Dr Karl Tomm | April 12th 2016
Canadian Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Tomm visited members in Christchurch, to talk about interviewing processes, how to open spaces for apology, forgiveness and reconciliation and he also discussed ways to deconstruct shame and guilt.
Participants received invaluable feedback about the effects of their questions after a simulated interview.
Snippets from the day
In the morning:
The specific questions a therapist asks when interviewing family members are never neutral or innocent. Depending on the therapist’s intentions and the manner in which they formulate and express their questions, they may have generative and healing effects or constraining & pathologising effects on the persons receiving them.
One particularly interesting group of questions, namely “reflexive questions”, were discussed in greater detail since they tend to open space for therapeutic possibilities and for spontaneous change.
In the afternoon:
Family conflict that is ongoing or recurrent tends to be characterised by interpersonal tangles of hurt, resentment, shame, and guilt. These entanglements maintain distress and interfere with positive relationships by triggering strong defensive reactions that often escalate and generate more conflict.
The nature of forgiveness and its therapeutic potential for both the person who has been wronged, and the person who engaged in hurtful behaviours was discussed, along with some steps to consider in reconciliation.
Dr Dan Papero | Friday July 31st 2015
Dr Dan Papero – Friday July 31st 2015
People attended from all over New Zealand to hear Dan, who is from the Bowen Center in Washington DC. He’s a leading proponent of Bowen Theory and lectures on this world-wide. Murray Bowen’s ideas have long influenced the field of family therapy, so it was great to re-visit these. Dan paid particular attention to the emotional state of families in crisis and participants found the material to be engaging and useful. Thanks Dan for a full and fact-packed day!
