Mirjana Zebić, clinical psychologist, PhD, specialist in medical psychology, employed at the Clinic for Psychiatry of the University Clinical Center of Serbia. She is a research associate in the field of medical psychology and participates in elective classes at the Faculty of Medicine in the subject of communication in health care and personality theory. She deals with psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy and has been a mentor (supervisor) in medical psychology for several decades. Her narrower field of practice is forensic psychology and registration of court experts in the field of medical psychology. In her clinical practice, she has been dealing with people with psychotic disorders for a long time. Of particular interest to her is the detection and intervention in the early stages of psychosis, especially in the young population.

I was included in the Impulse project as a researcher, at the invitation of Prof. Dr. Nadja Marić Bojović, with whom I directly collaborated in my clinical work, and in the phase when my young colleague Dr. Andrić went on maternity leave and I stayed on the project after her return. I must say that the involvement in the project personally brought me a lot, and especially the incentive to renew my interests in research work, which I did more in my younger years. As I am more involved in this professional phase as a mentor in the research work of my younger colleagues in specialist studies, the experience on the project will be of great benefit in terms of education.

Although we all know how psychological and social factors have a significant impact on the occurrence and outcome of psychotic disorders, and that psychosocial interventions are an integral part of treatment, the importance of effective communication is a necessity, I must admit that in everyday practice there was no structured approach and ability to measure interventions. In this sense, I understood the importance of this project and the opportunities that Dialog + provides and can benefit both professionals and people who need help. I think that it is invaluable that the project encouraged connecting colleagues from this area and crossing creative energy for further cooperation and contribution to the field of scientific and clinical work, all in order to improve the quality of life of our patients, which is the most important result of these studies.

In addition to the research work, I was involved in activity (WP7) with the LEAP groups (Lived Experience Advisory Panel). This activity  includes support for establishment of new user led organizations in countries and regions where they do not exist (Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Kosovo), as well as the publication of sort of a manual, a document called the "Model to successfully engage and empower users of psychiatric services and caregivers in LMICs”. I followed how much users meant active participation in the project , research, which is a complete novelty in this area, as well as the growth of their motivations for further development and strengthening user  led organizations . In the future, different ways of working with the families of the users should be considered, as well as the possibilities of their greater involvement in the community, which this project also encouraged.

Privately, I am a fairly quiet and peaceful person who likes to listen to music, read books, travel and stay in nature when possible.