The Millennial Institute for Depression and Personality Research (MIDAP), in collaboration with Chile’s National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), the Millennium Scientific Initiative (Iniciativa Científica Milenio), and Columbia Global Centers | Santiago, organized the III Latin American Workshop for Research on Depression and Personality, held on November 15–17.
During the event, which aimed to position MIDAP as a regional reference in the training of researchers in depression and personality, Chilean and foreign researchers delivered open master classes on topics such as depression, anxiety, and the development of psychotherapy treatments.
The opening lecture of the event was delivered by Alex Behn (TC'12), associate professor of Psychology at Universidad Católica and research director at MIDAP. During his talk, entitled “The Importance of Mapping out Heterogeneity in Depression to Improve Research and Treatment,” Behn referred to the problem generated by the fact that depression is viewed as a homogeneous disease as opposed to a complex disorder, highlighting the importance of measuring depression, which has more than 50 symptoms. He also commented on the high level of depression present in Chile in comparison with other mid- to high-income economies, with 15.8% of the total population presenting signs of the disease.
Lena Verdeli, associate professor of Psychology and Education and director of Clinical Training at Teachers College (TC), taught a master class on “Adapting Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Use with Displaced Persons Around the World.” Verdeli, who was one of Behn’s mentors at Columbia, talked about how the Global Mental Health Lab at TC, which she founded and currently directs, works to adapt evidence-based therapy that has been used for many years in the west, for displaced people in countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Lebanon, and Bangladesh.
All lectures are available at MIDAP’s YouTube Channel.
