Trimbos and Harm Reduction Network
The Trimbos Institute's Harm Reduction Network (HRN) aims to increase the health and well-being of people, especially those who use drugs, including hard drugs and psychedelics. The Harm reduction network collects and disseminates knowledge that contributes to a healthier and safer society. The core activities of the Harm Reduction Network include:
- Monitoring harm reduction facilities (such as user rooms, needle exchange and methadone and heroin treatment) in the Netherlands.
- Organizing network meetings, webinars and conferences.
- Disseminating knowledge and trends in the field of harm reduction.
The network is for everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in harm reduction services, from doctors who provide methadone to street workers and advocates. The Harm Reduction Network is financed by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), and is coordinated by the Trimbos Institute.
The Harm Reduction Congress
The Harm Reduction Congress organized by the Trimbos Institute will take place on Thursday, November 23 in Utrecht. It is an annual conference for healthcare professionals, researchers, experts, users and policy makers.
Themes of the upcoming conference
The themes of the 2023 Harm Reduction Congress are the following:
- Chemsex
- Drugs in prisons
- Drugs and migrants
- New drugs and harm reduction
- Police and drug prevention
- Harm reduction in ceremonial drug use
Program of the conference
09:30: Walk-in with coffee
10:00: Opening door Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos Institute)
10:15: Drugs and harm reduction in prisons, plenary session with:
- Paul van Ommen (PI Ter Apel),
- Rafaela Rigoni (Correlation European Harm Reduction Network),
- Jack Wubben (PI Vught)
- Piet Broenland (Ikigai counseling)
11:30: Break
11:45: Harm reduction projects, round table session with
- Lisa Strada (Trimbos Institute) about OPAAK: Population size estimate of people with high-risk Opioid use and an exploration of people with high-risk use of crack cocaine and other drugs in the Netherlands.
- Ingrid Bakker (Mainline Foundation) about SEMID: Services for Vulnerable Migrants who use Drugs in the EU.
- Sofia Fernandes Franco (Vrije Universiteit) about The Impacts of Drug-Related Harm Reduction on Local Community: Evidence from Dutch Drug Consumption Rooms
12:30: Lunch break
13:30: Access to harm reduction facilities for (homeless) migrant workers, plenary session with
- Machteld Busz (Mainline Foundation)
- Ewa Wielgat (AMOC, Rainbow Group)
- Larisa Melinceanu (Barka Foundation)
2:15 PM: Break
14:30: Working groups (non-plenary) with
- Leon Knoops (Mainline Foundation) about Chemsex.
- Pieter Oomen (Trimbos Institute) and Jorn Dekker (AMOC, Regenbooggroep) about Harm Reduction 2.0: A future perspective.
- Alex van Dongen (Novadic-Kentron) and Sam Fineman (Expert by experience) about Lack of harm reduction with new substances.
- Frederiek Schutten (Trimbos Institute), Floris Moerkamp (Vine), Janneke van der Geijn (TripTherapie) about Harm reduction when using drugs in a ceremonial setting.
3:15 PM: Break
15:30: Harm reduction pitches, round table sessions with
- Ruben Boomsma (LEAP) about Harm reduction from a police perspective
- Dear Huizinga (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport) about Dutch harm reduction policy in a European perspective
4:15 PM: Break
16:30: Keynote: “Labels belong on jars, not on people” Through Piet Broenland (Ikigai counseling)
End: Closing by Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos Institute)
Trip therapy as a speaker
We have been invited to this conference to speak about harm reduction during ceremonies and psychedelic sessions. We will give a presentation on how we do as much damage control as possible. We will discuss our intake process and how we influence the state of mind during the preparation and therefore the quality of the trip.
Attend the conference
It is no longer possible to attend the event as it is in the past.