Goals of our work group

“The international health community is concerned about the mental health status of our young ... it is a time bomb ticking and without the right action now, millions of our children growing up will feel the effects”.
(H. Troedsson, former WHO Director for Child and Adolescent Health)

Clinical child and adolescent psychology and psychotherapy has long been a little-noticed field within (clinical) psychology. In the last five years, efforts to expand the subject have increased: university courses are increasingly being offered, chairs are being established and support programmes initiated. The working group would like to contribute to improving our understanding of the development and maintenance of mental health in children and adolescents and thus to further strengthening the significance of child and adolescent psychology and psychotherapy.

Remarkably, the majority of mental illnesses occur for the first time in childhood and adolescence. Unknown and untreated, the risk of a worsening of symptoms, the addition of further mental or somatic diseases and the reduction of chances for development increases. The maintenance and promotion of mental health in children and adolescents, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders are central topics of the Working Group on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents.

Inform yourself about our research priorities.