“Children are not simply small adults”, states the UEMS CAPP training Logbook.

Nevertheless, the core identity of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) has been at stake for the last few decades in Europe. CAP is now an independent specialty in 23 countries and a subspecialty in 8 countries, but 5 countries do not have any structured CAP training.

Training differences are marked even within the EU member countries, and are not only in terms of content of training programs, but are also relevant to duration, trainee selection, and graduation procedures. More importantly, while almost half of the countries have integrated structured psychotherapy training as a full component of CAP training, the other half has not.

Within the UEMS, CAP psychiatrists used to be represented in the section and board of Psychiatry until recently: it is only in 1994 that UEMS established the European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy (CAPP) Section and Board.

The idea behind this initiative to split among UEMS was to promote high standards of mental health care for children across Europe, both directly and indirectly, by establishing standards and improving the quality of postgraduate CAP training, with a particular focus on training in psychotherapy. The UEMS CAP Board published a Training Logbook, which has already proven to be important in helping new EU member countries to develop their own training program in CAP.

We will discuss the discrepancies and similarities in CAP training programs across Europe, and the challenges that have arisen through harmonization processes.