During this symposium, we will discuss several mental disorders – autism, obesity and problematic screen use – from different perspectives: risk factors, protection and children and teenagers’ capacity for resilience. Our key focus is the understanding of the psychological processes involved in those mental disorders, such as attention, emotions, cognitions, metacognition and psychodynamic processes. Approaches from developmental psychology, psychoanalysis and cognitive behavioral therapy are intertwined when it comes to evaluation and patient care.

Rafika Zebdi has a degree in Psychology and a Master and a PhD by the University of Paris Nanterre. She is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Paris Nanterre (EA 4430 CLIPSYD) and Director of the First Year of the Master Clinical and Psychopathological Empirical Psychology and CBT. She is a member of the French Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy (AFTCC) and she works as Private psychologist and cognitive and behavioral Psychotherapist. She is an expert in child and adolescent, evaluating and intervening in various issues of children and their families. Participation in national and international symposiums and congresses, as well as different publications in the form of chapters and articles related to evaluation of psychopathology, mental disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents, Management of Cognitive and Behavioral Orientation Programs in Children and Adolescents, Executive Functions and Anxiety Disorders, Emotional Regulation and Coping Strategies in Children and Adolescents, CBT interventions for youths, and in the field of clinical psychology in general. Current research projects for which she is director include "Construction and Evaluation of a Program of Relaxation and Mindfulness in Children and Adolescents" in collaboration with the Referral Center for Language and learning Disorders of R. Poincaré Hospital, and the project "Executive Functions and Anxiety in Children", with the collaboration of two researchers, Bahia Guellaï (U. Paris Nanterre) and Louise Goyet (U. Paris 8). She also collaborates in several Researches directed by Pr. Lucia Romo (ADHD, Addictions, Cyberpsychology).