23-24 September, Radisson Blu Marina Palace, Turku, Finland

Nordic Marcé Congress 2025

Register here


IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline for the abstracts: Abstract submission is now extended until May 1st!

Early bird registration deadline: 30 June 2025

Final registration deadline: 15 September 2025

Warm welcome to Turku and Nordic Marcé Congress 2025!

The next Nordic Marcé Congress will be held 23-24 September in Turku, Finland. We invite you to Turku to meet new and familiar faces to get inspired and discuss with Nordic colleagues. The topic of the congress is "Preventing and treating perinatal mental health problems".

The lovely city Turku has a long history as the first capital of Finland. The congress participants will find vivid cultural events and superb restaurants to visit and enjoy. The river Aura, flowing through the centre, is the heart of the city and can easily be followed down to the sea on a walk or a bike ride.

Congress is co-hosted by the Itla Children´s Foundation/the First 1000 days, the Finnish Perinatal Mental Health Association and the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study.

Text and image section image

Registration

Early bird registration: open until 30 June

Deadline for registration: 15 September

Early bird registration is now open!

More information of the registration can be found on the registration form.

Register here

The registration fees are free of VAT, except for the congress dinner tickets (VAT 25.5%).

If you have any questions concerning the registration, contact aboaevents@certia.fi.


Abstracts

Congress participants are invited to submit abstracts. Abstracts for the congress are submitted via Google docs.

Submit your abstract here


Abstract submission opens 10 February 2025.

Deadline for submitting Abstract submission is now extended until May 1st. Notification of an approved abstract will be sent out by 25 May 2025.


Instructions

You can write the abstract in English. The maximum length of the abstract is 300 words. You can choose between a scientific or a clinical abstract, we welcome both.

Clinical abstract should include: title, introduction/background, purpose of the project or work, description of the project/work, conclusions, names of the contributors and their workplace/affiliation.

Scientific abstract should include: title, introduction, aim of the study, materials and methods, conclusions and implications, names of the contributors and their workplace/affiliation.

If you have any questions concerning the abstract process, please contact eeva-leena.kataja@utu.fi (Nordic Marcé president).

Keynote speakers

Pim Cuijpers

Prof. dr.

Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

Title of the talk:

“Preventing and treating perinatal depression: State-of-the-art and future challenges”

Pim Cuijpers is Professor emeritus of Clinical Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands and director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions in Amsterdam.

He is specialised in conducting randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses on prevention and psychological treatments of common mental disorders across the life span.

Hasse Karlsson

Emeritus Professor

University of Turku

Title of the talk:

“Maternal depression and anxiety during pregnancy – What happens in the fetal brain”

Hasse Karlsson is Emeritus Professor of Integrative Neuroscience and Psychiatry at University of Turku and Chief Physician at Turku University Hospital as well as former Chairman of the Board of Neurocenter Finland.

He is the founder of FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. This cohort has so far resulted in over 250 publications and 25 PhD theses. Currently 45 PhD students are working on their theses. He has published 514 scientific articles.

Shannon Lenze

PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Washington University School of Medicine

Title of the talk:

“Perinatal Interpersonal Psychotherapy: A review of the evidence and glimpse into the future.

Dr. Lenze is a clinical psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Washington Univeristy School of Medicine in St. Louis Missouri, and Adjunct Professor in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

She serves as the Co-Director of the Perinatal Behavioral Health Service and the Director of Psychotherapy training for the psychiatry residency program. She has been a member of the International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for over two decades and currently serves on the ISIPT Executive Council. Dr. Lenze’s research and clinical work is primarily focused on mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy and postpartum.

Invited speakers

Eeva Ekholm

Docent, Faculty of Medicine

University of Turku

Title of the talk:

"Advanced care for high-risk pregnancies: Interactive 4D Ultrasound Intervention"

Sari Ahlqvist-Björkroth

University Lecturer, Psychology Docent, Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology

Psychologist, Docent / Associate Professor

University of Turku

Title of the talk:

"Advanced care for high-risk pregnancies: Interactive 4D Ultrasound Intervention"


Program

23/9/2025


Congress program, Tuesday, 23 September

Kindly notice that the congress will be held in English

8.30-9.30 Registration

9.30-9.45 Opening of the congress, Ph.D., Adjunct professor Eeva-Leena Kataja

9.45-10.45 Keynote 1: Shannon Lenze, Washington University: Perinatal Interpersonal Psychotherapy: A review of the evidence and glimpse into the future (recorded presentation).

Host: Finnish Perinatal Mental Health Association

10.45-11.15 Coffee break + posters

11.15-12.15 Keynote 2: Hasse Karlsson: Maternal depression and anxiety during pregnancy - What happens in the biology?

Host: The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

12.15-13.15 Lunch

PARALLEL SESSIONS

13.15-14.30

Parallel session 1. Parent-Infant Psychotherapy : Mirja Sarkkinen & Elina Savonlahti: Finnish Integrative Parent-Infant Psychotherapy (FIPIP) in theory and practice

Parallel session 2. Perinatal Mental Health in the Nordics: Assesment and Interventions in Antenal Care, Part 1: Mari Berglund, Saara Sourander, Tarja Korpilahti-Leino, Terja Ristkari, Tiia Ståhlberg & Andre Sourander : "Strong together - Randomized controlled stydy for antenatal depression" (30 min).

Ylva-Li Lindahl: Implementation and evaluation of a programme for antenatal psychosocial assessment in Västmanland Region in Sweden. (20 min)

Sigridur Sia Jonsdottir: Might the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire be of important use in antenatal care in Iceland? (20 min)

Discussion 5 min

14.30-15.00 Coffee break + posters

PARALLEL SESSIONS

15.00-16.15

Parallel Session 3

Parent-infant Psychotherapy, Part 2: Päivi Ronkainen, Piia Hyytinen & Kaisa Santala: Working with the motherhood constellation, fatherhood constellation and co-parenting in FIPIP: clinical cases

Parallel Session 4

Mental Wellbeing, Expectations, and Gendered Experiences in the Perinatal Period

Valgerður Lísa Sigurðardóttir: Mental Wellbeing during Pregnancy in Women with a History of Miscarriage: A cross-sectional study

Ingvill Øvsthus: Dynamics between birth preparations, expectations and maternity care: Pathways to empowering and disempowering birth experiences

Hanna Wierenga: Women’s experiences of gender during pregnancy and postpartum

Mona Bekkhus: Expectant Fathers Risk and Infant Mental Health the Role of Caregiving Warmth

16.30-17.30 Nordic Marcé Annual meeting

19.00 Congress Dinner, Radisson Blu Marina Palace

24/9/2025


Congress program, Wednesday, 24 September

9.00-9.30 Registration

9.15-10.15 Keynote 3 (ITLA), Pim Cuijpers, Vreje Universiteit: Preventing and treating perinatal depression: State-of-art and future challenges

Host: Itla Children’s foundation

10.15-10.45 Coffee break + posters

10.45-12.00 Invited speakers: Sari Ahlqvist & Eeva Ekholm, University of Turku "Advanced care for high-risk pregnancies: Interactive 4D Ultrasound Intervention"

Maarit Leinonen: Use of psychiatric medication in the perinatal period

12.00-13.00 Lunch

PARALLEL SESSIONS

13.00-14.00

Parallel session 3:

Strengthening Perinatal Mental Health Services

Tiina Riekki: Finnish Special Competence Training in Perinatal Mental Health

Johanna Pietikäinen: Setting up the first perinatal psychiatric outpatient service to Helsinki University Hospital – Lessons learned from the first 1.5 years

Jonna Lehikoinen, Marjaana Raukola-Lindblom: Current Needs for Mental Health Support During the First 1000 Days

Parallel Session 4:

Clinical Interventions in Perinatal Care

Fríður Guðmundsdóttir: The experience of integrating Video Interactive Guidance (VIG) into clinical practice in Family Team 0-5, Iceland

Heather Mattner: Parallel writing: an effective clinical treatment approach for women experiencing perinatal trauma

Alkistis Skalkidou: External validation of a prediction tool to identify women with high risk of long-term tool to identify women with high risk of long-term postpartum depressive symptoms

14.00-14.30 Coffee break

PARALLEL SESSIONS

14.30-15.30

Parallel session 5

Findings from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Riikka Korja: Parental Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Emotional Development in Early Childhood and Caregiving Behavior in Relation to Socio-Emotional Development in Early Childhood

Linnea Karlsson: Psychosocial and biological correlates of maternal pregnancy-anxiety trajectories in the FinnBrain cohort

Elisabeth Nordenswan: The association between maternal executive functioning and emotional availability in the context of psychological distress

Eeva-Leena Kataja: Maternal prenatal distress, positive mental health, and resilience, and newborn telomere length

Parallel Session 6

Infant Mental Health issues: studies from the Nordic countries

Tiina Riekki: Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in the Children of Mothers with Antenatal Fatigue

Mona Bekkhus: Examining the associations between early life stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems using a network approach

Boglarka Zsofia Kovacs: Prenatal Psychosocial Determinant of Neonatal Brain Structure

15.30-16.00 Panel discussion on maternal mental health issues in the Nordics

16.30-17.00 Ending session + new board presents themselves

Congress venue

Date: 23-24 September, 2025

Venue: Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel

Address: Linnankatu 32, 20100 Turku


Arrival to Venue

Venue is easy to reach!

  • From Turku Airport take bus number 1 towards the harbour.
  • From Turku Main Railway Station is just 1.5 kilometers walk.
  • From Turku Bus Station is 1,8 kilometers walk.
Linnankatu 32 20100 Turku

Accommodation

Here below are listed two Turku city centre hotels which have a special room rate for the congress participants.

Please make your booking directly to the hotel, see instructions and contact details below. The hotel fees include breakfast, service and VAT. All hotel fees are payable directly to the hotel.

Reservations by phone or email with the booking code: NMC2025.

Code is valid until 24 August 2025, 6pm. Please note that the rooms can only be booked according to the hotels booking situation.

Congress hotels


Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel

Linnankatu 32, 20100 Turku

+358 300 870 010

reservations.finland@radissonblu.com

Read more


Original Sokos Hotel Wiklund

Eerikinkatu 11, 20100 Turku

+358 300 870 000

sokos.hotels@sok.fi

Read more

Staying in Turku

Turku is the oldest city of Finland and was founded in 1229. Turku has a compact size, perfect for exploring the exciting mixture of old and new.

The versatile livelihood structure, top class selection of education, culture, and services, as well as the beautiful archipelago, form a magnetic combination in Turku. In Turku there is everything, but still, Turku is small enough that you can go almost everywhere by foot or bike.

Welcome to Turku!

Discover Turku


Experience Turku

By booking day tours, activities and multiday packages from

Book Turku

Contact

Scientific programme

If you have any questions regarding the scientific programme, please contact: eeva-leena.kataja@utu.fi

Registration and payments

If you have any questions regarding registration or payments, please contact aboaevents@certia.fi for more information.


Data protection /cookie policy

LyytiPowered by Lyyti