About IEPA

IEPA is an international network for those involved in the study and treatment of the early
phases of mental health disorders encompassing a trans-diagnostic approach. With its origins in
early intervention in psychosis, IEPA aims to enhance awareness of the early phases of mental
health disorders more generally, their causes, prevention and the process of recovery. It aims to
provide a network for international communication and collaboration between stakeholders.

IEPA members include clinicians, researchers, administrators, policy makers, and individuals with an
interest in the field of early intervention in psychiatry.

We aim to:

  • Enhance awareness of the early phases of mental illnesses and the process of
    recovery, building on experience from research on early psychosis to take a trans-diagnostic
    view.
  • Provide a network for international communication and collaboration between
    stakeholders, including mental health professionals, consumers and their families, and policy
    makers.
  • Contribute to the development of knowledge about the early stages of mental
    illnesses and their treatment.
  • Facilitate research, including multi-centre trials, cross-cultural research, and longterm
    studies.
  • Facilitate the development and promotion of best practice in identifying early
    psychosis and other mental health disorders, and providing optimal treatment.
  • Improve services to young people with emerging mental ill-health, and their
    families, through encouragement of appropriate mental health policies.
  • Improve access to information on the identification and treatment of mental ill
    health in its early phases.
  • Arrange conferences and professional meetings on an international level that
    focus on the early phase of mental health disorders.
  • Provide links to existing educational resources and training options.
    Membership.