitome ofthis support came at the Congressitself. Having the opportunity to

discuss our work (our passions, ourambitions) with renowned experts andreceiving their feedback was a rareopportunity to which we likely wouldnot have been privileged without theFellowship. I was also impressed withmy peers. What a pleasure it was tointeract with such an amazing group ofindividuals! Although we were adiverse group, each of us with our ownunique backgrounds, we were unitedby common aspirations. Even as aphysician scientist working on a smallanimal model (finches) to investigatethe neural substrates that underlieattention, arousal, and motivation, Ifelt embraced by the entire cohort. Myresearch examines the basic mechan-isms of social interaction, but inMelbourne I was able to glean theintra-psychic rewards of such behavior.Although it required traveling half-way around the globe, I experiencedthe feeling of being part of a globalcommunity.

My edification was intellectualas well. I gained deeper insight intouniversal issues of child andadolescent mental health — theimportance of having basic needs met,the devastating impact of trauma, thejoy of just having fun. I also learnedmuch about the role that uniquepolitical vagaries play in societies’efforts to meet youngsters’ needs. Itreinforced my awareness of the impactthat the sociopolitical environment hason a child’s well-being. While votersin certain cities of a developed nationcan eliminate mental health servicesfor children, citizens in a developingnation might be struggling tounderstand the impact of naturaldisasters on their youth. And I learnedjust how empowering it is to shareideas with like-minded individualswho are dedicated to advocating forpositive change in delivering mentalhealth care to all the world’s children.

There have been only two otherinstances when I have felt soimmediately affiliated with a group ofcolleagues. This third rare occasionhas provided me with fond memoriesand fun-filled adventures. So I

7

4

continue to look back on myexperience in Melbourne withgratitude. All of you I am privileged toconsider colleagues; some of you I amgrateful to know as my friends.

Eva Ihle, M.D., Ph.D.San Francisco, CA, USA

EIhle@lppi.ucsf.edu

Strangers on a Train

The Donald J. Cohen fellowshipprogram has two complementaryfeatures. On the one hand, it is agathering of early career psychiatristsand mental health workers interestedin research; on the other, it is an eventthat promotes interaction betweenpeople from all corners of the world.In the latter, it is almost a politicalmeeting. It is certainly political whenthe term simply means ‘under thepublic eye.’

There are many so-calledinternational gatherings, but thisfellowship is unique in bringingtogether so many people from so manycountries and facilitating so muchinteraction. Fellows may be verydifferent when it comes to theirrespective cultures, but the similaritiesare overwhelming. As a group, thefellows are young professionalsproviding mental health services,endeavoring to better the communitiesthey come from, as well as to advancetheir careers. It is these similarities thatare the common ground for aconstructive dialogue. There is a keeninterest in getting to know otherpeople, and to some extent it isbecause the challenges faced are socomparable, even if on the surface thechallenges are literally worlds apart. Intoo many other international events,there is an insufficient basis forengagement, and the event fails to bemore than a colorful display ofcultures.

A few hours before I took theflight from Tel-Aviv to Melbourne, I

went over the list of fellows. I scannedit quickly. I was the only Israeli. Ah,there is a strong German team: thatwas to be expected. Then I looked tosee if there were any participants fromthe Arab world. Yep, an Egyptian, aTunisian, a Yemeni… and an Iranian.My immediate thought was this: I willprobably be able to talk with all ofthem. I am not quite sure about theEgyptian, and the best scenarioregarding the Iranian is that we ignoreone another politely. I remembered hisname – Farzad.

Forty-eight hours later I arrivedat the Explorers Hotel in Melbourne, afine establishment. It seemed exactlyas its internet site stipulated: both‘affordable and excellent.’ The personat the reception told me that myroommate had already checked in. Itook the stairs up to the room andknocked on the door. A tall guyopened the door and presented himselfas Farzad.

Dismayed, I had been quitesure that the organizers would makesure this coincidence would nothappen. Yet, I was more concernedwith Farzad’s reaction when he wouldshortly realize that I was from Israel. Iwas already contemplating the degreeof embarrassment that would beinflicted upon the two of us if we wereto go back to the reception and ask fordifferent rooms. “Hi, I am Sefi. FromIsrael. Israel, you know?” I looked athis eyes and there was no particularreaction. More relaxed, I began to talk.We continued to talk over the next fivedays. We talked about medicine inIran and we talked about the Holo-caust. I hope we will continue to talk.

Farzad and I did not solve theIsrael–Iran–worldwide conflict. Thefellowship does not possess theaspirations of a beauty pageant.However, we talked, and we learnedquite a lot about the places we comefrom. We learned from directconversation, not from the CNN orFOX news channels. I have noconclusions to present here except thatFarzad is a very nice guy. And yet, this

encounter will undoubtedly impactany ideas I may develop regarding theenduring conflict we live in. Viewsconstructed upon direct interaction arerarely extreme.

On the way back, I stopped inBangkok for a short vacation. Ihappened to run into a military coup d’etat. Oh well, that’s another story alltogether.

Sefi Kronenberg, MD, Ph.D.Tel Aviv, Israel

sefik@013.net

Unexpected Pleasures

It was a great privilege to be one of theDonald J. Cohen fellows for 2006. Theadventure started quite unexpectedlywhen Dr. Olayinka Omigbodun sentme fellowship forms in April,following an extension in the deadlinefor submissions of abstracts, and urgedme to apply. I immediately set to workwriting out the abstract of my work ontraumatic experiences and PTSD inadolescents. To my utmost surprise,barely two weeks after sending in myapplication, I got an e-mail fromAndrés Martin welcoming me to theDonald Cohen Fellowship.

The Australian Governmentought to be commended for itsefficient processing of visaapplications; even though visa appli-cations from Nigeria are processed inSouth Africa, I got my visa postedwithin two weeks. Then began a mostwonderful and rewarding adventure. Imet up with one of the fellows inDubai, while waiting for ourconnecting flight to Melbourne.Rachael Kang’ethe from Kenya waseasy to spot – courtesy of her postercarrying case. After some 21-oddhours in the air, I arrived in Melbournetired and disoriented to time and place(Melbourne happens to be ten hoursahead of my body clock.)

8

4

4

The fellowship program was sowell organized. We had been put intomentorship groups before the start ofthe Congress, and my first assignmentwas to put faces to all the names I hadof people in my group. I started withGordon Harper, our internationalmentor, who actually took a personalinterest in each of us and what wewere doing in terms of clinical workand research in our different parts ofthe world. Our Local mentor, VickyCowling, was delightful and had aworld of experience that she sowillingly shared. The host fellow forour group, Chohye Park, is a bundle ofenergy who gave so much life to thegroup and earned herself a well-deserved local fellow hospitabilityaward.

The group sessions were quitean experience; even though we neverhad a fixed agenda for each session,interesting discussions always startedout with what someone had to share oftheir experience. We actually got ataste of so many different cultures –from the Aboriginal to Sri-Lankan,Yemeni, German and American. Wegot into discussions of challengesbeing faced by professionals workingin the field of child and adolescentpsychiatry in all these differentcultures. The group offered sugges-tions on how these challenges can beovercome and how we can formmeaningful collaborations to help oneanother, especially in the areas ofresearch and getting needed resources.

The plenary sessions and stateof the art lectures were so well puttogether. I got my first introduction tothe interesting field of infant mentalhealth, which I found fascinating. Theposter sessions and exhibitions werealso quite informative.

In between all this activities Imade time to meet up with friends andexplore a little bit of Melbourne.Going through the pictures andplacards on Aboriginal arts at theMelbourne Independence Squarereminded me so much of home andbrought to mind what Chandanie

Hewage of Sri-Lanka had to shareconcerning her practice and how shesometimes had to acknowledge nativedoctors for referring patients to her.Working in places where people arestill so influenced by beliefs in thesupernatural and where mental illnessis shrouded with myths poses a specialchallenge; for a child psychiatrist toeffectively reach and properly treatchildren with mental illness one has tobe able to accommodate those beliefsand to offer some concessions toencourage the people to seek care andremain in treatment.

So much activity had been putinto the week that it seemed that theadventure came to an end almostbefore it had fully begun and the‘Nigerian Mafia,’ as we werenicknamed by Andrés, was already onthe way home refreshed, our brains fullof ideas for improving our practice,with areas to explore in research, andwith opportunities for collaborationswith colleagues from all over.

Bibilola Oladeji, M.D.Ibadan, Nigeria

bibideji@yahoo.com

Gratitude and Expectation

In China, the great migration of laborforces arising from reforms andopening-up has changed the country inso many ways. We are beginning torealize that millions of children havebeen left in the countryside to grow upwithout the care of their parents due tothese forces. Although many of thesechildren have also benefited fromcompulsory education, the absence ofparental upbringing leads to changesin their family environment, furtherexerting an influence on theirpersonality development, putting themat risk for unhealthy personalityelements, behavior problems, and pooracademic achievements. Unfortunately,

unhealthy personality characteristics,behavior problems and poor academicproblems act reciprocally, resulting ina vicious circle. The group of left-behind children is an enormouslyvulnerable group.

Attending the Congress andhaving one of our group awarded aprize have upgraded and inspired thedomestic efforts of our research. It isour hope that the government andother institutes will pay more attentionto our research, as it becomes morerecognized on a global level throughsuch organizations as IACAPAP andthe Donald J. Cohen fellowship, andthat subsequently the mental health of20 million left-behind children inChina will be considered importantand that attention will be paid to it. Welong for more and more internationalcommunities to apprehend thesignificance of 20 million Chineseleft-behind children, as we try tounderstand their predicament and thepuzzles of their resilience andvulnerability.

We anticipate new findings andeven some breakthroughs in theunderstanding of resilience. But wealso long for study partners. We longfor research guidance and other waysof sustaining our momentum. We arepassionate about our work, and long tojoin with others who understand theimportance of working with theweakest members of our societies. Asa start, we are very grateful toIACAPAP officers and the organizersof the Donald J. Cohen fellowship forattaching importance to ourresearches. Thanks a lot!

Fan Fang, PhDChangsha, China

ff_1006@163.com

9

4

It’s All about People

The scenario: Melbourne, Australia.The lobby of that fine establishment,the Explorer’s Hotel. The time: anyevening from September 10 to 14,2006. If you had been there, you wouldhave seen dozens of young peoplechatting, exchanging experiences.

You could have asked someonewho might be Chinese, Brazilian,German, Indian, American, Dutch,Colombian or Ethiopian: “What isgoing on here?” Probably this youngand nice person would have said toyou: “We are celebrating the fact thatwe are part of a community from allover the world that works for themental health of children. We areenthusiastic about sharing ourexperiences and keen to meet andlearn with our Donald Cohen fellows.”

After some words, this fellowwould have invited you for a meal or acup of coffee and you would realizehow important it was for that youngperson to be with colleagues, withfriends. Probably you would like to bepart of our community and even if youdon’t work in the mental health field,I’m sure everybody would be pleasedto have you join us.

And that’s what this is about:about a genuine interest in people, inunderstanding what the person next toyou is like, how he or she lives andthinks, and what can you learn fromhim or her. Certainly, we learned thisinterest from our families, friends, andpatients, but also from our professorsand from those mentors who were inMelbourne.

We came back home with newinsights and experiences, but mostimportantly, with new friends, and I’msure you would have been one ofthem. From these new friends, even ifthey live in a different continent,working in the most privileged orprecarious conditions, facing wars,natural disasters, or “only” the mentalsuffering of kids with depression,anxiety or ADHD, we learned, and we

found support and stimulation to keepon working. I hope I have the oppor-tunity to meet you in Istanbul.

Guilherme Polanczyk, M.D., M.Sc.Porto Alegre, Brazil

gvp.ez@terra.com.br

Nurturing Diversity Indeed

Here I was, finally in Melbourne forthe IACAPAP Congress on the ninthof September, having made it througha technological bombardment in theform of a million e-mails from one Dr. Andrés Martin. I landed at theExplorers Hotel, with muchtrepidation about the exploration Iwould be doing in Australia. Myroommate at the hotel was MarceloSchmitz from Brazil, and I thoughtthat the theme ‘nurturing diversity’ ofthe congress was already becomingevident (my first thought was thatBrazil and India are so different thatthe only thing we’d have in commonwas probably coffee.) The next daywas the registration at the MelbourneConvention Centre, causing me amoment of doubt when I wondered ifthe Congress was actually there sincethe centre outside had no posterwhatsoever (compared to my country,where a guy in the next street wouldprobably know what’s happening fromall the sound and color).

The first thing that struck mymind was the theme of the Congress,nurturing diversity, nurturance beingprobably the most important qualitythat a parent (and a child andadolescent psychiatrist) needs to have,and diversity suggesting that peoplefrom various cultures and mindsetprobably like the children in theirhouseholds.

Then I was in front of the JohnBatman Theatre and I saw a man outthere: my instincts said he was theperson I was supposed to meet – thatis, Dr. Martin. I guess because of all

his e-mails I had a mental picture ofhim, and voilá, it turned out I wasright. The energetic Dr. Martin greetedus with all the zeal that one comes toassociate with him by now. Slowly,other fellows, including VishalMadaan from the distant Indianoutpost of Nebraska; Sefi Kronenbergfrom Israel; Schuyler Henderson fromNew York; Arne Popma fromAmsterdam, and others gathered in thegroup and we all made a circle almostinvoluntarily as I was thinking tomyself, nurturing diversity indeed.Here we were representing so manydifferent cultures and mindsets, butwe immediately got together likepeople on a shared mission. All myanxiety about the Congress and thementorship program and what wasexpected out of us was put to rest to agreat extent by Dr. Martin’sfriendliness and nurturance.

The first day of the fellowshipprogram was really interesting, startingwith an introduction for all the fellowsabout Dr. Donald Cohen and theprogram. Though I had read about himbefore coming to the IACAPAPCongress, listening about him mademe visualize this person who was soinspiring to young scientists, bringingthem to the Yale Child Study Center.He was certainly a true leader, clinicianand researcher. I only wish I couldhave met the man whose vision madethis fellowship happen, and whomanaged to bring all these diversepeople together to envision a betterfuture for child and adolescentpsychiatry.

We soon met with our groups. Iwas in group three and our mentor wasthe all-popular Dr. Helmut Remschmidt,immediate past president ofIACAPAP. His energy and enthusiasmwere infectious, and his ability tonurture all the people in our groupreflected again the theme of thecongress that kept ringing in my mindin everything that I saw, learned andexperienced while there. He was reallylike a good parent who allowed us toexpress ourselves freely and discussthe nuances of research and other

10

4

relevant issues in child psychiatry (andalso bringing things into perspectivewhen necessary, which was also soimportant). The mentorship programgave me excellent opportunities forboth free association and focuseddiscussions, stimulating my grey cellsto think and plan for the projects thatwere in their budding stage in my mind.

All the scientific sessions andthe presentations during our fellow-ship program were very useful,especially for people like me, who arein their infancy in the field of child andadolescent psychiatry. I have been solucky to be a part of such an esteemedgroup, which in being so diverseallowed new ideas to be generated, allfor the common cause of children,applicable in all countries of the world.By nurturing diversity, this Congresshas gone a long way in allowing us tolearn how important it is that anamalgamation of diverse ideas andthoughts are possible in such a setting,and that it is just a beginning for latercollaborations in the global village thatthe world is becoming, with all theconnections that were made during theCongress.

I finish with the hope that the17th IACAPAP congress will be thefirst of several steps for young peoplelike me who intend to learn andcontribute to the ever growing andchallenging discipline of childpsychiatry.

Mukesh Prabhuswamy, M.D.Bangalore, India

ypmukesh@gmail.com

The Call

Meaning of LifeI was waiting to get a medical checkup at a private hospital in my hometown in 2002 when I saw a nunstanding in line to register a desertedlooking boy into the pediatric clinic. Iapproached her and after a fewexchanges I casually asked about the

boy. We finally ended up in a seriousconversation. It turned out that the boywas four years old, one of 46 EastTimorese child refugees sent to Javafrom the camps in West Timor. A fewmonths after that, my husband, apsychiatrist, and I started working asvolunteers, providing care for this boyand his fellow children.

Our work has expanded sincethen, along with the collaborativeresearch projects we started. Weeventually decided to focus on traumaamong children of political prisoners;children having become heavilystigmatized when one or both of theirparents ended as political prisoners.We provided free counseling andmedication when needed to thesechildren and their families. We arenow at work on a documentary moviebased on their true stories.

Looking back (and forward), Ido believe that the opportunity to cometo the IACAPAP 2006 conference will equip me even better – personally and professionally – to meetthe call of my life: to be there for theneedy. After all, the question remains:what is the meaning of life if we cannotshare our abundance with others?

The Beginning of the JourneyThe above paragraphs are part of thevision I sent to Dr. Andrés Martin inmy application for a Donald J. CohenFellowship earlier this year. Eventhough the 2006 IACAPAP Congressis over, the question remains here,deep inside my heart. In fact, it getsstronger after my encounter with “thebig family” of Cohen fellows andmentors. Needless to say, I feel verymuch privileged to be part of thisincredible family, with whom I couldshare that question, and provide a sortof answer in the film I was able topresent. Now, I have the opportunityto reflect on it, after showing the filmin Melbourne.

Back to the question. I have toadmit that it has strongly influencedand driven me over years of my work.Conducting research among familieswho have members suffering from

mental illness teaches me the verybasic needs of human beings, i.e., to beheard, understood, and accepted. Myother endeavor with traumatizedpeople makes me aware of the agonyexperienced by those undergoinglosses and rejection.

It is true that many of us haveexperienced losses of something orsomeone whom we love so dearly atsome points in our lives, and we willsurely consider it already a doomsday.What if the losses are chronic andmulti-faceted, encompassing physical,financial, social, and psychologicalburdens, all happening at once? It iscompletely understandable if theindividual suffering from such lossesfeels hopeless and worthless. A boyaged 11 mentioned in an interview, “Itis a total loss. They have robbed ourfuture.” His mother added in despera-tion and hopelessness, “Wherever I go,wherever my sons go, people makethem enemies and treat them badly. Idon’t know what will become of them.”

The RollercoasterFrom these people I learn that whensomeone loses everything, there willbe times when he or she will not mindlosing life as well. Or else, they willnot mind the consequences of takingthe lives of those whom they think arethe perpetrators. The boy who Iinterviewed was obsessed withrevengeful thoughts of exploding thehouses of the people who tortured hisbrother. In one single interview hementioned his intention to kill themeight times. He learned how to makebombs and experimented to designone, alas successfully. His brothereventually fell into the hands of afundamental organization and wasbrain-washed for four months. In oneof our meetings he disclosedinformation that sent a chill down myspine, “Mom, there are three thousandyoung people like me ready tosacrifice our lives for the sake of ourreligion.” Imagine, three thousandpeople who are yearning to go toAfghanistan for “further training,” andwho are ready to sacrifice lives if the

11

4

“religion calls” are out there, amongyou, your children, and around anyonethat you love.

Often times the vengefulthoughts serve as a powerful drive forsomeone to prepare himself and waitfor the right moment to “torture” hisperpetrator in a painful and cruel way.One subject confessed, “I made thedaughters of those who humiliated myfamily fall in love with me. As soon asthey did, I left them.” Anotherparticipant confessed, “I waited foryears and years just like a hungry lionwaiting for the right moment to grabits prey. My revenge taught me that.”He continued his story by telling howsatisfied he was after getting thechance to pour out his long suppressedrevenge on the people whom hethought were responsible for the deathof his father. How powerfully, deeply,and cruelly do these losses overpowerpeople’s lives.

One of the most painful parts ofthe journey that these people undergois their adaptation to new situations,their coping. Some of them can escapethe cycle of hatred, anger, andrevenge, to emerge as tougher yetgentler individuals. But some fall intothe same cycle while pulling in newvictims to produce another cycle ofviolence. Some use a better strategy ofrevenge by showing the people aroundthem that they are better than theperpetrators. Yet, an inability to let goof the past risks pulling the nextgeneration, the children, into this cycleof harshness. Upon realizing it, a manregretfully says, “I wanted them toalways be the best. Now I regret itbecause they lost their childhood.They are children with lots ofachievements, but somehow I knowthere’s something missing.”

Stigmatization itself has leftquite significant impairment too,especially in regard to self-schematization, “I am always anxiousand worried that people do notapprove of what I do. To me, theiracceptance is everything.” One familyteaches their children to let people dowhatever they want to do to them

because they are the children ofnobody. Thousands of other childrenhave to give up their hope for a brightfuture and drop out of school justbecause they realize that they willnever reach their dream of becominggovernment employees.

Some people who I know canfinally function well individually, butas I go deeper into their familydynamics, I clearly notice that theyhave some old wounds that are not yetresolved. A lady who did not reallyexperience the traumatic events whichthe rest of her family underwent burstinto tears when recalling her siblings’treatment, “They always think I am theluckiest because I did not suffer theway they did at that time. But if Icould, I would have traded it withthem. They never know how deep Isuffer from being excluded.” Anotherchild in that family who wasconsidered the scapegoat of the familyconsiders himself a failure, “I knowI’m the dark side of my family.” Hisself-schematization has been brokenand distorted even up to now. Hisrelation with the rest of the family hasgone cold and never recovered.

The CallIn any bitter story that I listen to, Ialways ask myself what role I can playto ease my participants’ pains and tofacilitate their better way of coping.Often times what they ask is merely anopen heart to accept them, empatheticears to listen to them, open arms to hugthem (which may be the first hug theyhave received in their life so far), orhealing words to soothe their wounds.At the least, what they need are a fewquestions to help them to reflect ontheir feelings and outlook.

As a researcher as well as anethnographer, I can never ignore “thecall” to be there for them, to walk thelong, dark tunnels with them whenrevisiting and rethinking of the painfulevents. We take and give (they do thegiving most of the time) and weinfluence one another by sharing eachother’s insights. Sometimes I walk theextra miles to cross the dangerous

boundaries, by going to theperpetrators’ side to tap their feelingsabout the events. I then share the storywith my participants, so they can seehow it feels to be on the other side.Many times it is shocking for them tolearn that the other party also suffers –from keeping the guilt over the years.It often yields a shift of views, fromseeing the other side as “perpetrator”to “victim,” a shift that eventually alsochanges their feeling – from beingrevengeful to compassionate. It helpsthem to reconcile their own suffering,from being hurt, angry, and revengefulto becoming empathetic and caring.

The RewardsOne main lesson I learn from myparticipants is the choice to grow up orgive up when facing adversities. Onetough lady shares her secret forsurvival, “What does not kill me willonly strengthen me.” Some tell me thevalues that keep them going, “We’rethankful that we’re still alive. It iswhat matters.” “I spent my energy totake care of my siblings. I had no timeto let myself be absorbed in sadness.”“Our hope to see Dad again made usdo our best, just like what he hadalways wanted us to.” “I do not blameanybody. It was politics. People didnot really know what they did.” At theend, it is really their choice to forgive,let go, and move on that plays the mostcrucial roles in their journey forrecovery.

As I go over thousands oftranscript pages from my interviews, Ican see clearly the seemingly endlessand distressing journeys of myparticipants. We often share the agony,the hurt, and the pain as we revisit theevents. Many times we shed tearstogether. I will never forget the time Iaccompanied a participant to the sitethat people reported as her father’sgravesite, which was also the placewhere he was shot. It might be the onlyvisit she would ever do in her life. Iwill never forget the anguish, but alsothe relief in her eyes, to be able to visitthe dad she never knew. I will alwaystreasure the moving moment of having

12

a family see their demolished house,which they had not visited for six years.

Painful as it may be, it iscertainly rewarding to be there towitness family members reconcile andget their second chance to finally talk.It is heartening to see moving scenesof reunion, to hear them say how muchthey care for one another, to say thewords of love they have kept back foryears. It is elevating to see trust beingrestored and faces getting their smilesback. Well, it may be my call and thecall of each one of us to be there totouch weary souls. May all beings behappy and blessed!

Ninik Supartini, Dra.Yogyakarta, Indonesia

niniksmahar@yahoo.com

My Heroes

As I settled down on the plane fromLos Angeles to Australia, my minddrifted back to the last time I had takensuch a long flight. Nearly five yearsago, I left my family and friendsbehind in Nigeria to pursue psychiatrictraining in the US. I recalled mymom’s stricken look at the airport as Iwalked away to board the flight forNew York two months afterSeptember 11. To say that I have anincredibly supportive family would beunderstating the facts, yet almost fiveyears later I had not had the oppor-tunity to return home. Thus, it waswith great excitement that I lookedforward to the 17th World Congress ofthe IACAPAP in Melbourne, where Iknew I would see a few of mycolleagues from home.

Minutes after arriving at theMelbourne Convention Centre, I waswhisked off by Myron Belfer to meettwo African legends, Brian Robertson,from South Africa, and OlayinkaOmigbodun, from Nigeria. Eventhough I had known she would be atthe meeting, my heart still stoppedwhen I saw the woman who first

influenced my decision to become apsychiatrist. I hadn’t seen her in fiveyears and wondered if she hadchanged. Then she rose, glared at meand sharply called out my name andmemories came flooding back. Abouteight years ago, as a medical student inNigeria, that same look and toneforced me to pay attention during mypsychiatry rotation. It was the sameglare that met my request for a letter ofreference after I decided to leave thecountry to pursue training in the US.No, Olayinka Omigbodun hadn’tchanged one bit: this time the sterngreeting was my reprimand for notcorresponding frequently over theyears. I knew there was a ton ofwarmth behind her brusque demeanor,and within seconds she enveloped mein a hug. As we caught up on oldtimes, I learned how much things hadchanged since I’d left. Single-handedly, as the only trained childpsychiatrist in the entire state, she haddeveloped a child and adolescentmental health clinic in Ibadan.

By the end of my first day inMelbourne, I was re-united with therest of the Nigerian cohort, two ofwhom were my classmates in medicalschool and were attending theconference as Donald J. Cohenfellows. Tolu Bella and I attended thesame daycare facility as toddlers, andper our mother’s reports, chanted eachother’s name at home until ourfamilies were driven to distraction. Weattended the same high school andbecame roommates in med school. Shejoined the psychiatry department afterI left the country, and like me has beendrawn to the specialty of childpsychiatry. Unlike me however, shehas chosen to remain in Nigeria andprovide much needed services despitethe fact that there is no formal childpsychiatry training in the country.

One morning during myinternship back home, I had a bout ofmalaria and was contemplating callingin sick when I glanced out of thewindow to see my classmate MuideenBakare limping to work. Muideen isanother one of my personal heroes,

and an uplifting example of howresilience thrives in the face of theadversities of a developing country.Living with sickle cell anemia, he notonly made it through medical schooland internship, but was one of the firstfrom our class to complete a residencyin psychiatry. While my greatestworry about flying to Australia wasjet-lag, Muideen’s blood countdropped to critical levels days beforethe conference. Still, he insisted ontraveling to Melbourne to present hisposter on emotional aspects of sicklecell disease in adolescents —regardless of his own risk ofdeveloping a painful vaso-occlusivecrisis during the long flight.

Given the strong representationof Nigerians at the conference (therewere six of us), it was not surprisingthat Andrés Martin dubbed us “TheNigerian Mafia.” Though I didn’t havea poster to present, Andrés generouslyinvited me to join the Donald J. CohenMentorship program, an experiencethat left an indelible mark on me.

During the forum on inter-national mental health policies, Ilistened to Gordon Harper discuss thepersistent need for child psychiatristsin Massachusetts, despite having thehighest number of child psychiatristsin the US. Then Olayinka Omigbodunreported on the entire nation of Nigeriahaving only five child psychiatrists. Isquirmed uncomfortably in my seat asI realized that somehow in less thanfive years I had traveled from oneextreme to another.

By the end of the Congress thewords of fellowship mentor GrahamMartin lingered in my mind. “We allhave rights and responsibilities.” Myefforts to resolve my moral and ethicaldilemma has led me to this conclusion:everyone has the right to seek forthemselves whatever life or achieve-ments they desire, but we also all havea responsibility to provide for thegenerations ahead of us.

I owe a debt of gratitude to mymentor and supervisor and theoutgoing president of IACAPAP,Professor Myron Belfer, for having

13

4

been a major source of support andinspiration and for continuing to guideme as I strive to give back to thecommunities that nurtured me.

Patricia Ibeziako, M.D.Boston, MA, USApatricia.Ibeziako@

childrens.harvard.edu

A Homecoming at Home

I trained for four years as a medicalstudent back home in Ireland in themid 1980s before dropping out when Igot to the really hands-on clinicalcomponents. Since then, I have spentmany years working on computer-based education and training, mostlydeveloping multimedia programs tohelp educate and train healthcarestudents and professionals.

Three years ago, I started a PhDat the Macquarie University AnxietyResearch Unit in Sydney, Australia. Ihave worked with a team ofpsychologists to develop a newcomputer-based cognitive behavioraltherapy CD-ROM for adolescents. Ireally appreciated the opportunity toshare information about this researchwith so many adolescent psychiatristsfrom all over the world at theMelbourne Congress. Thanks to thecommittee for this opportunity toattend, and to the many delegates andfellows who gave me feedback andencouragement. It is great to know Ican continue to contribute to the fieldof medicine without being in clinicalpractice.

Mike CunninghamSydney, Australia

Michael.Cunningham@psy.mq.edu.au

Embracing Identity WhileNurturing Diversity

Arriving in MelbourneI landed at Melbourne Airport on themorning of the tenth of September,2006, fogged out after my longjourney of about twenty-four hoursfrom Nigeria. The chilly weather wasnot unexpected because I had had aninitial briefing on the state of weather.But I was still destabilized from thewide temperature difference betweenCalabar, Nigeria, which was about30°C and Melbourne, which was 8°Con my arrival.

By the time I checked in to myhotel room I was already shivering, withmy teeth clattering together. My initialplan to take a shower had to be deferred.I went into a deep sleep, only to wakeup about three hours before the openingceremony of the 17th World Congressof the International Association ofChild and Adolescent Psychiatry andAllied Professions, feeling famished.An attempt to satisfy the hunger turnedout to be another form of nurturingdiversity, just as destabilizing as thewide difference in temperature I wasfaced with earlier in the day.

I was apparently unfamiliarwith the meals on the menu I wasprovided with at a restaurant I visitedalong Spencer Street, so I was havingdifficulty making a choice of what toeat. A colleague of mine from Nigeria,who is relatively more “Oyinboish”than me, made a choice of pizza forme. “Pizza is like bread,” she said,trying to figure out the nearest thingthat she could compare the meal to.What the guy at the restaurant servedme did not taste like bread to me, andI was only able to eat it half-waybecause I desperately needed to keepmy stomach’s gastric acid down!From then, I set my mind to getadapted to whatever kind of meals Iwould come across throughout theperiod of the Congress. After all,according to the theme of theCongress, it is all about nurturingdiversity and getting to know moreabout other people from other parts of

the globe, including the Aussies, ourhosts.

I, however, still had cravings formy local dishes and thanks to one ofthe host fellows, had “Amala” and“Okro Soup” on the third day of theCongress. This left me an evergreenmemory of the Congress in Melbourne,not because I am gluttonous, butbecause this had brought back my self-identity in the midst of so muchdiversity. It is important to try newthings, but it is also important not toforget where you come from. It is goodto embrace our identity, even as wecelebrate and nurture our widediversity.

The Fellowship AwardStill on the issue of nurturing diversity,people from different cultural back-grounds and different parts of theworld were brought together tointeract, courtesy of the Donald J.Cohen Fellowship. This afforded usthe opportunity to share issues oncultural backgrounds as they affectconcepts of mental illness and mentalhealth service provision amongchildren and adolescents. Issues onclinical practices in psychiatry fromdifferent parts of the world werediscussed among the various groups.There is no better way to nurturediversity than to have discussions withpeople who are willing to talk and listen.

The Nigerian StoryChild and adolescent mental healthservice provision is limited in Nigeria,and so also is the awareness of suchservices among the average Nigerian,who views the concept of mentalillness as a defect or a curse imposedby the gods or the enemies on theaffected individual. In the perceptionof a lay Nigerian, frank psychoticdisorder is what is understood bymental illness, and this is generallybelieved to be less common amongchildren and adolescents whencompared to adults.

My Cultural BackgroundThe practice of extended familysystems and child rearing practices intraditional African societies, including

14

4

Nigeria, confer an advantage onpsychological development ofNigerian children. The morals andvalues of our forefathers and the senseof belonging to one extended family ina larger society provide some psycho-logical buffers against isolation,neglect, and lack of care fordeveloping children and adolescents.Sadly, however, the extended familysystem is gradually disappearing withthe advent of western civilization anda sense of communal responsibility isgradually fading away in Nigeriansociety. This puts in great danger anychild or adolescent who has lost one orboth parents to war, or to pandemicdisease conditions like HIV/AIDS,particularly because there is noestablished system of Social Securityby the government.

Psychological Disorders in Nigerian Children and Adolescents, and their PeculiaritiesThe concept of psychologicalproblems in children and adolescents isstill not well comprehended in Nigeriaby either the parents or the teachers,and more education is needed at thecommunity level. For instance, Africaneducation of the pre-colonial era isachieved by oral traditions and therewas no such thing as formal schoolsystem. Therefore, there wasenormous strength of memory recallamong African children of thisgeneration. Even with the advent offormal school system, those problemslike school refusal and specificdevelopmental disorder of learning arestill alien to our culture, and thesolution to such problems might not beseen as falling under the jurisdiction ofpsychiatrists and allied professionals tothe average Nigerian parent.

A child with attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD) wouldprobably be perceived by an averageNigerian teacher and parent as beingstubborn and troublesome and wouldpossibly be dealt with in theconventional way of spanking toensure appropriate behavior: spare therod, spoil the child. While spanking achild might be frowned upon by some

western societies (and was beingdebated in the Australian newspapersduring the Melbourne Congress), it is awell accepted practice among Nigerianteachers and parents and is believed tobe a means of restoring appropriatebehavior in a defiant child. So, a pupilwho is easily distractible and fails toconcentrate in the classroom and tendsto be playful in terms of hyperactivityis usually not seen as needing theattention of a psychiatrist but ratherneeding correction through spanking.

Autism, autistic-like disorders,mental retardation and associatedclinical syndromes are seen in a differ-ent light under the Yoruba culturalbelief system. Both the etiologicaltheory and source of remedy to theseconditions are perceived in a differentlight by my cultural belief compared towestern psychiatric practices. Thisdisparate perception has a tremendouseffect on help-seeking behavior forthese conditions among Nigerians.Spirituality and the African way of lifeare inseparable and any abnormalphenomenon in our physical existenceis given spiritual connotations.

According to a Yoruba legend(Simpson, 1980): ‘Olodumare’ (God)assigned ‘Obatala’ (an immaculatedeity among the Yorubas of Nigeria),who is believed to be Olodumare’sexecutive deputy on the earth, the dutyof molding children and putting themin the uteruses of their mothers.‘Obatala’ is responsible therefore forthe normal or abnormal characteristicsof human beings. Such deformities ashunchback, paralysis, albinism, autism,autistic-like disorders and mentalretardation present at birth orappearing later are due to Obatala.Causing these defects is notnecessarily intentional on Obatala’spart. He may make mistakes whilemolding a child. In most cases,however, the abnormalities arethought to be his way of punishing themother of a child so affected for wrongdoings. A pregnant woman whospeaks disparagingly of Obatala, stealsa snail, violates certain food taboosused for Obatala’s worship, such as

drinking palm wine or eating snailsduring pregnancy or, in some lineages,comes out of the room where shedelivered before the sixth day post-delivery, is likely to have a defectivechild. With this line of etiologicalthinking, cure for the problems wouldrather be sought from the nativedoctors or through miracles of modernreligion of Christianity or Islam, ratherthan from a psychiatrist, psychologistor special educator.

This points to the fact that a lotstill needs to be done in African sub-regions, especially Nigeria, to createmore awareness of psychologicalproblems facing children and adoles-cents, working with the beliefs of ourpeople. The need for communitymental health service provision amongchildren and adolescents cannot beignored. It will go a long way to reachout to the people at the grassroots level,encouraging them to participate activelyin the mission of mental health serviceprovision to children and adolescentsin their community, and being carefulnot to disparage the cultural practicesand beliefs of these people.

Women, children and adoles-cents are mostly hit by the conse-quence of wars, famine and diseaseslike HIV/AIDS in Africa. Lots ofchildren have lost at least one parent toHIV/AIDS, and it is not uncommon tosee many suffering from marasmus orkwarshiokor. My experience at theNeighborhood Care Outreach (NCO),an outreach program that cares forchildren affected by HIV/AIDS inCalabar South Local GovernmentArea of Cross River State in Nigeria,revealed that many of these children,in addition to showing signs ofmalnutrition, suffer from reactiveattachment disorder, either of theinhibited or disinhibited types. Thepertinent question then is: what socialrehabilitation program is available inthe country for this group of children?Little or none I think. Many of thechildren had stopped schoolingbecause of lack of funds. The long-term psychological adjustment ofthese children is hard to think of.

15

The FactsIn the four-year period of establishinga Child and Adolescent Unit ofFederal Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar,an appraisal was done of the utilizationof the out-patient services by thepopulace. The table above summarizesthe percentage distribution of thediagnoses made at the outpatient unitover this period, revealing the mostcommon cases usually brought to theattention of the psychiatrist amongchildren and adolescents in the region(Kuteyi and Bakare, 2005).

It should be noted that it is notas if other psychological problems inchildren and adolescents notrepresented in the table were notpresent or even common amongchildren and adolescents in thepopulace. Those conditions not wellrepresented in this table were probablynot disturbing enough or wereconsidered not to be in the jurisdictionof psychiatrists and allied pro-fessionals as earlier highlighted.

ConclusionMy experience in child and adolescent

mental health problems and serviceprovision in Nigeria cannot beexhaustively discussed in this piece,but I hope that the few pointshighlighted above will give someinsight into our peculiar strengths anddifficulties in this region. How bestthen do we nurture diversity toimprove mental health serviceprovision to children and adolescentsand their families worldwide? I thinkthis is exactly what the Donald J.Cohen Fellowship is trying to achieve –a common goal of holistic healthservice to children and their familiesaround the world in the midst ofdiverse cultural backgrounds andpractices.

Many thanks to the brainsbehind immortalizing Dr. Donald J.Cohen’s name and upholding hisphilosophy of “Life Is with Others.”Looking forward to seeing you all inTurkey.

Muideen Owolabi BakareMB BS, FMCPsych

Cross River State, Nigeriamobakare2000@yahoo.com

References

Simpson, George. E (1980) Yoruba Religion and Medicine in Ibadan;Ibadan University Press.

Kuteyi, O.B, Bakare, M.O (2005) An Appraisal of Child and AdolescentPsychiatric Service Use in Calabar,Nigeria: A Retrospective Study ofReferrals, Diagnoses at presentation andOutcome in a Child and AdolescentOutpatient Clinic – A paper presented atthe 36th Annual General and ScientificMeeting of the Association ofPsychiatrists in Nigeria, (APN).

YIBcap @ IACAPAP: Underthe Acronyms, A TrulyInternational Experience

In this short paper I will try to sharesome of the great experiences that Ihad in Melbourne within the Donald J.Cohen Fellowship Program and the17th IACAPAP Congress inMelbourne, and in particular asregards the Young Investigators inBiological Child and AdolescentPsychiatry” (YIBcap) network.

The YIBcap group wasfounded in 2005 at the 13th AnnualMeeting on Biological Child andAdolescent Psychiatry in Mannheim,Germany, in order to improve thequality and efficiency of research inthe field. Soon after the meeting inMannheim, an online forum was set upwhere scientists and researchers in thearea of biological child and adolescentpsychiatry could post their questionson research-related matters to theentire group –(http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/YIBcap).

Since then, the development ofthis network has been remarkablystraightforward, and within one yearwas enabling investigators to sharetheir knowledge and methods withfellow scientists, psychologists andphysicians. A website was created(www.yibcap.com), workshops on

16

Percentage Diagnoses over four-year period Distribution

Seizure 43.4 %

Schizophrenia 11.9 %

Mental Sub normality 11.9 %

Bipolar Affective Disorder 5.3 %

Depressive disorder 5.3 %

Conduct Disorder 5.3 %

Attention deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 2.6 %

Mental And Behavioral Secondary to 2.6 %substance use (MBSU)

Organic Brain syndrome 2.6 %

Brief Psychosis disorder 2.6 %

Conversion Disorder 1.3 %

Delusional Disorder 1.3 %

Dysthymic Disorder 1.3 %

Mixed Affective Disorder 1.3 %

Motor Skill disorder 1.3 %

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF DIAGNOSES IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN

THE OUTPATIENT CLINIC OF THE FEDERAL PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, CALABAR,NIGERIA OVER A FOUR-YEAR PERIOD (from Kuteyi and Bakare, 2005)

4

statistical analyses and genomelinkage analyses techniques were held,and the first collaborations took placeon the translation of questionnairesassessing self-harming behaviour, andon genotyping in eating disorders.These were all promising experiencesand even broadened the perspective ofmembers with respect to the originalgoals of YIBcap, about sharing know-how among fellow scientists.

While still only a German-based group, YIBcap has beengrowing constantly over the last year.As YIBcap grew, the idea of holding asmall symposium at the 17th IACAPAPCongress in Melbourne began todevelop. This led to a proposal for asymposium in which YIBcap scientistscould present their latest work to theinternational IACAPAP Congressaudience. However, Australia is twolong-distance flights away fromGermany, and the limiting factor forthe YIBcap group members would ofcourse be the large travel expenses; weassumed that we would not be able tohave the symposium. When werealized, however, that almost all theGerman Donald J. Cohen fellows wereYIBcap members, with the possibilityof some assistance on travellingexpenses, there was hope again that aYIBcap symposium at IACAPAPcould be held. Everybody in theYIBcap group was delighted when thesymposium was accepted by theorganizing committee.

The basic idea behind theYIBcap symposium was to allowyoung researchers to show their latestresearch to an international audience.The goal here was to promote the ideaof networking in this particular area ofresearch, and hopefully to inspire otheryoung researchers to add their ideasand to find ways to contribute in orderto further improve the sharing ofknow-how and methods in our field ofresearch. Here is a short example ofhow the YIBcap idea can be applied toa more practical approach when itcomes to research questions.

Let’s say that a researcher,physician or scientist has a question onhow to assess self-harming behaviour

in a standardized way in order toemploy these data in a longitudinalstudy. He or she could then post thisquestion on the YIBcap online forum,and, usually within one day, anotherresearcher with some experience withthis particular subject will haveanswered, or the researcher posting thequestion would be directed to someonewhom he or she could ask for furtherinformation. If nobody within thegroup would be able to deal with thisparticular matter, there would then bethe option of contacting the senioradvisory board of YIBcap. Thisprocedure would also work with anykind of question related to research inbiological child and adolescentpsychiatry, including anything fromstatistical analyses to methodologicalissues to funding matters.

Of course, those who openedthe program book at the 17th

IACAPAP Congress and read the title“1st International YIBcap Symposium,”might have had some questions aboutthe “international” character of asession with presentations only fromGermany. However, the idea behindthis symposium was to promote theidea of YIBcap internationally, and toinspire other Dionald J. Cohen fellowsand young investigators from othercountries to join the group, or possiblyeven to found their own networks intheir home countries. As it turned out,the response to this first YIBcapsymposium was overwhelming. Afterthe symposium, Cohen fellows andyoung investigators from manycountries asked the presenters how tojoin the network and there were manycomments on how to improve the ideaof “sharing of what we know,” and“where to find research-relatedanswers to questions we cannotanswer on our own.” Moreover, theaudience attending the symposiumgave many constructive critiques andcomments on the presentations held atthe YIBcap symposium, and inspiredthe presenting researchers to thinkfurther about future studies, projects orways of analyses, especially incommunities with fewer resources.

In summary, the YIBcapsymposium at the 17th IACAPAPCongress in Melbourne helped topromote the idea of networking amongyoung scientists and investigators,especially through the use of moderntechnologies such as the internet.Moreover, having a website whereCohen Fellows can share theirthoughts, knowledge and experiences(http://www.djcohenfellows.blogspot.com) is consistent with the YIBcapidea of harnessing modern technologyto communicate among young profes-sionals in children’s mental healthtreatment and research. Bringing theseideas, questions and goals to theCongress, and being able to hold asmall YIBcap symposium atIACAPAP, has been one of the firstaccomplishments of YIBcap, anddemon- strates that enthusiasm,thoughtful mentoring among peers, aswell as across generations, andconnectedness can all have realinfluence and rewarding effects. Thewarm and friendly attendance at theYIBcap symposium by seniorscientists and other Cohen Fellowsfrom all over the world, made the D.J.Fellowship and YIBcap a trulyinternational experience.

Florian D. Zepf, MDFrankfurt am Main, GermanyF.Zepf@med.uni-frankfurt.de

TV or Not TV: That Is the Question

After waiting patiently, I received ane-mail congratulating me on myselection for the Donald J. CohenFellowship. To be selected to attendthe 17th International Congress of theIACAPAP in Melbourne was a greatopportunity for a young Chinesepsychiatrist specializing in child andadolescent psychiatry. At the CongressI met colleagues from many differentcountries, and established relation-ships that I am hopeful will last intothe future.

17

4

Of the many wonderful andimportant aspects of the Congress, Iwas particularly absorbed by AlainLazartigues’s lecture, “Authority,media, school and teenagers 11–16years of age.” In the last decades,marriage and the family haveundergone many changes, such asquestioning the principles of authority,the emancipation of women, andgrowing influences of the media on thedaily life of families. The Conventionon Children’s Rights has changed somuch about parenthood that all formsof education have to be based on newgrounds.

In Alain Lazartigues’s lecture,he reported on his study, looking at thecharacteristics of relationships toauthority, to the media and to school ina group of adolescents aged 11–16 andliving in France. A total of 1543 adol-escents were included in his study.Three questionnaires were used foradolescents, their parents and theirteachers to assess characteristics offamilies, relations to authority, tomedia, to school, as well as aggressivebehaviors, use of drugs, and measuresof respect. His study results were asfollows: 36% of adolescents had a TVset in their bedroom, a third of theadolescents chose their TV programswithout any adult control, 30% hadseen pornographic movies, 27%watched TV programs three hours ormore daily during the week, and 44%during weekends.

However, I was struck by howdifferent this is from China. Chineseadolescents tend to be more controlledby parents regarding TV programs andthe amount of time watching TV. It iscommon that primary school and highschool students of China do not getpermission to watch TV during theweek at all. Chinese parents may paymore attention to the achievementscores of children and it certainlyseems more common that they wouldtherefore regard watching TV as awaste of time. The phenomenon is dueto different cultures, possibly withdifferent types of acceptance forteenage behaviors, autonomy and

engagement with the media, but alsopossibly due to different socialstructures influencing the individualfamily.

Alain Lazartigues’s lecturehelped me to gain a better under-standing of his thinking, especiallyabout looking at children in a culturalcontext, and has energized me to focuson other cross-culture issues.

Feng-lin Cao, MDChangsha, China

caofenglin2008@126.com

Stoked: The Depths of Fraternity

Communing with the Donald CohenFellows of Group 6 was akin to whatJames Joyce described as ‘meetingourselves and each other’ as weplumbed the depths of fraternity. Inpsychological terms, the experience ofGroup 6 could also be described as thecoming together of like-mindedindividuals with the capacity for“reflective functioning” – that is, the“capacity to hold in our minds a usefulawareness of one’s own mental states,as well as that of the other” (Fonagy,1998).

I was humbled by, and gratefulfor, the thrill of inter-country connec-tions, collaboration, cultural pride andrespect that the Donald J. CohenFellowship offered. Our mentors (Drs. Olayinka Omigbodun, PhilBrock, Dolores Garcia-Moreno andProfessor Graham Martin) madeeverything seem possible, and I amdeeply indebted to all of them forincreasing my self-belief. The oppor-tunity to connect with mentors andfellows from across the globe was bydefinition a “nurturing of diversity.”Sharing the common passion of childand adolescent mental health was likethe intoxication of falling in love withpeople, ideas and diverse cultures.Maybe love is just “contingent-marked mirroring” (a new term Ipicked up from the Fonagy lecture at

the conference), and if this is the case,there was plenty of “love” in Group 6!

Group 6 looked at creativesolutions to balance individual clinicalcaseloads and our responsibility aschild and adolescent mental healthexperts to be actively involved inadvocacy, promotion, policy andresearch. We came to the conclusionthat to get the leverage to dointernational clinical co-research (andassociated advocacy, promotion, andpolicy) would take a dedication to themeaning of fellowship (i.e.; camara-derie, comradeship, friendship,partnership). The IACAPAP fellow-ship empowered me with the audacityto make manifest the “nurturing ofdiversity,” and I feel honored to sharemy IACAPAP story.

To nurture diversity in childand adolescent mental health requiresingenuity, vision, purpose and acommon understanding. However, thecreativity required for internationalcollaboration is ideally based on bothpassion and a solid foundation ofpsychological theory, empirical know-ledge and clinical acumen. I found allof these attributes within the work ofDr Rachel Kang’ethe, a psychiatristand lecturer at the University ofNairobi, Kenya. For these reasons Iwould like to share the impact that herwork has had on me personally and thepossibilities for future internationalcollaboration.

My common bond with Dr. Rachel Kang’ethe was that weboth had had the pleasure and successof international collaboration, and soboth had consequent faith in its value.Therefore, our mentor Dr. Omigbodunrequested we present our experienceswith Group 6, and so with great delightI shared my passion for infant mentalhealth education, promotion, preven-tion and early intervention. Followingthis, Dr. Kang’ethe presented herpreliminary research on the use ofexposure-trauma narrative withchildren diagnosed with PTSD inKenya, and her collaboration with Dr.Dolores Garcia-Moreno. I am alsoaware that Dr Kang’ethe was inspired

18

4

by the work of Dr. Dolores Garcia-Moreno, with whom she collaboratedin the development of the interventionprotocol. I was so impressed by Dr.Kang’ethe that I attended herworkshop and have not stoppedthinking about it since!

The beauty of Dr. Kang’ethe’sresearch and clinical protocol is that itwas borne out of the necessity of herlocal context and yet also has universalmerit. As the first (and only) femalechild and adolescent psychiatrist (andone of only three CAPs in Kenya), thecapacity and means to use existingtrauma protocols with clients weresimply not there. She was thereforemoved to develop her protocol, forpressing reasons of both human andtherapeutic resources and the necessityfor families to travel long distances toaccess much needed expert therapeuticintervention (her waiting room soundsextraordinary!) Furthermore, hertrauma protocol is developmentallyand culturally appropriate. What isingenious about the protocol is thatwith the use of children’s drawing itincorporates all of the importantelements for successful evidence-based intervention with the use ofexposure-trauma narrative and cogni-tive reframing. She explained thatdrawing itself is an arousal reductionexperience and therefore she did notneed to use the relaxation/coping skillstraining used in evidence-basedtrauma-focused CBT. Her initialresearch results suggest that this isindeed the case.

From a theoretical perspective Iwould like to boldly share myspeculation that Dr. Kang’ethe’sprotocol may, via reflective dialogue,be increasing the child’s “affectregulation” (for example; the work ofAllan N. Schore and Peter Fonagy) incombination with the therapeuticprocess itself providing a “safe baseand safe haven” (e.g., Circle ofSecurity

©and Circle of Safety

©Glen

Cooper, Kent Hoffman, RobertMarvin and Bert Powell, 2000) forchildren. That is, whilst focusing onthe integration of traumatic memories

(as per information processing theory,which theoretically supports theefficacy of exposure therapy), theremay be in fact be other core processeswithin the protocol (includingreflective functioning and affectregulation) contributing to the successof the protocol. This speculation isbased on contemporary interdisci-plinary findings in developmentalaffective neuroscience and neuropsy-chiatry, which have convincingtheoretical and empirical evidence tosuggest the important role of reflectivefunctioning and affect regulation forthe developing mind (e.g., the work ofAllan N. Schore, Peter Fonagy, DanSiegel, Bessel van der Kolk). For me,the theoretical implications of Dr.Kang’ethe’s protocol are as exciting asthe preliminary positive outcomes forchildren with PTSD in Kenya.

It is my opinion that Dr.Kang’ethe’s clinical protocol iselegant in its simplicity and sophis-ticated in its process. However, thereis always a risk of misuse orexploitation when an apparently“simple” approach gains validity (e.g.,front page news: “Get kids to draw tocure PTSD”). The protocol mayappear simple but it involves a detailedclinical interview and assessment todiagnose PTSD as well as the“holding” environment of a specialisttrained child and adolescent psychia-trist. My caution is based on respect forDr. Kang’ethe’s work, and myunderstandings of the roles of theoreti-cal conjecture through my specialisttraining as a clinical psychologistwithin the scientist-practitioner model.To ensure adequate replication of theprotocol, I suggest that implementationbe restricted to trained specialists.

I am hopeful that aninternational collaboration betweenmyself, Drs. Kang’ethe and DoloresGarcia-Moreno is possible and I willbe endeavoring to travel to Kenya forthe World Psychiatric Association(WPA) conference in March, 2007.Due to the multicultural andindigenous population of children andadolescents within Australia, and the

universal applicability of thisdevelopmentally sensitive protocol, ithas much local relevance to myclinical work. However, as much as Ido not want to lose the momentum ofIACAPAP 2006, I am not affiliatedwith a South Australian University(prevented by the tyranny of distance –the closest uni is a six-hour round trip)and my renewed enthusiasm forresearch will require some creativegroundwork. My desire to be involvedwith international collaborativeresearch will need to be balanced withthe reality that I am the only residentialClinical Psychologist specializing inchild and adolescent mental healthwithin my region. Therefore, from apurely pragmatic clinical perspective,I “need” to use effective interventionsthat take the shortest possible time toget the best possible outcomes. This iswhy Dr. Kang’ethe’s protocol excitesme so much!

My grateful thanks go to Drs.Andrés Martin and Joseph Rey and theentire IACAPAP Donald CohenFellowship team for making it allpossible – I am “stoked” (Australianslang for “delighted or exhilarated”)!

Rebecca Coleman, Ph.D.Port Lincoln, South Australia,

Australiareb@centralonline.com.au

Research, Whether withRags or Riches: HelpingEach Other Help Children

At first glance, child and adolescentpsychiatrists from developed anddeveloping countries have verydifferent interests, and very differentresources. Most of the German fellowsattending the IACAPAP Conferencedo biological research using multi-channel EEG, MRI, and genetic or cellbiology assays. Fellows fromdeveloping countries reported thatthey need research in such things asthe epidemiology of certain disorders

19

4

in their home countries (e.g. Sri Lanka,Nigeria), the prevalence of certainconditions such as child abuse(Yemen), or the efficacy ofcommunity based mental healthprograms (Yemen, Egypt).

In Germany, the profession ofchild and adolescent psychiatry israther young but well-established, thetreatment is covered by healthinsurance, advanced technologicaltools are accessible, and the economyand medical research infrastructure iscomplex enough to support somehighly specialized projects. Indeveloping nations, there may be onlya handful of child and adolescentpsychiatrists in an entire country, thefield is often not held in high esteemeither by the public or by thegovernment, and funding andlegislative support for child mentalhealth is correspondingly weak.Health systems generally suffer fromlow funding and are focused onessential medical needs. Technologysuch as MRI devices is seldomavailable. Public health and clinicalcare take priority over basic research.

When child and adolescentpsychiatrists from the developed anddeveloping world meet at a scientificconference, as we have under theauspices of the Donald J. CohenFellowship, the obvious questiontherefore is, “Can we help eachother?” Which is to say, “How can wehelp each other help children?” Whileforming personal and professionalrelationships is a good first step, thenext one is to carefully consider theopportunities for cooperation, as wellas the obstacles.

If we choose to think not aboutthe specific substance of our researchbut rather the tools we use, we see thatresearchers in developed and develop-ing nations face some similarchallenges. Questions arise out of ourdaily clinical work. We must reframethose into more precise researchquestions, and devise an adequateresearch approach. This requiresaccess to the existing research litera-ture, as well as resources such as WHO

reports (for scientists in the developingcountries, the JACCAP is now freelyavailable through the HINARIinitiative [www.jaacap.com]). Webforums such as medscape offer freeaccess to some scientific journals andcongressreports –www.medscape.com/welcome/journals

In order to come up with a goodresearch design, case studies can be afirst step to becoming more familiarwith the topic. We need to find goodassessment tools (some question-naires, such as the VanderbiltAssessment Scales or the Kiddie-SADS are available free of charge. Thelibrary website of the University ofAdelaide gives a detailed list of allpsychiatric rating scales and diagnosticaids available online[www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/med/menthealth/scales.html?template=print].)

To learn the methods andconduct a study requires thatresearchers understand validity,reliability and specificity, and alsoconsider cultural appropriateness andcost effectiveness. Young researchersface financial constraints in both thedeveloped and developing countries,and those oblige us all to acquireexpertise in raising funds, andespecially in writing grant applications.

Last but not least, we have toanalyze and interpret the data, andpresent our conclusions to the researchcommunity. Generating publishableresearch demands in-depth knowledgeof higher-level statistics, and manychild and adolescent psychiatrists lacksuch knowledge. Researchers who arenot native-speakers of English mayface the added obstacle of language,struggling both with writing articlesand with choosing an appropriatejournal to submit their articles to.These are all areas where skills andinformation can be usefully sharedbetween child and adolescent psychia-trists from any part of the world.

A group of German biologicalresearchers have formed an organi-zation called YIBcap, as a means ofencouraging such sharing. While our

research priorities are not the same asthose typical of developing nations,our knowledge of research tools, andour experience in creating the “socialcapital” (Shortt, 2004) of a researchnetwork are things we feel can beuseful to researchers in developingnations. The skills for doing research,and of organizing researchers into pro-ductive work teams, are not, in general,capital-intensive or unique to biologi-cal research. We present a brief historyof our creation of YIBcap, and invitesuggestions for further co-operation.

In 2005 we founded “YoungInvestigators in Biological Child andAdolescent Psychiatry” with the goalof intensifying collaboration betweenall professions conducting biologicalresearch in child and adolescentpsychiatry, and to increase quality andefficiency of our research (Ehrlich andStegemann, 2006). Currently thegroup comprises 33 members frommore than ten different Germanuniversity hospitals and differentspecialties – physicians, psychologists,biologists and statisticians. Allmembers communicate via web-basedgroup software and our ownhomepage (www.yibcap.de). Weshare new clinical and scientificknowledge, get quick advice on openquestions (e.g. statistical matters) andcollaborate on scientific projects. Inaddition we rely on an expert panel ofseven internationally renowned senioradvisors – all senior faculty members inchild and adolescent or adult psychiatry– who help young researchers withtheir methodological knowledge,writing skills, fundraising techniquesand contacts. Eventually some of oursenior faculty members will go beyondadvice and instruction and engage intoa trusting and caring mentor–menteerelationship (Martin, 2005). In thecontext of existing scientificcongresses we organize meetingswhere experts give workshops inresearch methods such as statisticalmultivariate analysis, gene linkageanalysis, or diffusion tensor imaging

Already in the first year of ournetwork we’ve had many successes.

20

We have contributed to the translationand adaptation of questionnairesregarding deliberate self-harm, to astudy of diagnostic issues in ADHD,to the genotyping of patients witheating disorders, and to the sharing ofneuronal cell lines. We were able tohold our own symposium at theIACAPAP Conference in 2006, andhave received official recognition andsupport from the German Associationof Child and Adolescent Psychiatryand Psychotherapy.

Despite these achievements, wefind that there are still manychallenges. Funding for travel is hardto find. Mailing lists need to bemoderated and protected to preventmisuse. Maintaining a website islabor-intensive, as is organizingmeetings. One has to be cautious not todissipate one´s energies in admin-istrative work.

Belonging to a rather smallspecialty within medicine, we feel thatthere is a great need for child andadolescent psychiatrists around theworld to get to know each other, stayin touch, discuss recent advances inclinical care and research, as well ashelp each other with resources,methodology and contacts. E-communication and web logs are anefficient and affordable way to makeuse of this form of social capital. Web-based group software (e.g. google-groups, yahoogroups) is free, andoffers the distribution of e-mails to allgroup members, archiving of messages,file sharing, and polls.

As a first result of the DJCFellowship Program a web log hasbeen created to facilitate communi-cation between young child andadolescent psychiatrist from manycountries(www.djcohenfellows.blogspot.com).

We also invite interestedresearchers to join YIBcap as guest-members. We are especially interestedin fostering dialogue with researchersin the developing world.

Young researchers benefit inany field of research and in anycontext if they agree to share their

knowledge and cooperate on researchtasks. Time and cost-efficient meansto communicate as a group areavailable through the internet. In orderto benefit from external resources andfoster the seriousness of suchnetworks, a board of seniorresearchers as advisors is highlyrecommended. In the midst of all ourspecialized research – the tracing of aspecific receptor, the function of asubtle brain structure or gene – weshould not forget our primary goal isto serve the needs of children andadolescents, and to improve the mentalhealth of the general population.Dialogue between child andadolescent psychiatrists from all overthe world reminds us of this mostimportant aim of our work, whether inbiological research, epidemiology, orcommunity-based psychiatry.

AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank all DJCFellows, the mentor of our group, Dr. Gordon Harper, the organizingcommittee, and Drs. Andrés Martinand Joseph M. Rey for theirengagement, enthusiasm and thoughtfulcontributions.

A longer version of this articlehas been submitted for publication toEuropean Child and AdolescentPsychiatry. Parts of it are reprintedhere with permission of the Journal.

Stefan Ehrlich, MDBerlin, Germany

stefan.ehrlich@charite.de

Nicolas Jefferson-Lenskyj, MABrisbane, Australia

S4114479@student.uq.edu.au

Paul L. Plener, MDUlm, Germany

Paul.Plener@uniklinik-ulm.de

References

Ehrlich S. and Stegemann T. (2006).Young Investigators in BiologicalChild and Adolescent Psychiatry(YIBcap) – Insights after one Year ofNetworking. Z Kinder Jugend-psychiatr Psychother (in press)

Martin A. (2005) Ignition sequence: on mentorship. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.44: 1225-1229.

Shortt SE (2004) Making sense of social capital, healthand policy. Health Policy. 70:11-22.

Creating Our Own Paths:Peer Mentorship AmongWomen in the DonaldCohen Fellowship

The invitation came: apply to come toMelbourne, be a part of the mentorshipprogram, join our enterprise for a weekand learn about the work of theInternational Association of Child andAdolescent Psychiatry and AlliedProfessions. I was tempted, intrigued,and then decided that going toAustralia for a week was highly“impractical,” especially given that Iwould have to leave behind myEnglish-professor husband, whose fallsemester at the local state universitywould be just beginning . . .

A week later I found myselfcompleting an abstract, a personalstatement, and an updated CV inrecord time – and in time for theDonald Cohen Fellowship Programdeadline. Something within me wasmoving toward this experience andpropelling me to think beyond whatwas practical and on to what was possible.

When I received word that Iwould join the Cohen Fellowship asone of the United States delegates Iwas excited, a bit apprehensive aboutthe long flight to Australia, regretfulthat as my husband and I work tobalance our personal lives and twoprofessional careers, his professionalpriorities would have him stay at homefor this trip. I was eager to finally havean opportunity to present some of theschool consultation work that had beena focus during my last year of childpsychiatry training. I wondered whomI would meet at this conference half

21

4

way around the world—who would beour mentors, in what ways would Ihave opportunities to mentor othersand in turn receive mentorship to helpguide my career path.

As we convened for theCongress and the fellowship program,one of the first things that I noticedwas that, as a woman, I was part of aminority group. Approximately one-third of our fifty delegates werewomen, which was a notable contrastto most of my experiences to date as amedical student and resident, wheremen and women had been fairly equalin numbers. While we continued tocongregate in co-ed groups throughoutthe week, our fewer numbers seemedto encourage especially salientconnections among the fellows whowere women.

Another American woman andI discovered quickly that we were bothearly-risers and enjoyed breakfast andeven an early morning souvenirshopping trip as we discussed our ownrecent and pending career decisions.Themes of choosing to live quitedistant from husbands in order to takeadvantage of professional opportuni-ties for training or academic workemerged as quite common. We sharedstories of flying or driving longdistances to visit “home” whilepursuing residency training. The ninetymiles each way that I had once drivenon the freeway between work and homewere dwarfed by my peer’s descriptionof leaving her home country to seekchild and adolescent psychiatrytraining thousands of miles away.

As a sub-group of womendelegates, we were joined by a handfulof women mentors who brought theirown stories forward. OlayinkaOmigbodun of Nigeria modeled aleadership role for us as she describedthe positive impact that being first amentee and now a mentor in theprogram had had on her own career.Vicky Cowling of Australia andChohye Park of New Zealand acted asour “local” hosts in the smallmentorship group to which I wasassigned, and they facilitated our

group discussions while they sharedtheir own professional stories.

Dr. Kathryn Ko, a neuro-surgeon with whom I rotated as amedical student in New York Citydescribes the task of the womanphysician with these assertions:

“[W]e have inherited aprofession whose lifestyle isdifficult to reconcile with thebasic definition of what it isto be a woman. Women aretherefore unlikely to travelthe road that many of themen took because the stepsthey left for us are toonarrow for all the roles welive. The medical professionmay eventually evolve toaccommodate our needsand our biology, but untilthen it is up to women tocreate the means to buildcareers and lives that bringsatisfaction.” (Chin, 2002)

In Melbourne, I witnessedexample after example of how each ofus were finding paths that were not“traditional” but were serving ourdesired balance of personal andprofessional goals. I also consideredwhat support networks were necessaryto make this all possible. A specialmember of one mentorship group wasthe infant son of a delegate fromSweden. I watched this mother andprofessional gracefully balance theneeds of her child with her own desireto participate in the Congress and oursmall group activities. Other womendelegates shared tips with each otherabout how to use the local phonesystem to call home and I wasreminded that the communitysupporting the efforts of the CohenFellows that week in Melbourne wasspread throughout the world andincluded grandmothers home watchingchildren, partners tending to our homesso that all would be in order when wereturned, and colleagues taking care ofour patients and administrative dutieswhile we were away.

As I left Melbourne, theconcept of “peer mentorship,” or howwe share experiences, support, and

advice with others of a similar stage ofcareer development, emerged asperhaps the most important aspect ofmy Donald Cohen fellowship partici-pation. By bringing together youngresearchers and leaders in the field ofchild and adolescent mental healthunder the guidance of more seniormentors, IACAPAP created thecontext in which we could identifycommon struggles and learn from eachother as fellow mentees. This type ofmentorship relationship calls for eachof us to find both wisdom andquestions within us and to have thecourage to offer both to our colleagues.

During our weeklong programthere were as many career pathsrepresented as there were youngprofessionals attending the Congress.We had each found our way toMelbourne for reasons known andbeyond knowing. As I left theCongress, I sensed myself as part of anetwork of both men and women,supporting each other and challengingeach other to move beyond traditionalideas of career development towardmodels that allow for “goodness of fit”between our professional roles and thepersonal lives we wish to live.

Susan Milam Miller, MDSanta Rosa, CA, USA

susan.milam@stanfordalumni.org

ReferenceChin, EL (2002). This Side of Doctoring: Reflectionsfrom Women in Medicine.Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.

Congress Bag ColourChoice: A Cross-SectionalNaturalistic Study

Background and RationaleA bag is a personal thing. It hasusually an affective value and it hasgot many symbolic meanings. Forexample, it may represent somebody’swealth, according to Mesopotamian

22

4

civilization, or the uterus for a woman(don’t ask). For the Old Testament, itmeans the place where the lifeprinciple is saved. The choice of a bag(shape, colour...) may reflect someaspects of the personality, andaccording to recent theories, the colourof one’s bag may even reflect theimportance of patriotism.

The organizing committee ofthe 17th IACAPAP Congress inMelbourne offered delegates manychoices of colours for their Congressbags, probably in order to secretlyevaluate the personality of everyparticipant and to keep the IACAPAPfree from any “spies” from otherorganizations. Our aims through thisstudy were first to describe the bagchoices of delegates, and then to assessfactors determining the choice ofcolours, leading to the definition ofrisk and protective factors. We alsowanted through this work to give anextra presentation, leading probably to a publication, (always good for one’sCV) and to create for our speciality a pole of expertise in the new field of research in bags and related phenomena.

MethodologyA cross-sectional comparative studywas conducted during the Congress inthe Melbourne Convention Centre.The period was defined as “wheneverit was possible.” The only inclusioncriterion was being a Donald J CohenFellow, and exclusion criteria were:fellow not seen by authors and/orbeing Susan Milam-Miller (for a longand complicated story involving twoChinese restaurants with the samename – actually the story is not so longand complicated; you can probablyfigure it out from that synopsis). Thecontrol group consisted of the DonaldJ. Cohen Fellowship Program mentors,matched for gender, but not for age(for very evident reasons.) Datacollection procedures were our nakedeyes (sometimes reinforced by opticrefracting systems, more commonlyknown as glasses), semi-structuredinterviews through direct yes/noquestions to subjects (when it was too

late). Statistical analysis was per-formed with SPSS 13 for with use ofchi square or Pearson correlationcoefficients as needed, primarily toimpress people in the bar.

After long discussions andmeetings, the authors decided thatnobody really cares about theunderlying ethics and informedconsent and all that other stuff.

ResultsResults were obtained for fellows in 28 genuine findings and eight(completely) invented ones. 15 weremissing at the end of the study. Formentors only four findings out of 17were obtained because of a high rate ofbag dropouts. Considering this lack ofdata, the mentors’ group was finallyexcluded from the study for statisticalreasons.

The general prevalence ofcolours for the chosen bags issummarized in figure 1, showing ahigher preference for blue, followedby orange. No significant differencewas observed between boys and girls(fig 2), even if some colours wereexclusively chosen by males, like greenand grey. However, regression analysisshowed that Indian boys prefer orange(p<0.001), whilst Hungarian girlsprefer blue (p=0.005)… and someAmerican boys prefer German girls(David Copperfield–Claudia Schiffer/Andre Agassi – Steffi Graff), but theseare the first results of the pilot phase ofanother study to be conducted soon asa pharmacological trial with a combin-ation of psychostimulants and SSRIsand koala pheromones.

Patriotism was evaluated by themeans of a very (a really very) compli-cated algorithm calculating theprobability of the presence of thechosen colour in the national flag andin the national team clothes, excludingsocks arbitrarily. It showed (fig 3) ahigher level of patriotism in partici-pants from America, and an almostcomplete absence of patriotism infellows from Africa. Australiandelegates were considered asbelonging to Asia to avoid very smallsubgroup sizes, and anyhow, it was

very legitimate for authors to take anydecision they wanted. The continentthat showed more variety in colourswas Asia.

DiscussionThis work has of course somelimitations: small sample size, highcomorbidity, and not really attractiveaesthetics of bags. Some selection biascould not be avoided, for instance thepink bags disappeared at the beginningof the study because TBA, themysterious Australian host fellow,took them all for his Barbie collection.

Furthermore, many bagsdisappeared during the congress andsome hypothesises can be made:

Baby fellow from Sweden confusedthem with diapers?

Explorers Hotel (that Fine Estab-lishment) signalled the presence ofHungry Jack’s burgers in Braziliandelegates’ rooms.

The major points to bediscussed will be displayed as a seriesof questions with possible answers:

German delegates mostly chose blue: Is it because world is covered

with water?Or were they feeling blue?Or did they want to look like

Italians to win the World Cup?

Some Australian and New Zealanderfellows did not need bags: Authorssuppose that maybe some of them arereally marsupials.

ConclusionA new area of research is now open forExplorers (get it?). However, cohort,multi-sited, placebo-controlled studiesare needed. At least with all thesecolours, Donald J Cohen Fellows werereally committed to (what else?)nurturing diversity.

DisclosuresThis study received a special grantfrom the MAECELO SCHMITZ

FOUNDATION (a well known charityinstitution in Brazil). It is intended ingood faith and to do harm, but anylegal claims or lawsuits should beaddressed to Dr. Andres Martin, Yale

23

University, USA and Dr. Joe Rey,University of Sydney, Australia.

Naoufel Gaddour, MDMonastir, Tunisianaoufel@gmx.net

Cristian Zeni, MDPorto Alegre, Brazilcpzeni@gmail.com

fig. 1 prevalence of each colour.

fig. 2. choice of colour according togender (p=0,097, NS)

fig. 3. patriotism according tocontinent

Spring in Melbourne

Two years ago, I attended the 16thIACAPAP Congress in Berlin as aDonald J. Cohen Fellow. This was myfirst time attending an internationalcongress overseas. There, I learned somuch about child and adolescentmental health – and I also learnedmany English words. Thanks to thisexperience, I was able to publish twopapers in a prestigious English journalthis year. And also thanks to thisexperience, I decided to join TsinghuaUniversity. The university is located inBeijing, where it is far easier for me tostay informed about what is happeningaround the world of child andadolescent psychiatry.

Tsinghua University is perhapsthe most famous school in China;collected here are many of the bestprofessors and students in the land.But our psychiatry department wasjust set up one year ago, by only a veryfew of us, and I was left wonderingabout all the things that I needed to doand how I might be able to develop myresearch in the future.

This year I was very honored toattend the 17th IACAPAP Conferencein Melbourne, again as a Donald J.Cohen Fellow. At this Congress I wasable to meet many old friends, whichin itself was a great experience. AsDonald J. Cohen fellows, we weredivided into eight groups in order toimprove communication by allowingus to meet other people in a moreindividualized setting. Every grouphad one international mentor, oneAustralian/New Zealand mentor, onehost fellow and seven fellows fromdifferent countries. In our group, wediscussed every fellow’s research andwhat they wanted to do in the future.Our mentors were kind and providedpatient answers to everyone’s questions.Between the fellows ourselves, we feltlike brothers and sisters, through ourwillingness to help each other. It waslike being part of one big family.

Of all the experiences we hadduring this Spring in Melbourne,perhaps this small group was the very

best part, and where I gained mostfrom the Congress. Not only did I havethe chance to develop my research forthe future, but I also felt energized.Yes! There were so many experiencedchild and adolescent psychiatristsdiligently working and persistentlycaring for us. And there are so manyDonald J. Cohen Fellows who work allover the world to help and encourageeach other.

Zhu Yan, MDBeijing, China

zhuyan4895025@hotmail.com

Connecting Theory withLife, Professionals withPeople, and Cohen Fellowswith Each Other

I left the 17th World IACAPAPCongress with so many ideas, and soexcited about the information I hadgained and the friends I had made.IACAPAP 17th World Congress hasbeen one of the best conferences Ihave ever attended: varied, interesting,and engaging, friendly, great venueand speakers, great Cohen Fellowship... it has certainly given everyone a lotto think about

Attending the conference wasintimidating, inspiring, perplexing,exciting, overwhelming, and stimu-lating all at the same time. Havingpreviously been a psychology major,my background in the field ofmedicine was limited and hence myexperiences far exceed my knowledge.However, I had just recentlycompleted a Master of Science inMedicine. Being surrounded bypsychiatrists and highly educatedpeople from all over the world, as I satin the forums and mentoring programsfor the Cohen fellows where the latestnews and research was beingdiscussed, I couldn’t help but feeloverwhelmed by the level ofknowledge around me. I found theresearch, presentations, and poster

24

1 2 1

96

1 7

0

5

1 0

1 5

2 0

blue red green grey orange yellow

02468

101214

girls

boys

0

2

4

6

8

1 0

1 2

not pa triotpa triot

4

presentations significantly beneficial.It was awe-inspiring for me to thinkthat I, too, possessed such a wealth ofknowledge that could be used to helppeople.

As a person who identifies asan Australian Aboriginal, the conceptof connecting is a focus of our people.It is important for us to connect andcome together as one. My highlightcame as I was asked to be one of theCohen Fellows to do a presentation.My presentation focused on theimportance of connecting not justphysically and emotionally, but alsospiritually to help aide in healing andacceptance. I was able to share myexperience as someone who lived in aremote and rural area. I was able toshare my experiences regardingsuicide intervention and preventionand working with the body, soul, andspirit of a person that enabled all 206of my clients in one year to go on andlive a fruitful life without feelingsuicidal. Just as many professionalsfrom developing countries aredisadvantaged, I was able to share thedisadvantages Aboriginal people andpeople living in rural and remote areasof Australia experience. I was alsoable to impart hope, a sense ofbelonging, and encouragement tothose of developing countries throughoffering resources, knowledge, andsupport where it could be given.

My head was full of knowledgeafter attending the conference. I gainedfurther vocabulary and methods toeffectively work within my role as apsychologist, and learned that there areleaders inside of all us, that they arenot born, but can and should be taughtat every level. I learned to believe inmyself and to help others believe inthemselves, and share my ideas,thoughts, and challenges so that theymay became an inspiration to otherswho may be struggling.

The Donald Cohen fellowshipmentoring program for Psychiatristsand Allied Professionals was wellorganised and highly professional indelivering services to meet itsobjectives. The Cohen fellow program

succeeded in recognising thesignificant knowledge and experienceof all participants, and successfullymet individual and organisationalgoals including providing increasedaccess to support and resources, andimproving clinical leadership skills. Ifound the Donald Cohen Fellowship tobe a thoughtful, creative andstimulating environment, an unexpectedtreat at a conference. I felt enriched bythe speakers, Cohen poster presen-tations, and the interesting array ofCohen fellows. My experience withthe Donald Cohen fellowship haveprovided more opportunities for methat I could have possibly imaginedand I am grateful for those who haveplayed a role in making myexperiences possible.

Having a community of Cohenfellows around me has given me astrong base from which to face andembrace life as a professional. ThisCohen fellows community may giveus encouragement to face situationsthat are undoubtedly more difficult forothers than for ourselves; the wisdomto realize that while some things aremore difficult, they are neverimpossible; and the strength to pursuethe passions we hold.

As Donald Cohen fellows weneed to continue to reach out to otherprofessionals, connect them withpractical support and resources andensure that research and knowledgereflect and support rapidly changingprofessional practice. We mustremember that we are building long-term relationships of acceptance,respect, and care. The same qualitiesof compatibility, acceptance, respect,mutuality and caring that we asprofessionals should have are what weneed to also exhibit to our patients.

Connecting is incrediblyimportant. ‘Only connect’ shouldperhaps be adopted as the motto ofprofessionals because of the import-ance of connecting. Professionals whohave a desire to build relationships andenhance their professional develop-ment and contribute to their com-munity, will ultimately enhance the

professional and client care theyprovide.

Effective clinical engagementhas the potential to improve services,enhance the client’s experience andthe outcomes of their treatment.However clinical engagement mustamount to more than a vague sense ofbelonging. We should be ready to workwith each other across organisationaland professional boundaries, sharingexpertise and speaking with one voice,practice sharing our ideas, experiencesand/or beliefs with each other. Thebetter we can become at this practicethen the deeper and more long lastingwill be our relationships. Indeed, asCohen fellows, our contact with eachother will have a transformation on usand we will have a transformation onothers.

What struck a chord with me themost at the conference was discoveringthat no matter how big, small, rich orpoor a country is, similar problems arefaced almost everywhere – discon-nection of people from their com-munities. I strongly believe that thisconference helped a lot of peoplerealize that it is a universal issue andone not just isolated in their country.The compassion and dedication of allthat attended was unbelievable.

My desire is to continue to bean active part of the Donald Cohenfellows. On my flight back home torural Queensland, I realised theimportance of continuing to be a partof the Donald Cohen fellowshipcommunity. I sat thinking about theimpact of that week’s experiences andthe people I had met at the conference.In truth I didn’t fully understand theimportance of this new communitywhile I was attending the conference. Ibelieve that understanding and fullyrecognizing the importance of thisDonald Cohen community of people isa lifelong task. In one week I madefriends who had the same passion anddesire as I did, and allowed me todiscuss freely my research ideas -friends who will be with me as Iaccomplish goals throughout my life.

25

I am thankful to have found thisDonald Cohen fellowship communityand to have been accepted as a part ofit. The impact it has had on my lifewas priceless, setting many things intomotion and pushing me to a greaterlevel and passion of life. Connectingtheory with life, professionals withpeople, Cohen fellows with each other,has been and will continue to be anexciting journey.

Elizabeth Benson-Stott, MDQueensland, Australia

ebstott@integriplan.com

Past Stigma and Onwards!

My experience during the IACAPAPcongress was a very memorable one. Ienjoyed meeting a diversity of somany people all working for onecause. I enjoyed sharing experienceswith people from different parts of theWorld and learning that we are all stillgrappling with similar challenges. Aclear example is the way mental healthis viewed by people, especially indeveloping countries.

This is especially true of thesecrecy and the stigma for those withmental health problems. Because ofthis, mental health service provision isgiven few budget allocations bygovernments; there are few profes-sionals in the area; and there is a lot ofignorance about child psychiatry andmuch to learn within the fieldgenerally.

In my country we are paying alot of attention to mental healthproblems related to HIV/AIDS andconflict, but what about ADHD that isunattended to in schools? Could thatbe one reason why we have so manydrop outs of schools, and does it affectrisk-taking behaviors later in life? Orcould that be a reason why we have somany grown ups in public offices whobehave like their upbringing was notproper?

For me IACAPAP opened myeyes to so many issues that I want tosee investigated, and I look forward tocontinuing with this investigation.

Grace Robinah OnyangoKenya

grace_onyango@wvi.org

Clouds One Through Nine

I was one of fifty privileged with anaward for a Donald Cohen Fellowshipto the 17th World Congress of theInternational Association for Childand Adolescent Psychiatry and AlliedProfessions( IACAPAP) held from the10th–14th of September 2006 inMelbourne. I returned home verymuch on ‘cloud nine.’

Firstly, it was a most enrichingand exhilarating cognitive experience,to open one’s mind to the research ofcolleagues from the global village. Igawked in wonder at the ‘state of theart’ advances of the science of mindand neurobiology. Brilliantly illus-trated by functional neuroimaging,James Leckman’s talk wove ascientific tale showing “the hand thatrocks the cradle rules the world.”This, expressed in proper scientificlanguage, extols that “there are criticaldevelopmental windows during whichthe genetically determined micro-circuitry of key limbic– hypothalamic–midbrain structures are susceptible toearly environmental influences andthese influences powerfully shape anindividual’s responsivity to psycho-social stressors and their resiliency orvulnerability to various forms ofhuman psychopathology later in life.”This is but one of the manyneuroscience-supported truths thatwere expounded by researchers fromall over the world.

Secondly, the global village didnot seem quite that big andintimidating when the famous namesyou read of in journals become ‘alive’

as senior colleagues who are kind andgenerous and who take an interest inyour professional and personaldevelopment. It is uplifting to sit at thesame table with professionals from thedifferent corners of the earth, who lovechildren and have a passion towardsdoing all they can to help them growup happy and contented in thedifferent lands they live in. It was anenriching experience to exchangeideas and build friendships withpeople who have a heart for thechildren of the world, from Barbadosand Nigeria to Australia, America andChina.

Third, deep discussions on thepromotion of mental health amongstchildren and adolescents from diversecultures and peoples meant honestsharing of the secrets of what workedand what didn’t, so that others canavoid the pitfalls. These discussions,and the other flights of fancy thateventually left me on cloud nine, illustrated that the basic needs ofchildren even from diverse lands andcultures is but the same – “to be lovedso they can love in return” – that is, tobe nurtured.

Susan TanMalaysia

susan@mail.hukm.ukm.my

Lessons From Melbourne

I got to know about the IACAPAPconference through my Child andAdolescent unit consultant. My firstthoughts were. “Australia? That’s theend of the world!!” I have alwaysenjoyed travelling, but even in mydreams had never gone as far as thatcontinent. I couldn’t imagine myselftravelling from Nigeria to Australia.My few impressions of Australia wereof cowboys and aborigines derivedfrom Australian films like ‘The Manfrom Snowy River’ and from theSydney Olympics.

26

4

4

4

And so began my journey toAustralia. There were numerousobstacles, chief amongst them gettingthe visa. Australian visas had to beprocessed via another country, SouthAfrica, and this could take as long assix weeks or more, which was time mycolleagues and I didn’t have. Gettingall our documents together also wasn’tan easy task, but finally we hadeverything ready. To our amazement,the visas arrived after only two shortweeks. The departure day finallyarrived, and posters were polished upat the last minute. The journey was ablur, 21 hours flying and six hoursbetween flights. It was interesting notknowing if it was day or night.

The city of Melbournewelcomed us with its beauty andserenity. It was ‘home’ away fromhome.’ I even got to taste sometraditional Nigerian foods there! Theconference was one big family. I wasreally impressed by the warm, familiarenvironment. Everyone knew everyonethrough someone else. The mentoringwas great. I was impressed by the realinterest of everyone, especially thementors. Before this conference I wasnot fully decided on what would comenext, after my general psychiatrytraining, but the experience helped memake up my mind. Here was a groupof specialists who really cared abouttheir clients and about each another. Iwanted to be a part of them. The spiritof Professor Donald Cohen lives on,and I am really grateful for the chanceto have gotten a glimpse of this greatman and what he stood for.

Tolulope Theresa Bella MB,BSIbadan, Nigeria

bellatt2002@yahoo.com

We’re Raising Children,Not Flowers!

It was an honor to attend my firstIACAPAP meeting in the historic andfuturistic city of Melbourne, especiallyas a proud recipient of a Donald J.Cohen Fellowship, which made itpossible for me to attend.

Melbourne is a city with a richhistory of change, adaptation, andintegration. As such, I thought it wasthe perfect place to host a congress thatbrought together scientists fromdiverse scientific perspectives andexpertise and from regions around theworld. As a Cohen Fellow, I felt I wasgiven a unique opportunity to meet agreat number of fellow scholars, withwhom I thoroughly enjoyed exchangingviews and experiences.

For me, the 17th WorldCongress of the IACAPAP was anunforgettable and immensely stimu-lating experience. It was a trulyinteractive, mind-opening, interdisci-plinary and multicultural event. I hopethat we all made new friends withwhom we will continue to stay incontact throughout our workingcareers.

What impressed me deeply wasthe diversity of ideas about raising andeducating children, especially betweencertain Western countries and China.From discussions with colleagues, itseemed that Western parents tend topay more attention to their children’sindependence, self-renewal and wholedevelopment. In China, the policy ofone child per family, producingchildren without siblings, begantowards the end of the 1970s, and hasraised questions about education anddevelopment in the family. There issome thought that this has led to agreater focus on children’s bodies,knowledge and intelligence, than ontheir social development, disparateabilities and unique personalities.

Even so, there are some aspectsof the parent-child relationship thattranscend such cultural boundaries. Iheard a story in Melbourne, deliveredby a famous scholar, and it shook me

up. David, the scholar’s next-doorneighbor, has two kids aged five andseven. One day, he was teaching hisseven-year-old son, Kelly, how to usethe lawn mower. As he was teachinghim how to turn the mower around atthe end of the lawn, his wife, Jan,called to him to ask a question. AsDavid turned to answer the question,Kelly pushed the lawn mower rightthrough the flowerbed at the edge ofthe lawn – clearing a two-foot widepath through the carefully-tendedflowerbed. It was leveled to theground! When David turned backaround and saw what had happened,he almost lost control. He had spent avast amount of time and effort makingthose flowerbeds the envy of theneighborhood. As he began to raise hisvoice to his son, Jan walked quicklyover to him, put her hand on hisshoulder and said, “David, pleaseremember … we're raising children,not flowers.”

This story reminded me howimportant it is as a parent to rememberour priorities. Kids and their self-esteem are more important than anyphysical object they might break ordestroy. The windowpane shattered bya baseball, a lamp knocked over by acareless child, or a plate dropped in thekitchen have all now been broken; theflowers are already dead. We mustremember not to add to this destruc-tion by breaking a child’s spirit anddeadening his or her sense ofliveliness. Let’s remember that ourchildren’s spirits are more importantthan materials things. When we do,self-esteem and love blossom and willgrow more beautifully than any bed offlowers ever could.

This brings me to a final pointabout the congress. It was the informalinteractions and conversations thatremain most important. I was fortunateenough to take part in the Donald J.Cohen Fellowship program, a trulyinternational group of researchers andclinicians from a range of differentdisciplines, with different perspectivesand different skills. We all, however,shared the same interest in learning

27

from one another. I hope thatMelbourne 2006 was a place and atime during which internationalresearch collaborations were fosteredthat will continue long into the future.

Yonghua CuiBeijing, China

cyh7410@sina.com

Iraqi Children and Trauma;An Overview of the Current Situation andClinical Experience

Psychological reactions to severestress have been recorded forthousands of years, and exposure totraumatic events and situations isincreasingly common, especially insome environments.

In the last few decades, Iraq hasexperienced multiple wars, religiousgenocide and more than ten years ofeconomic sanctions. Continuing threatsof violence lead to chronic feelings ofinsecurity, increased lawlessness,criminality, and inter-communaltensions. The consequent deprivation,oppression, and the loss of parentsthrough imprisonment, death, separa-tion or dislocation of families,exposure to violence, religious andpolitical persecution, and torture hasresulted in chronic social instability,educational failure, increased truancy,involvement in crime and drug abuse.This has been reinforced by isolationfrom the global community.

As a result, Iraqi children andadolescents have experienced manytraumas and losses, which have lead tosignificant increases in the incidenceof emotional and behavioral disorders.Estimates of the lifetime prevalence ofPTSD in the general population range

from 1% to 14%. Iraq, with apopulation of around 27 million, halfof them under 16, has virtually nocomprehensive services for child andadolescent mental health. Communitybased study is difficult in suchcircumstances, due to insecurity, lackof research tools and financialresources. PTSD and acute stressdisorders represent around 2.5% of thepatients attending the child psychiatricclinic in the central teaching hospitalfor pediatrics in Baghdad. Thisunexpected low rate may be due topoor public awareness, stigmatization,somatisation, and an inadequatereferral system.

Abdul Karim S. Mahdi AlObedyMDIraq

kareemobedy60@yahoo.com

28

4

PARTICIPANTS: DONALD J. COHEN FELLOWSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS

IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED PROFESSIONS

International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions XVII World Congress: Nurturing Diversity

Melbourne, Australia – September 10–14, 2006

International Fellows

First Name Last Name Country Email

1. Shirley Alleyne Barbados shirleydiana.alleyne@yale.edu2. Muhammed Almagrami Yemen almagrami@yahoo.com3. Kareem Abdul Almobedy Iraq kareemobedy60@yahoo.com4. Muideen Owolabi Bakare Nigeria (Calabar) mobakare2000@yahoo.com5. Tolulope Bella Nigeria (Ibadan) bellatt2002@yahoo.com6. Elizabeth Benson-Stott Australia (Queensland) ebstott@integriplan.com7. Fenglin Cao China (Changsha) caofenglin2008@126.com8. Keun-Ah Cheon Korea kacheon@dreamwiz.com9. Rebecca Coleman Australia (Port Lincoln) reb@centralonline.com.au

10. Yonghua Cui China (Beijing) cyh7410@sina.com11. Michael Cunningham Australia (Macquarie) Michael.Cunningham@psy.mq.edu.au12. Renee Denham Australia (Queensland) renee.denham@gmail.com13. Stephan Ehrlich Germany (Berlin) stefan.ehrlich@charite.de14. Fang Fan China (Changsha) ff_1006@163.com15. Juan (F) Fan China (Shanghai) fanjuan2008@yahoo.com.cn16. Shewikar Farrag Egypt (Mansoura) shewikar_farrag@hotmail.com17. Holger Firnau Germany (Herdecke) hfirnau@gmx.net18. Naoufel Gaddour Tunisia naoufel@gmx.net19. Anna Soledade Graeff-Martins Brazil (Sao Paolo) anasoledade10@terra.com.br20. Schuyler Henderson USA (New York) / UK henderss@childpsych.columbia.edu21. Chandanie Hewage Sril Lanka chandaniehewage@yahoo.com22 Martin Holtman Germany (Frankfurt) Holtmann@em.uni-frankfurt.de23. Patricia Ibeziako Nigeria/US Patricia.Ibeziako@childrens.harvard.edu24. Eva Ihle USA (San Francisco) Eva.Ihle@ucsf.edu25. Farzad Jalali Iran farjalali@gmail.com26. Nicholas Jefferson-Laskyj Australia (Brisbane) s4114479@student.uq.edu.au27. Rachel Kangethe Kenya rnkangethe@yahoo.com28. Enik? Kiss Hungary kiss@gyip.szote.u-szeged.hu 29. Jenny Koertge Sweden Koertgej@hotmail.com 30. Sefi Kronenberg Israel sefik@013.net 31. Vishal Madaan USA (Omaha) VishalMadaan@creighton.edu 32. Susan Milam-Miller USA (Sacramento) susan.milam@stanfordalumni.org33. Alvaro Navarro Colombia (Bucaramanga) anavarro2@unab.edu.co34. Bibiola Oladeji Nigeria (Ibadan) bibideji@yahoo.com35. Bertrand Olliac France bertrand.olliac@online.fr36. Grace Robinah Onyango Kenya grace_onyango@wvi.org37 Michael Oruni Uganda oruni_michael@yahoo.com38. Paul Plener Austria / Germany (Ulm) Paul.Plener@uniklinik-ulm.de39. Guilherme Polanczyk Brazil (Porto Alegre) gvp.ez@terra.com.br40. Arne Popma Netherlands a.popma@debascule.com41. Mukesh Prabhuswamy India (Bangalore) ypmukesh@gmail.com,

ypmukesh@yahoo.co.in42. Tobias Renner Germany (Wuertzburg) Renner@kjp.uni-wuerzburg.de43. Marcel Romanos Germany (Wuertzburg) Romanos@kjp.uni-wuerzburg.de44. Rajesh Sagar India (New Dehli) rajeshsagar@rediffmail.com

29

International Fellows

First Name Last Name Country Email

45. Marcelo Schmitz Brazil (Porto Alegre) mschmitz@orion.ufrgs.br46. Ninik (F) Supartini Indonesia niniksmahar@yahoo.com47. Claudia Szobot Brazil (Porto Alegre) cmszobot@terra.com.br48. Zsuzsanna Tamás Hungary zsuzsa.tamas@chello.hu49. Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese Samoa Tamasese.k@fc.org.nz50. Susan Tan Malaysia susan@mail.hukm.ukm.my51. Sonila Tomori Albania s_tomorius@yahoo.com52. Timo Vloet Germany (Aachen) TVloet@ukaachen.de53. Tjhin Wiguna Indonesia twiga00@yahoo.com54. Zhu Yan China (Beijing) zhuyan4895025@hotmail.com55. Christian Zeni Brazil (Porto Alegre) cpzeni@gmail.com56. Florian Zepf Germany (Frankfurt) F.Zepf@med.uni-frankfurt.de

Host Fellows

First Name Last Name Email

1. Jacinta Bleeser jacinta.bleeser@dhs.vic.gov.au2. Allister Bush Allister.Bush@ccdhb.org.nz3. Sam Jolayemi jolayemi@optusnet.com.au4. Jo McKeown Jo.McKeown@austin.org.au5. Chohye Park chpark@xtra.co.nz6 .Sally Tregenza Sally.Tregenza@hotmail.com7. Renzo Vittorino renzov@optusnet.com.au8. Tanya Wright Tanya.Wright@sswahs.nsw.gov.au

Australia / New Zealand Mentors

1. Bob Adler adlerbob@ozemail.com.au2. Vicky Cowling Vicki.Cowling@hnenealth.nsw.gov.au3. Philip Hazell Philip.Hazell@sswahs.nsw.gov.au4. Graham Martin g.martin@uq.edu.au5. Sally Merry s.merry@auckland.ac.nz6. Joe Rey jmrey@bigpond.net.au7. Michael Sawyer michael.sawyer@adelaide.edu.au8. Victor Storm StormVi@email.cs.nsw.gov.au9. Bruce Tonge bruce.tonge@med.monash.edu.au

International Mentors

1. Thomas Anders thomas.anders@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu2. Maria Roasario (Ceica) Campos mariacrcampos@ctmnet.com.br 3. Joaquin Fuentes jfuentes@ipeuropa.com4. Dolores Garcia-Moreno gmoreno5@nyc.rr.com5. Gordon Harper gordon_harper@hms.harvard.edu6. Jim Leckman james.leckman@yale.edu7. Bennett Leventhal bll@uic.edu8. Andres Martin andres.martin@yale.edu9. Olayinka Omigbodum fouryinkas@yahoo.co.uk

10. Helmut Remschmidt remschm@med.uni-marburg.de11. Luis Rohde lrohde@terra.com.br12. Robert Vermeiren robert@vermeiren.name

30