Assessment and Programme Evaluation Issues in Early Childhood Work With 0-6 Year Olds from Refugee Families.

“The Voices of our Community”: How Refugees and Asylum Seekers helped guide the development of a new assessment tool.

The Group Cohesiveness Scale (GCS)

The Group Cohesiveness Scale (GSC) is a newly composed scale which combines items drawn from the Therapeutic Factor Inventory of Cohesiveness and the Engaged Subscale of the Group Climate Questionnaire

Quirky Kids – troubled adolescents with unrecognised Autistic spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is common and often missed by health professionals. This presentation describes clinical symptoms and tips on not missing these children, as early intervention is very

Sexual Counselling eases the Burden of Disease

Health Care Providers (HCP) are reluctant to discuss sexual and reproductive health and rights with patients. Evidence based reasons cite lack of training, no time, embarrassment and a belief no treatment exists. Patients desire this conversation yet fear HCP’s ageism, sexism, lack of openness and patient’s lack of language. This deadlock adds to the burden of disease. A comprehensive sexual health history is neglected resulting in diseases such as CVD, diabetes, depression and HIV/AIDS/STI and sexual dysfunctions being undiagnosed as well as social distress, GBV and intimae relationship distress going unnoticed. 

Refugee Trauma Clients with Suicidality: The case of Nadia

Challenges to Securing the Protection of the Human Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia

A Case Study Using the Three Stages of Trauma Recovery.

Using Creative Arts and Play in a School Group for Children from a Refugee Background.

Exploring an Eclectic Approach to Establish Best Practice for Clinicians Working with Asylum Seekers Navigating the Immigration Process in New Zealand.

Supporting the Resilience of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors in Australia.

The Impact of Rejected Asylum Application on the Mental Health Asylum Seekers Amongst Farsi-Dari Speaking in Australia.

Group Work with Asylum Seeker and Refugee Children in Nauru.

The Psychological and Social Trajectories of Refugees and Asylum Seekers Receiving Support from Specialist Torture and Trauma Counselling Services in Australia.

Trauma Touch Therapy and Somatic Movement Education for Working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

All About My M/other:on m/othering and the relational matrix

Attachment, the Therapeutic Dyad and the CM Perspective: tracking self-development and (re)integration

Human beings develop in connected relationships, commencing with the touch, gaze, voice and affective tone of the proto-conversation and the sequencing of activities that tend to care, safety, comfort and play, extending to the therapeutic context where psychotherapy is the base for a healing relationship that fosters post-traumatic transformation, often mutual. Connectivity is constructed at every level of the individual and interpersonal systems: neurons fire and wire together, autonomic nervous systems are in conversation and the “soft wiring” and intrapersonal connections slowly unfold.

I will be with you, always”: An overview of the relationship to God as an attachment relationship in the context of psychotherapy

Current understandings of the power and importance of attachment relationships for the development and

Attachment and the Conversational Model

Early attachment is viewed as a major organizing principle that may explain important aspects of normal and pathological interpersonal relations across the life cycle – including the therapeutic relationship with patients. (Bowlby 1979) The therapeutic relationship is widely accepted to be the bedrock on which the progress of psychotherapy depends. Attachment theory, with its focus on relationships across the life span, is helpful in understanding the nature and the unfolding of the therapeutic relationship.

Male and female attachment and severity of self-reported delinquent and risk-taking behaviors

The family is the most important influence in the lives of children, and is the first line of defense against various types of delinquent behavior. Families have the ability to serve as a protective factor, which research shows can have a very positive effect on the future of the child. Attachment to at least one parent has an immense effect on resilience in youth. Present study examined relationship between different family characteristics, attachment and frequency and severity of delinquent and risky behavior among urban youth. The sample included 1422 urban youth of both gender, aged 13-19.

Restoration of a moral universe: The perspectives of children and youth from war-affected contexts on justice and forgiveness: Traumatic, developmental and attachment dimensions.

Research on the psychological concomitants of forgiveness has direct implications for therapy with traumatized and war-affected children. Finding that forgiveness has been linked with well-being has led to the promotion of reconciliation following political violence. Whether responses to war, however, should be corrected or modified has encountered strong challenges from those who insist that truth-telling and justice must precede forgiveness and that such psychological forays may undermine social and political recovery. When post-traumatic symptoms such as nightmares and re-enactments persist, moral dilemmas around anger, guilt are often at play. The (re)-construction of a narrative is often prescribed as a therapeutic means of attenuating the impact of potentially traumatic events.

The adaptation of immigrant psychotherapists to the culture and psyche of their clients in the host country.

There has been a steady increase in the number of overseas born and trained psychotherapists practicing in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Immigration is a complex and stressful process. Immigrant

Self - Individual Dyad and family.

Self is dynamic – a process, not a structure – a vitally important aspect of every individual; yet the individual cannot be considered in isolation; but rather as a dyad – as in ‘self-with-other’

The neuroscience of psychotherapy : No Self Without Other

This eight parts seminar explores psychotherapy and the social brain with a special emphasis on the causes and consequences of trauma. As a foundation, the evolution, development, and neuroanatomy of the brain with the goal of highlighting its vulnerability to dysregulation and dissociation are discussed. In it we recognise and better understand the neural networks responsible for stress and trauma and the challenge of keeping the government of systems which comprise our brains integrated and functioning smoothly. Then how psychotherapy, in its multiple forms, attempts to reshape the brain in the service of mental health is discussed. And finally,the process of healthy aging, especially for therapists who are confronted with trauma on a day-to-day basis is explored.

Effects of childhood sexual abuse on marital functioning: implications for couples therapy

The goal of this workshop is to sensitize marital and family therapists to the unique issues involved in treating couples with history of childhood sexual trauma in one or both partners, and to prepare them to successfully meet the challenges inherent in working with this population. Individual therapists working with adults abused as children can also benefit from the workshop. First, is reviewed existing literature and research on gender-specific impact of childhood sexual trauma on adult functioning in the area of sexuality and intimate relationships. Second, a familiarization with existing models of treating couples with history of childhood sexual trauma such as psychoeducation, sex therapy, Susan Johnson's Emotionally Focused Therapy, and integrative model of Basham and Miehls. Third, a focus on practical implications: challenges for the therapists and common pitfalls and risk factors in working with such couples, including issues of vicarious traumatization, countertransference, complex dynamics of projective identification, and role of cultural factors.

EEG Renaissance in Medicine and Neuroscience

In the 1990s Prof. Yuri Kropotov started his research in the field of quantitative EEG and evoked potentials in normal subjects, in ADHD population and in neurological patients to whom intracranial electrodes were implanted for diagnosis and therapy. 

Efficacy of neurofeedback treatment in ADHD: The effects on inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity: A meta-analysis. (video link)

Since the first reports of neurofeedback treatment in ADHD in 1976 many studies have been carried out investigating the effects of neurofeedback on different symptoms of ADHD such as inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. This technique is also used by many practitioners, but the question as to the evidence-based level of this treatment is still unclear.

The need for more modeling and theory in EEG/qEEG

Phenotype evaluation of the EEG was proposed in a paper in 2005 published in Clinical Electroencephalography and Neurophysiology. The retrospective analysis of many decades of experience has since been actively evaluated, from published works focusing on basic neuroscience (J. Pop-Jordanov), and the work from Holland on medication response prediction (M. Arns).

DCS as a neuromodulatory approach to treating brain dysfunction

Professor Yuri Kropotov demonstrates that by knowing which brain dysfunction is associated with symptoms of ADHD a clinician can suggest the individualised treatment, whether it be medication, neurofeedback, tDCS or GABA agonists.

Jay Gunkelman in conversation with Dr Moshe Perl

What’s Hope got to do with it?- Coping, resilience and hope for mothers of a child with disability

This paper is an exploration of the theoretical grounds of resilience and hope. In our previous work with women who mother children with ADHD or ASD we found that many women are themselves disabled by their child's disability; they are isolateresild, marginalised and silenced (Carpenter & emerald 2009; Carpenter & Austin 2007). Yet, these women persevere in the face of the ongoing challenges of mothering a child with a disability. We now ask: is this resilience they show, or hope or is it something else again?

ADHD double blind placebo controlled neurofeedback studies

There has been an abundance of ADHD neurofeedback (NF) studies in the past decade in an effort to show NF’s efficacy on reducing the cardinal symptoms of ADHD. A recent meta-analysis concluded that NF was an efficacious treatment of ADHD, with a large effect size for inattention and impulsivity and a medium effect size for hyperactivity. Most studies, including the ones in the meta-analysis, have used a wait-list or active control as comparison groups. More recently, there have been a few NF studies using a blinded placebo-controlled design. These studies have shown equivocal results, indicating NF and placebo NF produced similar outcomes.

Changes in brain electrical activity of boys with ADHD following neurotherapy

This research is the first to demonstrate that Neurotherapy resulted in the dynamic neuromodulation of the dopamine-mediated frontal and norepinephrine-mediated parietal components of the attentional system, as proposed by Tucker and Williamson’s (1984) model of the attentional system. It provides further support to the recent controlled studies and meta-analysis that suggest that Neurotherapy is an effective and efficacious treatment for ADHD.

ADHD and Neurofeedback - latest efficacy research overview

Learning theory principles that contribute to details of application for the most effective neurofeedback training program will be presented. It has been established that many learning theory principles (classical conditioning, shaping, generalization, etc) are involved in the application known as neurofeedback. This talk is aimed to elaborate on the learning theory principles involved in the effective application of neurofeedback. Additionally, this talk provides the current evidence supporting the use of neurofeedback in the treatment of ADHD and recommendations on the implementation of neurofeedback in clinical practice.

Biological Underpinnings of ADHD, Depression and Anxiety.

This presentation address will relate research findings from various disciplines to help understand and identify the many possible causal factors for ADHD, Depression and Anxiety, hopefully leading

Remote Neurofeedback in Clinical Practice: Development of a Model

What’s Hope got to do with it?- Coping, resilience and hope for mothers of a child with disability

This paper is an exploration of the theoretical grounds of resilience and hope. In our previous work with women who mother children with ADHD or ASD we found that many women are themselves disabled by their child's disability; they are isolateresild, marginalised and silenced (Carpenter & emerald 2009; Carpenter & Austin 2007). Yet, these women persevere in the face of the ongoing challenges of mothering a child with a disability. We now ask: is this resilience they show, or hope or is it something else again?

The interface of psychotherapy and Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autistic spectrum disorder is a condition of delayed speech development, impaired emotional responsiveness and a desire for sameness. In early life young people are described as being in a dream world separated from others. The aetiology is mulifactorial but the awareness of transcriptor genes in forming neural synapses increasingly implicates environmental factors. There is anecdotal evidence of improvement through life experience but with increasing frequency and a plethora of treatment options. It is timely to consider the interface of this condition with psychotherapy.

Non-invasive Brain Stimulation in Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions that are characterized by social, communicative, and behavioural impairments. Although the neurobiological basis of ASD is

Increasing effectiveness of counselling people with disability.

Effective counselling is tailored to meet the special needs of people with disability particularly those with intellectual disability and Autism. Including pictorial aids, drawing therapy and simple communication skills building exercises are helpful. Grief counselling can assist people to deal with their disability, family dysfunction or being raised in residential care. When there is disclosure of past abuse clients are entitled to accessible therapy. Increasing awareness of indicators of loving and safe versus abusive relationships, is also essential. 

Pre & Post Cellfield Electroencephalography Measures in an Autism Spectrum Client

Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) Assessment and Event Related Potential (ERP) Analysis pre and post Cellfield has revealed changes in visual processing and visual attentional control. This

Quirky Kids – troubled adolescents with unrecognised Autistic spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is common and often missed by health professionals. This presentation describes clinical symptoms and tips on not missing these children, as early intervention is very

The Struggle to Express: the language of betrayal and the betrayal of language.

Working in the Flame. Conversational Model Psychotherapy with the Narcissistic Borderline Client

Walking the Line: Borderline States in Context

The Fruits of Coherent Companionship: Shared Stories and Gifts from the “Pilgrim” Roads

So, what does love have to do with it?

Psychotherapy with the Somatizing Patient

Somatization Disorder – a polysymptomatic syndrome - is a chronic preoccupation with somatic complaints, for which medical care is repeatedly sought, and clinical dilemmas often presented, resulting in disproportionate health care utilization. Affect is isolated or split off and attention is focused on the body, resulting in more awareness of the physical than of psychological aspects of the individual. As an Axis 1 disorder it may be accompanied by Borderline or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorders or traits.

Dissociation

The concept of dissociation continues to be vague, confusing, and even controversial, (Dell, 2009, p.225). A principal controversy concerns the notion of defence. In this talk neurophysiological data

Primary dissociation as fragmentation : A study of P3a and P3b in dissociative PTSD subjects

Bridging research and practice in the conversational model of psychotherapy

The core pathology in borderline personality disorder is dissociation, according to Russell Meares, and that BPD involves failure of higher order, prefrontal inhibitory mechanisms, particularly evident

The Conversational Model: An Overview

The Conversational Model is a form of psychoanalytic psychotherapy devised by Robert Hobson and Russell Meares for the successful treatment of patients (later to be termed 'borderline') who for many

Bridging research and practice in the conversational model of psychotherapy

The core pathology in borderline personality disorder is dissociation, according to Russell Meares, and that BPD involves failure of higher order, prefrontal inhibitory mechanisms, particularly evident

Traumatic Brain Injury and Thalamocortical Disconnect; its Relation to Alzheimer’s; and Treatment with Audio-Visual Entrainment

Brain profiling in clinical and forensic practice

Dr Rowe’s presentation discusses the use of scientific theory in driving clinical assessment and treatment through the use of individual patient neurophysiological, neuropsychological and psychological

From being Devalued and Powerless to Coping and Resilient: A personal story of recovery and success

John Dommett tells his own story of how as a successful young man he contracted a debilitating illness that had life defining implications. John will identify how his involvement with the formal service system resulted in him rapidly becoming powerless in his own life, and outlines his struggles to reclaim control and power over his own life. He will lead the audience through his own story which saw him enter the disability service system. He will explain how a diagnosis of Epilepsy and a misdiagnosis of Intellectual Disability resulted very quickly in a loss of his Social Roles, his Dreams, an assumption of incompetence, and rapid devalued status. As a client of a sheltered workshop and earning $20 for a fortnights work John will discuss how he fought to save his own life from radical medical intervention, and how through selfbelief with support he made the gradual journey to re-claim his life.

The use of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for complex clients.

During this session, Terry discusses • The principle of operation of tDCS; • The operation of the tDCS hardware; • Site selection; • Resources available;

The Effects of QEEG Guided Neurofeedback on Post-Concussion Syndrome

This presentation describes the case of a 17 year old female athlete who suffered two consecutive concussions, producing post-concussion headache symptoms. The athlete was assessed following the initial

The impact of social stigmas and perceptions of male victims of IPV on the availability and accessibility of support services.

An in depth review of social stigmas and perceptions toward and about male victims of Inter Personal Violence (IPV) and how these attitudes may impact the availability and accessibility of support services

Going birco (DVD Presentation)

Going Birco follows a dramatherapy project held at Ashcroft High School in South-Western Sydney. Adrian Lania, psychologist and dramatherapist was concerned about bullying and fighting in the schoolyard

Challenge of maintaining one's personal integrity in unhealthy work environments: toxic hegemony.

Most people know that a toxic manager is one who manipulates others for his own enhancement. Through their behaviours and actions ‘toxic manager’ contribute to the degradation of the quality of work, morale and cause instability within an organization. In four decades of social work practice the author has experienced many workplaces where bullying and harassment have been common place with detrimental effects on staff morale, individual and group well being, and the collective capacity to achieve organisational goals. Until recently the author viewed the bullying and harassment as ‘the problem’ however she now posits that they are the ‘tools’ of the toxic manager who seeks to gain and maintain control through the creation of chaos. How do we change such environments? This paper names and describes different behaviours designed to generate chaos which serve to re-enforce and validate the toxic manager’s authority within the organisation.

Chaos Theory and the Conversational Model: An Outline