DIU Psychopathologie et affections neurologiques

Contribution from AFM-Téléthon and the Institute of Myology

Prof. Marcela Gargiulo, PhD, professor at Paris Descartes University and at the Institute of Myology, whose work often involves the disclosure of the diagnosis, was a natural contributor to the design of this DIU and sits on its scientific committee. She also teaches in module 3 of the DIU, “Psychotherapeutic care: patients and their families”, on supportive psychotherapy.

Also involved in this DIU is Martine Frischmann, AFM consultant psychologist, who is part of the teaching team and covers neuromuscular diseases in module 2, “Affective and behavioural disorders: from symptom to disability”.

Training

• Dates: 11 January to 6 July 2027
• Frequency: 7 two-day sessions (Monday and Tuesday). Each day consists of 4 presentations
• Duration: 102 hours of training (14 days), including 100 hours of teaching and 2 hours of assessment
• Teaching methods: interactive teaching with role-play based on real clinical cases, workshops, round tables and sharing of practice
• Venue: Auditorium of the Institute of Myology, Babinski building, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Group, Paris 13th arrondissement (Austerlitz or Chevaleret metro)

Programme

• Module 1: Foundations of the psychopathological approach to neurological conditions:
  • Theme 1: Contributions from the neurosciences,
  • Theme 2: The various psychopathological approaches
• Module 2: Affective and behavioural disorders, from symptom to disability
• Module 3: Psychotherapeutic care, patients and their families
• Module 4: Society, towards multidisciplinary care
• Round tables with patients, their family carers and representatives of patient associations.

Registration

Admission requirements: this programme is not open to students in initial training.

• Admission on the basis of qualifications: psychologists, doctors, allied health professionals, heads of non-profit organisations and social workers.
• Admission on the basis of a motivation interview and experience: any interested candidate of Bachelor’s degree level or equivalent with experience in the field. In this case, admission may be granted after review and selection of the application file, followed by an interview with one or more members of the teaching team.

Award of the diploma

The diploma is awarded by a board chaired by the academic and scientific directors of the programme, on the basis of the following criteria:

• a two-hour written assessment
• compulsory attendance at the theoretical teaching sessions and round tables
• participation in practice-sharing workshops