ESSM Newsletter # 39

8 ESSM Today The EFS & ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologist (ECPS) exam: The 3 rd successful edition Chiara Simonelli interviews Evie Kirana C.S.: The EFS & ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologist (ECPS) exam has successfully arrived at the 3 rd edition, which has been held in the beautiful frame of Lisbon on 28 th February 2018. This challenging adventure started in 2014 in Istan- bul. Where does the idea come from? E.K.: The ESSM and EFS have been collaborat- ing since 2013 to promote the highest stand- ards of healthcare in the field of Sexology and Sexual Medicine. This was an initiative of the two presidents of EFS and ESSM at that time (Chiara Simonelli and Hartmut Porst – editor’s note). As a result of this collaboration, a cer- tification procedure has been initiated to dis- tinguish excellence amongst individual psych- sexologists from around the world. C.S.: As said, we are now at the 3 rd ECPS exam (1 st in Istanbul in 2014 and the 2 nd in Madrid in 2016). How was this edition and how many ECPSs are there now in the world? E.K.: The European Psycho-sexology Accredi- tation (E.P.S.A.) committee has developed a long-term plan to protect and to enhance the role of psycho-sexologists in Europe. Within this context, the eligibility criteria for someone to apply are of high standards. Today, and af- ter 3 examination periods, we have about 100 people who have obtained the EFS and ESSM psycho-sexologist accreditation certificate. Please note that the work of this committee applies to psycho-sexologists, so it refers to the field of sexology relevant to psychologists and/or psychiatrists. C.S.: The success of such a certification costs of many efforts. I was wondering about the people working behind. Who is the core of the ECPS organization? E.K.: As with most such activities, there is a group of people working. We have the full mem- bers, the honorary advisors and the associate members. Full members of the E.P.S.A. have the duty to design, organize and implement tasks for the accreditation of psycho-sexologists and relevant educational courses. Today, the full members are: › (Chair) Evie Kirana, Psychologist (Greece) › Janico Georgiadis, Neuroscientist (The Netherlands) › Tilmann Krueger, Psychiatrist (Germany) › Lior Lowenstein, Gynecologist (Israel) › Yacov Reisman, Urologist (The Netherlands) › Francesca Tripodi, Psychologist (Italy) › Remziye Kunelaki, Psychologist (UK) › Xanti Ntoni-Fynbo, Psychologist (Denmark) Honorary advisors are prominent scientists of in- ternational repute and high distinction that serve in advisory capacity to the E.P.S.A. committee. Their role is to provide advice to the committee on scientific and executive issues that come within their experience and expertise. 1. Prof. Pedro Nobre (Portugal) 2. Prof. Chiara Simonelli (Italy) 3. Prof. Alain Giami (France) 4. Prof. Erick Janssen (Belgium) 5. Prof. Kevan Wylie (UK) 6. Prof. Uwe Hartmann (Germany) 7. Prof. Astrid Højgaard (Denmark) 8. Prof. Peter Weiss (Czech Republic) 9. Prof. Rafi Heruti (Israel) 10. Prof. Anita Clayton (USA) 11. Prof. Jim Pfaus (Canada) An Associate Member is someone that contrib- utes to the objectives of E.P.S.A. by participating in specific projects that aim to facilitate the role of psycho-sexologists in Europe. The Associate Member could be an EFS/ESSM certified psycho- sexologist (ECPS) that has demonstrated special interest in EFS/ESSM educational activities or has had an active role within national or inter- national societies and would like to be involved in the work of the E.P.S.A. Associate members are assigned specific tasks under the supervision of full members. Such tasks may involve, for example, mapping of educational events relevant to sexology or the dissemination of information relative to the exam etc. So, if somebody would like to become an as- sociate member please let us know! C.S.: The joint EFS and ESSM adventure is not only represented by the exam. Which other pro- jects have been shared so far? E.K.: In an unofficial way, one can very often see scientists participating at activities of both societies. Whether these are educational or research activities. This is reasonable as sexual health is a multidisciplinary field, and it is this that makes it so unique. In terms of formal col- laboration, the two societies had implemented a common congress in the past. Today, the ECPS is the field of collaboration, and I per- sonally, would hope for more common projects in the future. Not only joint congresses, but also joint educational activities and research activities. In my perspective, by joining the EFS and ESSM human and capital resources, we would not only manage our resources more effectively, but we would also develop activi- ties that enhance sexual health through a bio- psychosocial perspective. Evie Kirana, Phd, Msc Health psychologist-Sexologist Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health Thessaloniki, Greece pskirana@gmail.com Chiara Simonelli, PhD Past President of the EFS Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Chiara.Simonelli@uniroma1.it