WPA Task Forces / Working Groups
WPA Task Forces / Working Groups
The WPA works with its members, partners and components around the world to promote mental health and to
encourage the highest possible standards of clinical practice and ethical behavior in psychiatry. Through the
different WPA Task Forces, also known as Working Groups, we aim to increase knowledge about mental disorders in
order to grow the skills and knowledge needed to prevent and treat them.
WPA works to disseminate knowledge about evidence-based therapy and values-based practice; to be a voice for the dignity and human rights of patients and their families; and to uphold the rights of psychiatrists where they may be challenged. Most importantly, it acts to facilitate communication and provide assistance to societies who are isolated or whose members work in impoverished circumstances.
Through these Working Groups, WPA focuses on consolidating psychiatry as an inspiring branch of medicine. Examples of some of the work these task forces have completed can be found below:
WPA works to disseminate knowledge about evidence-based therapy and values-based practice; to be a voice for the dignity and human rights of patients and their families; and to uphold the rights of psychiatrists where they may be challenged. Most importantly, it acts to facilitate communication and provide assistance to societies who are isolated or whose members work in impoverished circumstances.
Through these Working Groups, WPA focuses on consolidating psychiatry as an inspiring branch of medicine. Examples of some of the work these task forces have completed can be found below:
Expert Groups for Specialist Corner
Founder of the Specialist Corner, President of the WPA, Professor Danuta Wasserman,
and Lead Coordinator and Quality Controller, Professor Norman Sartorius.
The Specialist Corner, created under the 2023–2026 WPA Action Plan by the President, Professor Danuta Wasserman is a platform designed to translate psychiatric research into practical clinical guidance. It provides clinicians in the webinars with accessible presentations of the latest scientific advances, helping to adopt evidence-based treatments across different psychiatric disorders.
The platform features online webinars covering different Psychiatric diagnoses, aetiology, symptoms, rehabilitation, and perspectives on gender, development, and culture. Follow-up short sessions during the same webinar prepared by several expert groups provide complementary perspectives on culture, comorbidity, public mental health, lived and family experience, ethics, digitalization, and physical health.
Vulnerable populations, including refugees, immigrants, and those affected by crises or trauma, are also addressed.
The Specialist Corner, created under the 2023–2026 WPA Action Plan by the President, Professor Danuta Wasserman is a platform designed to translate psychiatric research into practical clinical guidance. It provides clinicians in the webinars with accessible presentations of the latest scientific advances, helping to adopt evidence-based treatments across different psychiatric disorders.
The platform features online webinars covering different Psychiatric diagnoses, aetiology, symptoms, rehabilitation, and perspectives on gender, development, and culture. Follow-up short sessions during the same webinar prepared by several expert groups provide complementary perspectives on culture, comorbidity, public mental health, lived and family experience, ethics, digitalization, and physical health.
Vulnerable populations, including refugees, immigrants, and those affected by crises or trauma, are also addressed.
Expert Group on Comorbidity- Chaired by Professor Dan Siskind
- Dan Siskind, Prof. Dr., Australia
- Norman Sartorius, Prof. Dr., Switzerland
- Susanna Every-Palmer, Prof. Dr., New Zealand
- Ivona Šimunović Filipčić, Dr, Croatia
- Sean Halstead, Dr, Australia
- Toby Pillinger, Dr, UK
Expert Group on Lived & Family Experience- Chaired by Professor Michaela Amering
- Michaela Amering, Austria
- Helen Herrman, Australia
- Afzal Javed, UK / Pakistan
- Miia Männikkö, Finland
- Guadalupe Morales, Spain
- Charlene Sunkel, South Africa
- Soumitra Pathare, India
- Martha Savage, New Zealand
- Carlos Vinacour, Argentina
Expert Group on Public Mental Health- Chaired by Professor Jonathan Campion
- Jonathan Campion, UK
- Debasish Basu, India
- Geert Dom, Belgium
- Oye Gureje, Nigeria
- Vinay Lakra, Australia
- Crick Lund, UK / South Africa
- Michael Marmot, UK
- Shekhar Saxena, USA
Expert Group on Ethics and Legal Issues- Co-chaired by Professor Silvana Galderisi & Professor Neeraj Gill
- Silvana Galderisi, Italy
- Neeraj Gill, Australia
- Helen Herrman, Australia
- Antonio Melillo, Italy
- Kerim Munir, USA
- Calina Ouliaris, Australia
- Soumitra Pathare, India
- Jill Stavert, Scotland
- Charlene Sunkel, South Africa
Expert Group on Impact of Digitalization- Chaired by Professor Wolfgang Gaebel
- Wolfgang Gaebel, Germany
- Umberto Volpe, Italy
- Rodrigo Ramalho, New Zealand
- Sandra Bucci, UK
- Helen Christensen, Australia
- John Torous, USA
Expert Group on Physical Exercise & Lifestyle- Chaired by Professor Andrea Fiorillo
- Andrea Fiorillo, Italy
- Dan Siskind, Australia
- Lukoye Atwoli, Kenya
- Francesca Cirulli, Italy
- Matteo Di Vincenzo, Italy
Expert Group on Culture- Chaired by Professor Mohan Isaac
- Mohan Isaac, Australia / India
- Renato Alarcon, USA
- Laurence J. Kirmayer, Canada
- Erminia Colucci, Italy / UK
- Marianne Kastrup, Denmark
- Meryam Schouler-Ocak, Germany
- Lamia Jouini, Switzerland
- Sneha Karmani, USA / India
- Neeraj Gill, Australia / India
The first Specialist Corner sessions were held at the WPA 25th World Congress in Prague
(October 2025), covering affective disorders, intellectual impairment, substance use,
schizophrenia, and other psychoses. All materials are available on the WPA website.
The initiative’s goal is to promote best practices globally, with Member Societies helping implement webinars locally and translate materials into local languages.
The initiative’s goal is to promote best practices globally, with Member Societies helping implement webinars locally and translate materials into local languages.
WPA Working Groups
Expert Groups for Specialist Corner: Advances of Science and Their Application in Clinical Practice
Public Mental Health
Child, Adolescent & Youth Mental Health
Co-Morbidity in Mental and Physical Health
Defining and Managing Autism Spectrum Disorder
Dealing with Learning Disabilities
Promoting Evidence-based Psychopharmacotherapy
Providing Mental Healthcare for Refugees and Migrants
Digitalisation in Mental Health and Care
Medical Students
Developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers
Implementing Alternatives to Coercion in Mental Health Care
Volunteering
Geopsychiatry
Other examples of the work completed by these task forces can be found below:
Capacity Building
Continuation and Completion of previous Action Plans Work
Partnership with other Professional Organisations & NGOs
