At the Tampere WAIMH Congress in June this year, Campbell Paul completed his term as WAIMH President (2019-2024). As WAIMH President, Campbell helped to navigate WAIMH successfully through COVID-19, a hybrid Congress in Brisbane, Australia (2021), a WAIMH Congress in Dublin, Ireland, in 2023, and an interim Congress in Tampere, Finland (June 2024).
At the close of the Tampere Congress, with much appreciation from WAIMH for all Campbell has done as WAIMH President during his term, he handed the WAIMH Presidency mantle to Astrid Berg (President-Elect).
For those new to WAIMH, here is a little bit about Astrid.
Astrid Berg MBChB (Pret), FFPsych (SA), MPhil (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry)
Astrid Berg is a Psychiatrist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and Jungian Analyst. She is an Emerita A/Professor at the University of Cape Town and an Extraordinary A/Professor at Stellenbosch University.
Astrid currently consults and teaches at Tygerberg Hospital and is co-convenor of the M Phil degree in Infant Mental Health at Stellenbosch University.
She developed her clinical and academic interest in infant mental health by engaging with IMH specialists locally and globally.
Over more than two decades, Astrid has significantly contributed to developing the infant mental health field in South Africa.
She is the founder of the Western Cape Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH affiliate organisation) and has organised two national and one international IMH conference. In 2012, the local Affiliate hosted the 13th WAIMH Congress in Cape Town.
She has been the lead consultant at the University of Cape Town’s Parent-Infant Mental Health Service for 18 years.
She has also contributed substantially to the well-being of infants with their families, in their communities, in Cape Town, and across South Africa.
On an international scale, Astrid has been instrumental in advancing the field of IMH through supervision, training, consultation, and service to WAIMH at both the Affiliate level and as an Executive Member. She has contributed to the professional growth and development of many WAIMH members, allied professionals, and WAIMH affiliates. Astrid has been a long-standing WAIMH Executive Committee member and, for the past five years, has been the WAIMH President-Elect. From June 2024, Astrid became WAIMH President.
This edition includes a paper based on Astrid’s keynote address as the new WAIMH President, which she presented at the WAIMH Interim Congress in Tampere, Finland (June 2024).
