TheEffect

European Forum For Electroconvulsive Therapy
 
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EFFECT

European Forum For Electroconvulsive Therapy

Slide 1

EFFECT

European Forum For Electroconvulsive Therapy

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ECT: from science to clinical practice

15th Annual Meeting
European Forum for ECT (EFFECT)

Leuven / Kortenberg, Belgium, Fri-Sat, October 03-04, 2025

Join us for the 15th Annual Meeting of the European Forum for ECT (EFFECT) on October 3–4, 2025,
at the University Psychiatric Center KU Leuven, Campus Kortenberg.
This event returns to the birthplace of EFFECT, established in 2006 at this very location.

Venue  

University Psychiatric Center KU Leuven, campus Kortenberg

Leuvensesteenweg 517

3070 Kortenberg (Belgium)

Phone-central: 0032 (0)2 758 0511

Registration

This meeting is for ECT practitioners, prescribers and researchers. All participants need to register via: https://www.upckuleuven.be/nl/agenda/european-forum-ect-15th-annual-meeting-science-clinical-practice

 

Your registration is complete after payment of the registration fee: €100

 

Proof of Payment or Invoice

 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that serves as your proof of payment. Only request an invoice if you have a VAT number and if the invoice is necessary for you. Free for speakers and UPC KU Leuven personnel.

  • The meeting will be held in English Friday, October 3th

    08:30 - 09:00 | Registration

    09:00 – 09:15 Welcome - 20 yr EFFECT: from science practitioners for science practitioners
    Pascal Sienaert (Belgium)

  • First serving – Cognitive effects of ECT (Part 1)

    Chair: Esmée Verwijk (The Netherlands)

    09:15 – 09:35 | First person account Eline van Vliet (The Netherlands)

    09:35 – 09:55 | Autobiographical memory and ECT Declan McLoughlin (Ireland)

    09:55 – 10:15 | Subjective cognitive effects Shauni Verspecht (Belgium)

    10:15 – 10:35 | Combined Lifestyle and Cognitive Intervention in Patients Treated with ECT Geke Overvliet (The Netherlands)

    10:35 – 10:55 | CONNECT: outpatient treatment program for persisting cognitive complaints Esmée Verwijk (The Netherlands)

  • 11:00 - 11:30 Refreshment Break

  • Imaging Nuggets

    Chair: Filip Bouckaert (Belgium)

    11:30 – 11:50 | 10 yr of the GEMRIC consortium: What we have come to know and where we will be moving to?
    Leif Oltedal (Norway)

    11:50 – 12:10 | How neuroimaging may optimize ECT dosage.
    Philip van Eijndhoven (The Netherlands)

    12:10 – 12:30 | Beyond Clinical response: The effects of ECT on the Network Symptom Structure in Depression
    Fabio Sambataro (Italy)

    12:30 – 12:50 | Prediction of ECT outcome: A network analysis approach
    Tessa Blanken (The Netherlands)

    12:50 – 13:00 | Max Fink: An Appreciation
    Charles Kellner (United States)

  • 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break

  • Second serving – Patients & Families

    Chair: Gábor Gazdag (Hungary)
    14:00 – 14:20 | Family Presence During ECT: Perspectives on Promoting Family Engagement
    Nele Vandevelde (Belgium)

    14:20 – 14:40 | Effects of Psycho-education for Patients and Caregivers
    Jules Vivier & Ali Amad (France)

    14:40 – 15:00 | Relatives' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Experiences Toward ECT: A Systematic Review
    Klaus Boone & Pieter-Jan Geerts (Belgium)

    15:00 – 15:20 | ECT in the Under 18s: Eleven years of data from Scotland
    Julie Langan Martin (Scotland)

    15:20 – 15:50 | Effectiveness of ECT for depression: comparing research trials with clinical data from the Dutch ECT consortium.
    Robin Cobben (The Netherlands)

    15:50 - 16:10 | Psychotherapy following acute-phase ECT for depression
    Geert Schürgers (Belgium)

    16:10 – 16:30 | Closing remarks
    Declan McLoughlin (Ireland)

    16:30 | Guided visit to the ECT-Unit
    Kathleen Bronckaers (Belgium), Pascal Sienaert (Belgium)

  • Saturday, October 4th

    09:00 – 9:30 | Registration

  • First serving – Cognitive effects of ECT (Part 2)

    Chair: TBC

    09:30 – 09:50 | Does lithium increase the cognitive side-effects of ECT?
    Liese Van den Eynde (Belgium)

    09:50 – 10:10 | Does ECT cause dementia?
    George Kirov (United Kingdom)

    10:10 – 10:30 | Frailty, effectiveness and cognitive effects
    Nathalie Denayer (Belgium)

    10:30 – 10:50 | Is ECT’s mechanism of action causing cognitive effects?
    Maarten Laroy (Belgium)

  • 10:50 - 11:20 Refreshment Break

  • Discussion Forum – Cognitive effects of ECT - Why should we care?

    11:20 – 12:00 | Moderator: Jasmien Obbels (Belgium)
    Discussant 1 – 5´ – Richard Braithwaite (United Kingdom)
    Discussant 2 – 5´ – Declan McLoughlin (Ireland)
    Discussant 3 – 5´ – Eline van Vliet (The Netherlands)

  • Clinical Practice

    Chair: TBC

    12:00 – 12:10 | Severe catatonia successfully treated with twice-daily ECT
    Kaija Järventausta (Finland)

    12:10 – 12:20 | Prolonged Apnoea in a Suxamethonium-Naïve Patient During ECT
    Basavaraja Papanna (United Kingdom)

    12:20 – 12:30 | Restimulation to stop status epilepticus after ECT: 2 cases
    Michael Pinchuk (Belgium)

  • 12:30 – 13:00 CONUNDRUM

    Should we offer ECT to patients requesting euthanasia?
    Joris Vandenberghe (Belgium) & Pascal Sienaert (Belgium)

  • 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break

  • 14:00 – 14:30 Special Guest Lecture

    Charles Kellner – USA

    Querying AI About ECT: Intelligent Answers That Don't Seem Artificial

  • Clinical Practice

    Chair: Martin B. Jørgensen

    14:30 – 14:50 | Consistency in ECT practice: a Danish story
    Martin Balslev Jørgensen (Denmark)

    14:50 - 15:10 | Can VR reduce ECT-related anxiety
    Jasmien Obbels (Belgium)

    15:10 – 15:30 | ECT training: simulation for dummies
    Joseph Campling (United Kingdom)

    15:30 – 15:50 | The effect of benzodiazepines on catatonia: a meta-analysis towards ECT prevention
    Lilian Bot (The Netherlands)

    15:50 - 16:10 | A Tale of Two Ages: Inflammation's Divergent Role in ECT Outcomes
    Kara Drexler (The Netherlands), Eric van Exel (The Netherlands)

    16:10 – 16:30 | Flumazenil Augmentation in ECT: Efficacy and Safety
    Amy Dam Petersen (Denmark), Gstav Bizik (Denmark)

    Closing remarks

Save the date !

From Science to Clinical Practice
15th Annual Meeting of EFFECT, Leuven (Belgium) - October 3-4, 2025

The 15th Annual Meeting of the European Forum for ECT (EFFECT) will take
place on Friday, October 3, and Saturday, October 4, 2025, at the
University Psychiatric Center KU Leuven, Kortenberg campus.

 

With this conference, we return to the location where EFFECT was founded
in 2006.

 

The meeting will feature clinical and scientific presentations on ECT,
along with engaging discussions with international experts.

 

Abstracts or suggestions for presentations can be send to
e.verwijk@uva.nl and pascal.sienaert@upckuleuven.be before April 30.

 

Hope to meet you soon!

 

Gabor Gazdag, George Kirov, Declan McLoughlin, Indira Tendolkar, Esmee
Verwijk, and Pascal Sienaert

0
Patients
Receive ECT annually
0
Annual meetings
EFFECT organized 11 annual meetings
0
Papers published
About ECT in 2016
0
Percent succes
More than 70% of severely depressed patients respond to ECT

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The Effect

THE STORY OF EFFECT

EFFECT continuously on the move

ECT is the most efficacious biological treatment for the most severe psychiatric disorders. In several European countries, however, psychiatrists and patients still struggle with the stigmatzing negative image of ECT. To ensure that patients and service users across Europe have access to safe and effective ECT when appropriate, a European Forum for ECT was founded.
In November 2005 Björn Wahlund (SE), Pascal Sienaert (BE) and King Han Kho (NL) decided to organize the EFFECT founding meeting. Several ECT psychiatrists across Europe were invited to join this meeting which took place in Leuven, Belgium, from 3-5 February 2006.
On February 4, 2006, The European Forum for ECT was inaugurated at the University Psychiatric Center – KU Leuven, campus Kortenberg in Belgium. An executive board was elected with Tom G. Bolwig (DK) as President, Björn Wahlund (SE) as Chairman, King Han Kho (NL) as Secretary, and Pascal Sienaert (BE) as Treasurer. Since then, EFFECT brought together clinicians and researchers to improve the practice of ECT, and to reduce its stigma .

THE GOALS OF EFFECT

European Forum for Electroconvulsive Therapy

COMBAT

Effect aims to combat the stigma associated with ECT

EDUCATE

Effect aims to educate mental health and other professionals about ECT and its use

PROMOTE

Effect aims to promote ECT research and to inform the general public about ECT and its use.

HIGH STANDARD

Effect aims to work towards a high standard of ECT practice across Europe and to develop guidelines

BOARD

TOM BOLWIG (DK) president
PASCAL SIENAERT (BE) chair
GABOR GAZDAG (HU) secretary
DECLAN MCLOUGHLIN (IE) treasurer
ESMÉE VERWIJK (NL) member
INDIRA TENDOLKAR (NL) member
GEORGE KIROV (UK) member

SEND MESSAGE

    CONTACT US

    info@theeffect.eu
    leuvensesteenweg 517 3070 Kortenberg
    (belgium)