Leading clinicians, policy makers, academics and service users from across the UK, the US and Europe are coming together to consider the future of psychological therapies in the NHS.

Psychological Therapies in the NHS – Science, Practice and Policy is a major new conference examining the challenge and the opportunity of evidence based practice for the psychotherapy professions. It takes place at Savoy Place, London on Friday 30th November and Saturday 1st December 2007.

Jeremy Clarke, chair of the conference steering committee, said: “This is an important time for the psychotherapy profession, as it begins to take up an increasingly central position within a modern heath service. With contributions from a host of leading bodies, academics, clinicians and service users, the event provides a key opportunity for everyone in the sector to look at how best it can take up the challenge of offering high quality psychological therapy to the millions of people who need it, within the NHS.”

Topics and speakers will include:

• Lord Richard Layard – Whose ideas will change our mental health in the 21st century?
• David Crepaz-Keay – What would patient-led psychological treatment services look like?
• Glenys Parry and Ian McPherson – An independent evaluation of the IAPT experiment
• David Clark – A cognitive science approach to developing effective new treatments
• Michael Barkham – Science meets psychological therapists
• Jacques Barber and Barbara Milrod – Advances in evidence-based psychotherapies in the USA
• Peter Fonagy – what we know about matching patients to treatments, and services which work

For a full programme and registration information, please contact Sarah at Healthcare Events on 020 8541 1399 or email sarah@healthcare-events.co.uk.