Program

DAY ONE – April 28

Foundations and Intersections

Participation (questions or comments) is done exclusively via the virtual room chat. All sessions will be recorded.

9h - 9h20 – Welcome and Opening Address 

 Eugénio Campos Ferreira (Rector of the University Fernando Pessoa)

Marina Lencastre (Coordinator of the network Composing Worlds. Humanities, Health and Well-Being)

Rui Estrada (Coordinator of the network Composing Worlds. Humanities, Health and Well-Being)

Carla Fonte  (Member of the network Composing Worlds. Humanities, Health and Well-Being)

9h20 -10h00 – Inaugural Conference

David R. Kopacz - Words create Worlds. Compassionate Activism in Contemporary Times 

In our current milieu of the internet, social media, and political polarization, the words that are written and spoken create the worlds within which we inhabit. There is a struggle over words, some being banned or censored, while others continually morph like fractal patterns. Words can bring us together or tear us apart, emphasizing our commonalities or accentuating our differences. This talk will look at the way words are being used to fragment cultures and societies and conversely, how we, in the caring professions, can create counter-narratives of compassion and kindness. 

10h-11h30 – Panel I 

Humanities, Arts, and Mental Health

This panel examines the connections between the humanities, arts, and mental health, exploring how cultural and creative expression shape well-being. Speakers will discuss philosophical perspectives and the role of storytelling in literature, theatre and film. The session highlights the impact of human narratives and artistic engagement on mental health.

Chair: Eduardo Paz Barroso e Rui Estrada

Miguel Tamen - Feelin’ Alright? 

We will explore the connection between the current emphasis on, and anxiety about, mental health and the therapeutic properties of fiction.  It will be argued that a certain understanding of fiction characteristically emerges out of such anxieties.

Manuel Cardoso - Brotéria, a House that Invites Thought and Life 

Brotéria house seeks to constitute itself as a "good place," both physically and relationally. There, it is possible to promote dialogue between the Christian faith and the multiple contemporary urban cultures. It is a community that constitutes itself as a laboratory of political relations (among people from different urban tribes) and interdisciplinary relations (among artists, writers, librarians, philosophers, chefs, designers, etc.). It gives shape to a centennial cultural project that builds bridges between the polis and the humanities in the present.

11h30-12h – Coffee break

12h-13h30 – Panel II

Times, Natures and Mental Health

This panel explores how time and nature shape mental well-being, examining the evolutionary roots of psychological health and the impact of urban and natural environments on vigil mental states, sleep and rhythms.

Chair: Marina Lencastre e Diogo Vidal

Dalva Poyares - Maladaptive Modernity: Mismatch and the Evolutionary Roots of Mental and Sleep Distress 

The rapid social and technological changes conflict with human evolutionary adaptations. It occurs at the expense of sleep and rest time and partially explain the rise of mental health disorders in urbanized societies, such as the increase in anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders over the last few decades. Unfit lifestyle and diet also contribute to the rise of sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnoea. We will discuss the balance between medical interventions and being physically and mentally active.

Fátima Alves - Temporalities, Natures and Mental Health in Contemporary Societies: Socioecological Dissonances and the Search for New Balances 

We live in a time when the distance between humans and the Earth has become an open wound. Climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and the acceleration of modern life expose a widening dissonance between human temporalities and ecological rhythms, generating new forms of emotional and social suffering. Mental health thus mirrors a broader civilizational crisis, expressed through eco-anxiety, ecological grief, and existential desynchronization. Reconnecting mental health to nature’s cycles and community time is essential for nurturing new socioecological balances grounded in care, reciprocity, and shared belonging.

13h30-14h30 – Lunch

14h30-16h – Panel III

Intersectionality and Mental Health

This panel examines how gender, cultures, and identities influence mental health experiences and access to care. Speakers will discuss the challenges of intersectional approaches, highlighting systemic barriers and disparities in psychological well-being. The session explores theory and targeted interventions and mediations that address the unique mental health needs of diverse gender communities

Chair: Luís Santos e Pedro Cunha

Ana Maria Brandão - The Blue and Pink Formula: Gender, Health and Well-Being 

Gender, health and well-being are inseparable. Despite certain predispositions towards health, gender structures create and perpetuate health disparities with impacts on the well-being of individuals and communities. Improving the health and well-being of the population requires a gender lens that challenges established norms, addresses the influence of social, cultural and economic inequalities, and promotes individual and social well-being. Ultimately, equity in health and well-being is impossible without gender equality.

Marcos Nascimento - Cultures, Identities, Mediation and Psychological Well-being 

Mental health has been a neglected topic in Brazil’s Men’s Health Program. We will address the relationship between men’s mental health and issues related to masculinities, sexuality, gender identity 

16h-16h30 – Coffee break

16h30-18h – Panel IV

Challenging Norms: Mental Health in Contemporary Crime

This panel examines the connections between mental health and contemporary crime, exploring psychological influences on criminal behaviour. Speakers will discuss the role of mental well-being in age-graded policies and domestic violence, challenging common perceptions. The session highlights the importance of a deeper understanding of mental health in addressing modern criminal challenges.

Chair: Isabel Sani e Laura Nunes

Hugo S. Gomes - Integrating Mental Health into Age-Graded Policy 

The presentation outlines a life-course framework linking mental health with developmental pathways in offending and desistance. Research shows that psychological well-being is closely related to age-graded life transitions such as schooling, employment, partnership, and parenthood. Adverse mental health trajectories can increase the risk of persistent offending, whereas timely support can promote desistance. Integrating mental health into justice policy, therefore, has major implications for early prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation. The proposed framework emphasizes continuity of care across the lifespan and highlights the importance of coordinated, evidence-based policies that promote both public safety and individual well-being.

Marta Silva - The role of National Network for Support to Victims of Domestic Violence (RNAVVD) 

The National Network for Support to Victims of Domestic Violence (RNAVVD) in Portugal provides essential psychological and psychotherapeutic assistance to victims. It offers free, confidential, and specialized services, including emotional support, crisis intervention, and therapeutic follow-up. The network works with mental health professionals (mainly psychologists) to help victims recover from trauma, regain autonomy, and reintegrate society. This support is available through shelters, crisis centres, support centres and on a 24-hour helpline, ensuring comprehensive care and protection. RNAVVD plays a key role in the national response to domestic violence, promoting safety, dignity, and long-term healing for survivors.

DAY TWO – April 29

Innovations and Research

Participation (questions or comments) is done exclusively via the virtual room chat. All sessions will be recorded.

9h30-11h – Panel V

 Digital Mental Health, AI and Psychotherapy

This panel explores the growing role of digital technology and AI in mental health care, examining both opportunities and ethical challenges. Speakers will discuss the impact of AI in psychotherapy and the influence of social media on self-construction and mental well-being. The session highlights the evolving relationship between technology and mental health in a digital world.

Chair: Elsa Simões e Carla Fonte

Alexandra Bloch-Atefi - The Rise of AI in Psychotherapy: Opportunities and Ethical Challenges 

The integration of AI tools into psychotherapy marks a profound shift in the landscape of mental health care. AI technologies increasingly support clinicians in assessing mental health issues, tailoring interventions, and even training future counsellors through interactive simulations and data-informed feedback systems. Administrative innovations enhance clinical efficiency and reduce practitioner workload. These developments offer unprecedented opportunities to broaden access, streamline service delivery, and optimise clinical outcomes. However, they also raise significant ethical concerns related to data privacy, algorithmic accountability, and the safeguarding of core relational processes, such as deep attunement and mutual presence that are foundational to effective psychotherapeutic practice.

Manuel Portela - Networked Media and Self-Construction in Digital Works by Serge Bouchardon 

Bouchardon has created interactive digital works exploring the rhetorical power of interface conventions and hardware capabilities in mediating social practices, with parodic recreations of social media applications, geolocation, facial recognition, collaborative writing, and other digitally mediated practices, addressing discourse formations sustained by the assemblage of interface design and material affordances of networked media. I will focus on how they foreground digitally mediated practices as technologies for self-construction.

11h-11h30 – Coffee break

11h30-13h – Panel VI

Education, Ethics and Mental Health in Diverse Societies

This panel explores how education and ethics shape mental health in diverse societies, addressing the challenges of creating inclusive, historically and culturally aware mental health frameworks. Speakers will examine contemporary ethical dilemmas in supporting families and child development, and the role of learning environments in fostering cultural and mental resilience. The session aims to inspire new approaches to mental health that honour diversity and ethical responsibility.

Chair: Teresa Toldy e Susana Marinho

Ana Paula da Silva Pereira - Diversity and Early Intervention: Ethical Challenges in Supporting Families 

This presentation addresses the ethical challenges involved in early identification and early intervention with young children and their families in contemporary societies. Early intervention promotes children’s development and learning, while simultaneously reinforcing families’ sense of self-efficacy in responding to their concerns and priorities. Supporting families requires collaborative, sensitive, and inclusive approaches that recognize their knowledge, values, and cultural contexts, highlighting the need for continuous ethical reflection and a commitment to shared responsibility.

Manuel Pinto - When Children Have Their Say 

The well-being of younger generations has been a growing concern in contemporary societies, well reflected in the current regulatory framework. However, there is a large discrepancy between concerns and reality. Changes in the family institution, growing inequalities, the effects of poverty and war, and developments in digital ecology are some of the factors that condition and challenge the framework of child development. In this presentation, however, I would like to address these issues, considering the possibility of children being treated as subjects, rather than mere objects, of their life trajectories, considering the pedagogical, civic, and cultural implications of such an option. 

13h-14h30 – Lunch

14h30-16h – Panel VII

Embodied Mind: Rethinking Mental Health through the Body

The panel aims to situate psychosomatic interactions within a broader framework, examining how these physiological mechanisms may have evolved as adaptive responses to environmental, social and group pressures. The discussion on body-brain-mind regulation will challenge traditional dualities, emphasizing the need for an integrated understanding of embodied cognition and bodily feedback. The role of interoceptive and chronic disease signals will be discussed in emotional processing and mental health.

Chair: José Calheiros e Carina Fernandes

Carlos Campos - The Interoceptive Brain and the Embodied Mind

The emerging field of interoception reveals how the brain’s perception of internal bodily states shapes emotion, cognition, and self-awareness. This communication explores the dynamic relationship between the interoceptive brain and the embodied mind, emphasizing how neural representations of visceral signals contribute to subjective experience and adaptive behaviour. By integrating neuroscience and embodied cognition, it highlights the central role of bodily feedback in constructing consciousness and sense of self, providing additional insights into emotional processing and psychopathology.

Carla Mendes Pereira - Rethinking Mental Health in Chronic Disease. Linking the Mind and Body 

Chronic diseases often bring long-term physical, emotional, and social challenges that deeply affect mental health and quality of life. Beyond clinical symptoms, individuals face disruptions in identity, autonomy, and participation, especially during transitions in care. Health support in chronic illness must therefore move beyond traditional healthcare interventions and embrace integrated, person-centred approaches that link physical recovery with emotional resilience. Building on participatory methodologies applied in projects such as ComVida (Bridges-PT) and Co-Move, this presentation rethinks mental health in chronic disease through empowerment, self-management, and community engagement.

16h-16h30 – Coffee break

16h30-18h – Panel VIII

The Role of Humanities in Future Mental Health Research

This panel explores the critical role of the humanities in shaping the future of mental health research, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. Speakers will discuss how bridging research and practice through empathy and arts can lead to whole new approaches. They discuss the importance of subjective human-centred interventions in psychiatry and clinical neurology. The session aims to highlight emerging trends that integrate ethical, cultural, and philosophical perspectives into mental health research and care.

Chair: Susana Magalhães e Marina Lencastre

Nuno Rodrigues Silva - The Human in Future Mental Health

Clinical practice is not just a science, but uses and brings it to the clinical encounter, in service of a broader aim. The person “not feeling well” seeks for someone that might be knowledgeable of such “unwellness” through technique and science but also through empathetic experience. This talk intends to dwell in the uniqueness of human-human interactions in the era of artificial intelligence presented as an omniscient and omnipotent entity. The role of subjective experience, empathetic comprehension and aesthetics as a source of understanding, judgment and justification for action in the clinical encounter will be highlighted.

Rui Araújo - The Art of Clinical Neurology as a Tool for Better Healthcare and Science 

Neurology is fundamentally a clinical medical specialty, beginning with a careful medical history, the attentive listening to symptoms, and proceeding to the neurological examination, which consists of performing a set of manoeuvres that test the functioning of the nervous system. The proper practice of these fundamental techniques in neurology is strongly anchored in scientific aspects, but also in more subtle and subjective skills, often compared to a form of art. I will present some examples of how empathetic listening and the careful execution of the neurological examination have enabled scientific advances and the delivery of better healthcare.

18h-19h – Closing Session and Final Conference

Symposium Synthesis - Elsa Simões, Sandra Tuna and Rui Estrada 

Final Conference - Professor Salvato Trigo, President of the Fernando Pessoa Foundation