Positive Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychology Clinical Applications for Positive Mental Health

Dr. Erick Messias was born and raised in Brazil, where he completed medical school and practiced family medicine in rural areas before moving to Baltimore for residency training. In 2001, he completed a psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland, and he completed preventive medicine training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2003. While at Hopkins he also received a master’s in public health and a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Since graduation he has held academic positions at his alma mater in Brazil, and later in Georgia and Arkansas where he was medical director of the Walker Family Clinic and responsible for the House Staff Mental Health Service at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock. Dr. Messias served as VP and Medical Director for Beacon Health Options, overseeing the mental health care received by Arkansas Medicaid recipients.

Dr. Messias has over 50 publications in scientific journals, has published several book chapters, and has edited a volume on schizophrenia for psychiatrists and a textbook on Positive Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy. Dr. Messias also served as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affair for the UAMS College of Medicine and Program Director for the Baptist-UAMS psychiatry residency program, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Messias is currently the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the St. Louis University School of Medicine.

Dr. Hamid Peseschkian is a German board-certified specialist in psychiatry, neurology, and psychotherapy, and an internationally recognized expert in transcultural and humanistic psychodynamic psychotherapy. He serves as the Academic and Managing Director of the Wiesbaden Academy of Psychotherapy (Wiesbaden, Germany), where he also leads the psychotherapy residency program, and is the Medical Director of the Wiesbaden Psychotherapy Center.

As President of the World Association for Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy (WAPP), Dr. Peseschkian plays a key role in advancing global mental health education across more than 60 countries. He is a European Certified Psychotherapist (EAP), an International Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and an International Associate of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK). His additional affiliations include the Council of the World Federation for Psychotherapy (WFP) and the German Association for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (DFT), where he holds honorary membership. He also serves as Senior Adjunct Faculty for psychiatry and psychotherapy training in Hesse, Germany.

With over three decades of clinical, academic, and international teaching experience, Dr. Peseschkian has trained thousands of psychotherapists worldwide. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles, many of which have been translated into multiple languages. His professional interests include transcultural psychiatry, psychotherapy education, stress management, and intercultural competence.

He earned his M.D. from the University of Mainz in 1987, followed by a doctorate in medicine in 1988 and a postdoctoral research degree in 1999.