Annual BC Concurrent Disorders Conference returns

For the third year, BCMHSUS is hosting the BC Concurrent Disorders Conference. The conference will focus on the most cutting-edge and promising practices related to concurrent disorders.

09 Mar 2023

The BC Concurrent Disorders Conference is designed to build knowledge and capacity among provincial mental health and substance use professionals who treat people with complex concurrent disorders.

This year’s conference will bring together a range of leading mental health and substance use experts to share diverse and innovative experiences and ideas for service delivery. The conference is a space to discuss the most up-to-date evidence from research, combined with clinical expertise from treatment providers across Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Spain and the United States.

It is also an opportunity to learn about the perspective of people living with mental health and substance use concerns, from their families, and to hear the Indigenous perspective about the impact of health and safety outcomes in Canada.

“While there are undoubtedly challenges in our system, there are also many reasons for optimism,” said Dr. Vijay Seethapathy, chief medical officer with BCMHSUS and the lead conference organizer. “There is an increasing awareness of the mental health needs of the population as a whole. COVID has hurt us a lot, especially the impact on mental health, but at the same time there is more awareness than ever.”

This year’s keynote speakers include:

David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology and director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London (Keynote: Illegal Drugs and the Future of Mental Health)
Nel Wieman, acting chief medical officer, First Nations Health Authority (Keynote: Intergenerational Trauma and Healing: Honouring and Celebrating the Strength and Resilience of First Nations)
Christian G. Schütz, investigator, BCMHSUS Research Institute and professor and scientist, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS), UBC (Keynote: Concurrent Disorders —Emerging Practices)

For more information about the 2023 conference, visit the conference web page.

We are grateful to all the First Nations who have cared for and nurtured the lands and waters around us for all time, including the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) on whose unceded and ancestral territory our head office is located.