Conference Report of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Working Group Psychosomatic Dermatology on September 22-23, 2023, in Bad Bentheim, Germany
*Corresponding Author(s):
Sandra HannekenPraxis Empoderm, Duesseldorf, Germany
Email:praxis@dr-hanneken.de
Keywords
Psychodermatology; Psychosomatic dermatology
The 29th Annual Meeting of the Working Group Psychosomatic Dermatology (APD) took place in Bad Bentheim on September 22-23, 2023, under the theme 'Beyond the Skin - Psyche & Soma.' The conference celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Working Group Psychosomatic Dermatology.
The conference began with an assessment of the location of psychosomatics in dermatology, followed by discussions on the unique position of medicine between natural sciences and individual humanity, including the role of Artificial Intelligence by Prof. Dr. Oliver R. Scholz. Against the picturesque backdrop of the Marstall of Burg Bad Bentheim, Prof. Dr. Eva Peters explored the interplay between psyche and skin through neurological, immunological, and endocrinological interactions.
Prof. Dr. Uwe Gieler outlined the development of the APD since its foundation in 1983 and was awarded the Honorary Chairmanship for his contributions. The second day featured emotional portraits of individuals with special skin by photographer Kim Oppermann in the beautifully restored Kurhaus of the Specialist Clinic Bad Bentheim.
Various topics were covered in an exciting programme: PD Dr. Athanasios Tsianakas discussed JAK inhibitors as a viable option in systemic therapy for chronic inflammatory dermatoses. PD Dr. Rachel Sommer focussed on online interventions (HautKompass‘ programme) for the prevention of self-stigmatisation in patients with skin diseases. The impact of childhood trauma and psychosocial stress on the treatment outcome of psoriasis was explored by PD Dr. Gloria-Beatrice Wintermann.
Prof. Dr. Markus Böhm emphasized the empathy-promoting effects of connecting art and medicine in dermatological education. The importance of compassion in successful practice management was highlighted by Prof. Dr. Christian Stierle. Dr. Christina Schut delved into the psychological perspective on itch, addressing the influence of stress and expectations. Kaija Troost presented a psychological programme for skin patients in a specialist clinic. The prescription of psychopharmaceuticals for dermatologists was discussed by Dr. Daniela Mergenthaler. Dr. Sandra Hanneken presented process and content of the Psychodermatology Diploma of the European Society for Dermatology and Psychiatry (ESDaP) [1].
Humor as a factor in successful practice management was emphasized by Dr. Falko Seegel underlining how an appropriate dose of humor can bring lightness to doctor-patient communication.
Finally, Dr. Jochen Wehrmann and Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Taube were granted with honorary membership for their longstanding commitment to the board of the APD.
Reference
Citation: Hanneken S (2023) Conference Report of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Working Group Psychosomatic Dermatology on September 22-23, 2023, in Bad Bentheim, Germany. J Clin Dermatol Ther 10: 0134.
Copyright: © 2024 Sandra Hanneken, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
