EFPA Standing Committee on Clinical Neuropsychology meeting in Brussels. March 14-15, 2024

EFPA Standing Committee on Clinical Neuropsychology meeting in Brussels, March 14-15, 2024

EFPA head office hosted last 14th and 15th March a meeting of the Standing Committee (SC) on Clinical Neuropsychology, where they welcomed the delegates of Ireland and Luxembourg, agreed on priority tasks for 2024 and appointed a new convenor.

The following countries were already represented by a delegate: Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom. 

The following tasks are currently being pursued by the committee:

• Compare core content in well-established European specialization training programs in clinical neuropsychology and suggesting best practices for Europe.
• Active sharing of knowledge to foster training of Clinical Neuropsychologists and development of CN in European Countries with underdeveloped neuropsychology by sharing professional expertise an offering guidance.
• Establishing European guidelines recommendation on neuropsychological assessment and treatment related to key neurological and neuropsychiatric clinical domains.

The first steps were taken to outline further projects, such as addressing online-testing, cross-cultural challenges, or the implications of artificial intelligence for Clinical Neuropsychology.

Many of the delegates of the SC work in neurology, doing neuropsychological diagnostics and differential diagnostics as well as rehabilitation in a variety of conditions, for example stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, dissociative disorders like psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, multiple sclerosis, and mild cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsons disease or Fronto-Temporal Dementia. Some do also work in the field of mental health assessing and treating patients with psychopathology, like psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar and affective disorders as well as personality disorders. The neuropsychological rehabilitation of covid patients is also part of the wealth of knowledge. Some work in private practice, in the diagnostic or treatment of patients. Others are professors of neuropsychology and are active in basic and clinical research. Together, the SC members cover a wide range of topics and have an impressive track record in Clinical Neuropsychology.

During the meeting, Sandra Lettner (Austria) was unanimously elected as new convenor. She knows EFPA for many years and is familiar with the European agenda of clinical neuropsychology. She is also an essential part of developing the European Specialist Certificate in Clinical Neuropsychology.

The members of the Committee would like to express its heartfelt thanks to Erik Hessen (Norway) for his work as former convenor. He has performed this task excellently and has held the group together through the last years. He will continue being part of the SC.

We all wish the new management team a good re-start into the European agenda of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Members of the Standing Committee on Clinical Neuropsychology