Invitation

Dear colleagues, dear friends and associates,

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to announce the 3^rd International Scientific Conference of the Department of Psychology of the Catholic University of Croatia Coping with Crisis – Pathways Towards Resilience, to be held at the Catholic University of Croatia in Zagreb from 9 to 11 December 2021.

Over the past year, we have witnessed major changes in our way of life – the pandemic has introduced into our world a great deal of uncertainty, anxiety, the inability to make long-term plans, physical distance and life reduced to indispensable social contacts. We are learning how to live without the physical touch and hug of friends, without a cup of coffee with friends, without socialising, all of which used to be a constituent part of our lives. In Zagreb, we have been coping with the aftermath of the earthquake, which woke us up on a cold Sunday morning in March, and the consequences of which we are still feeling today. All of this has made us think about different ways of coping with crisis situations and the potential impact on mental health. We have decided to dedicate this Conference to the relation between stress and mental health, which includes the adaptation of individuals and the community to extraordinary life circumstances. The Conference will address different topics such as: how individuals, groups and communities cope with crisis, risk and protective factors and vulnerable groups in coping with crisis, development of psychopathology as a consequence of unsuccessful coping with crisis, developing the resilience of individuals and characteristics of resilient individuals, counselling and psychotherapy and support in crisis situations, psychological / mental health of professionals participating in multidisciplinary teams. We will attach importance to the role of the community in coping with crisis, managing individuals and institutions, decision-making in crisis situations, as well as shaping individual and group perception of crisis (eg presentation in the media and crisis reporting). Topics will include the mental health of children and adults and various crisis situations in different periods of life.

These topics are encountered by psychologists and professionals of related professions: physicians – psychiatrists, paediatricians, neurologists, oncologists, neurosurgeons, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social welfare workers, nurses, social education workers, rehabilitation workers, journalists and other communication professionals in their everyday professional and scientific work.

In order to underline the importance of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, we kindly invite all of you to get actively engaged and participate in the Conference by organising thematic symposia, presenting your scientific or professional papers and posters, organising round tables, workshops or proposing other modalities of work during our Conference. Thus, the Conference, as the two previous ones, will be a venue for exchanging our knowledge and contributing to the further development of interdisciplinary cooperation in our fields of work.

I extend a special invitation to students from our university and other universities at home and abroad to join us actively by organising a students’ section in which they will present the professional and/or scientific work they have done during their studies independently or under their teachers’ mentorship.

On behalf of the Programme and the Organising Committees of the 3^rd International Scientific Conference we would like to invite you to come to Zagreb and the Catholic University of Croatia. For those who have participated in our past Conferences, it is needless to say what a lovely Advent atmosphere in Zagreb you can experience if you become part of our scientific and professional community. It is our wish that the Conference be attended by as many experts from Croatia and abroad as possible and that our University be once again a venue for exchanging experience and best practices, new scientific and professional knowledge.

We are looking forward to your visit to Zagreb on 9, 10 and 11 December 2021.

Naturally, we hope that the epidemiological situation in December 2021 will be such that we will be able to meet again in the largest possible number during the scientific programme, coffee breaks, at a welcome reception and a formal dinner. Should this not be the case, we are prepared to organise an online conference hoping, however, that this will not be necessary.

Chair of the Conference Programme Committee
Assistant Professor Ljiljana Pačić-Turk, PhD