Specific Professional Orientation:
Academician Professor Dušica Lečić Toševski is a specialist in psychiatry and a subspecialist in psychotherapy. She is a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) and a Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.
Academic Professor Dušica Lečić Toševski is a candidate for the position of Secretary General of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, an honorary member of the World Psychiatric Association, a member of the Board of the European Association of Emeritus Professors, a member of the Working Group of the World Health Organization, an International Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Great Britain, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the European Psychiatric Association; she is also a Distinguished Fellow of the International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hong Kong, a member of the Royal Medical Board of HRH Princess Katherine Karadjordjevic, a member of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, the President of the Psychiatric Association of the Balkans and Southeast Europe, the President of the Psychiatric Association of Serbia, and a member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.
She has worked at the Clinic of Psychiatry at the Clinical Center of Serbia, served as the director of the Institute of Mental Health, chaired the national commission for mental health, served as the national coordinator for mental health of the World Health Organization, and is a member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. She is the editor of national guidelines for good clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of depression and schizophrenia, a mentor to numerous doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, and subspecialist papers, and the coordinator of 10 international and numerous national projects and programs.
She has received numerous awards for her contributions to the psychiatric profession. Her biography is included in the book “Exceptional Women of Serbia in the 20th and 21st Centuries”.
Prof. Dr. Dušica Lečić Toševski specializes in the treatment of:
- neurotic disorders
- personality disorders
- depression
- stress-related disorders
- PTSD
- anxiety disorders
- comorbid mental and somatic disorders
She is the author and co-author of 15 books (two foreign) and numerous papers in the field of psychiatry. She participates in prestigious domestic and international congresses.
Education:
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade – Undergraduate studies.
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade – Specialization in Psychiatry.
- Doctor of Medical Sciences (dissertation topic: chronic depression and its relationship with personality disorders) (2011-2017).
- Corresponding Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), 2009.
- Full Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), 2015.
- Candidate for the Secretary General of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Work Experience:
- Assistant in the Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine (1980-1983) – acclaimed as the best assistant by students, received the April Award for Student Day.
- Worked at the Clinic of Psychiatry, Clinical Center of Serbia (also as the head of the Personality Disorders Center) (1983-1993).
- Worked at the Institute of Mental Health from 1993-2019.
- Director of the Institute of Mental Health from 2004-2019. As the director, she demonstrated high organizational abilities. The Institute received the Socrates Award for the best education center in the field of mental health in London, with her as the best manager (2014).
- Founder and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Education at the Institute of Mental Health.
- Established collaboration with many centers worldwide (such as the Maudsley Psychiatric Clinic).
- Member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.
- Coordinator of mental health protection programs for refugees (in collaboration with UNHCR) and victims of torture during crisis years.
- President of the National Commission for Mental Health. Within the Southeast European Stability Pact, she led the preparation of the National Mental Health Strategy (adopted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2007) and the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Mental Disorders (adopted in 2013).
- National coordinator for mental health of the World Health Organization.
- Editor of national guidelines for good clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of depression and schizophrenia.
- Head of several international, multicentric projects at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU).
- Mentor to numerous doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, and subspecialist papers, and coordinator of 10 international and numerous national projects and programs.
Publications:
- Author and co-author of 15 books (including two foreign).
- Author and co-author of numerous scientific papers in prestigious international journals (as well as national journals).
- Editor of the fifth edition of the American textbook “Tasman’s Psychiatry” – previous editions were acclaimed as the gold standard of psychiatry (Springer, in press, 2024).
- Author of numerous chapters in international textbooks (including chapters in two editions of the two-volume Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, Oxford Textbook of Migration Psychiatry, Oxford Textbook of Social Psychiatry, a chapter in the SAGE textbook Personality and Individual Differences) and author of 22 chapters in foreign books.
- Co-author of psychiatry textbooks and editor of six manuals.
- Delivered numerous plenary and keynote lectures and invited lectures abroad, as well as at symposiums of world congresses, many of which she also organized.
- Member of the editorial boards and reviewer for numerous international journals; she was the chief editor of the journal “Psychiatry Today” for several years.
- Organized several national congresses with international participation, featuring many prominent foreign speakers, under the auspices of the World Psychiatric Association.
Memberships:
- World Psychiatric Association:
-Co-chair of the Publications Committee.
-Coordinator of Psychiatry for Central Europe and Board member for six years.
-President of the Working Group on Mass Violence and Mental Health and the Section for Preventive Psychiatry.
-Member of the Presidential Program Council on Person-Oriented Psychiatry and the Working Group for Assisting Physicians with Mental Disorders.
-Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association.
-Board member of the Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry Section and member of several other sections (for women’s mental health, education, personality disorders, comorbidity, psychotherapy, etc.)
- Board member of the European Association of Emeritus Professors and the Committee for Prevention and Health Promotion of that Association.
- Member of the World Health Organization Working Group for the preparation of the new, XI International Classification of Personality Disorders.
- International member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Great Britain.
- Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and member of the European Psychiatric Association.
- Distinguished Fellow of the International Core Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hong Kong.
- Member of the Royal Medical Board of HRH Princess Katherine Karadjordjevic.
- Member of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, the World Federation for Mental Health, and the International College of Person-Centered Medicine.
- President of the Psychiatric Association of the Balkans and Southeast Europe.
- President of the Psychiatric Association of Serbia (until April 2019, now honorary president).
- Member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.
Awards:
Recognitions for contributions to the psychiatric profession:
- Distinguished Leader, London, 2014.
- Certificate of merit for collaboration in mental health care, Moscow, 2009.
- Medal for Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Washington, May 2008.
- Honorary member of the Serbian Association of Psychotherapists, 2005.
- Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association.
- Golden Key of Knowledge, Understanding, and Treatment of the Clinic of Psychiatry, University of Kragujevac, “for outstanding achievements in the development of psychiatry in Serbia,” November 14, 2019.
Engaged in translation – translated and edited 7 professional books and 6 works of fiction.
She is the editor of the second, third, and fourth volumes of the “Women Academics” series and the monograph “Controversies in Medicine” at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU).
Dušica Lečić Toševski’s biography is included in the book “Exceptional Women of Serbia in the 20th and 21st centuries.”
