Unbelievable, but suddenly it is spring and only ten more days to the EFCAP congress in Porto. I am really looking forward to both the scientific program and of course also to visit Porto, where I have not been before. My team and I shall have an opportunity to discuss our work in the adolescent forensic unit (EVA) and together with colleagues from Germany and Sweden I shall arrange a symposium on involuntary psychiatric treatment of minors.

Very soon after the EFCAP congress I shall participate as opponent the public discussion of the academic dissertation of Dr Virve Kekkonen.

I find it a great honor and a challenge to participate as opponent. I must mention that a colleague and friend of mine, Professor Chijs van Nieuwenhuizen from the Netherlands played the role of the opponent very elegantly when my PhD student Monica Gammelgård defended her thesis about a year ago. She had a very different approach from what we usually do in Finland, and I thought I would keep it in mind and may be try such approach myself… but I was so busy attempting to radiate support to my PhD student that after the event I had more or less forgotten what had been said… Monica’s dissertation can nevertheless be found here http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-44-9825-1

Recently Monica and I gave together a course in violence risk assessment. We have given a number of such courses, I think this was perhaps our fifth if not even sixth time. The aim of risk assessment is to advice in creating a treatment plan that will help to reduce the risk of violent behavior. In most of the cases when there are concerns around an adolescent, the structured risk assessment will also help reducing the fears as very often it turns out that the risk is less than first thought, and that there is a lot that can be done. For the first time we now had participants from police in our course, in addition to professionals from health care and social services. It turned out that we all work with very similar young people.

Winter swimming season has now come to its end and today our winter swimming group is going to start summer swimming season. There is definitely a summer feeing in the air! I am facing a very busy May, even stressful with many coinciding events at work – not to mention that at the same time it is also a busy time in the garden, and busy tango and ballet season, with HelaTango Festival and important last lessons before spring show in dance school. I could still improve in Cats and Rats, not to mention Sylphides…