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ECT: from science to clinical practice
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.
08:30 - 09:00 | Registration
09:00 – 09:15 Welcome - 20 yr EFFECT: from science practitioners for science practitioners
Pascal Sienaert (Belgium)
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)
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)
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)
09:00 – 9:30 | Registration
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)
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)
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)
Should we offer ECT to patients requesting euthanasia?
Joris Vandenberghe (Belgium) & Pascal Sienaert (Belgium)
Charles Kellner – USA
Querying AI About ECT: Intelligent Answers That Don't Seem Artificial
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 !
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
EFFECT continuously on the move
Conference Program Day 1 Monday, 25th March 11.00 Registration 11.30 Anatomy of Melancholy – revision of neuroanatomy relevant to…
RCPsych Annual ECT and Neuromodulation Conference 2023 in London on November 30 and December 1st. Here’s the meeting link: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/events/conferences/detail/2023/11/30/default-calendar/annual-ect-and-neuromodulation-conference-2023
ECT: a modernist approach 13th Annual Meeting European Forum for ECT (EFFECT)Barcelona, Spain, Sat., October 7, 2023 Venue Recinte Modernista…
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 .
European Forum for Electroconvulsive Therapy
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
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
info@theeffect.eu
leuvensesteenweg 517 3070 Kortenberg
(belgium)