Professional Development in Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupo

Introduction to Working with Clients with Sexual Violence Trauma

Presenter: Dr Kim McGregor

Due to the interpersonal betrayal and complex effects associated with child sexual abuse (CSA), working with survivors can be challenging. Making things more difficult, many counselling and other courses do not provide specific training for this issue. These factors often leave counsellors and other professionals lacking confidence when working with survivors of child sexual abuse.This one day workshop will outline the prevalence, dynamics and effects of CSA, useful therapeutic approaches and messages from almost 200 Aotearoa/New Zealand survivors of CSA about what they found helpful and unhelpful in therapy. Most frequent comments from participants of this workshop are about counsellors and other professionals feeling "more confident" in their work and "validated" in their approaches.

Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has worked as a therapist with survivors of sexual abuse for 30 years. She is the author of: Warriors of Truth a self-help book for adult survivors of child sexual abuse (1994); the up-dated version Surviving and Moving On (2008); the first set of ACC national therapy guidelines Therapy Guidelines: Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (2001). She has published several papers including in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, and Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. She is the co-author of the book Powergames (published in NZ & UK 2001). Her doctoral thesis Therapy It’s a Two-Way Thing (2003) explored what a sample of women survivors of child sexual abuse found helpful and unhelpful in therapy. Her post-doctoral thesis explored the health impacts of child sexual abuse and the types of responses survivors wanted from health care professionals. Kim currently runs her own research and therapy company Tiaki Consultants alongside her partner Russell Smith. She also has a part time role as the Chief Victims Advisor to Government. From 2005-2015 Kim was the Executive Director of Rape Prevention Education Whakatu Mauri, 2005-2013 was a founding and executive member of the Te Ohaakii a Hine - National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together, and the Tauiwi Caucus Chair, 2007-2009 was a member of the New Zealand government’s Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence and was a founding and executive member of Project Restore 2004-2013. Kim has worked alongside Louise Nicholas since 2006 and wrote the Foreword for her book Louise Nicholas My Story.

Nutritional Therapies for Psychological Symptoms

Presenter: Prof Julia Rucklidge

In this workshop, Prof Rucklidge will discuss the data that describe an alarming picture of food choices serving as risk factors to all kinds of psychiatric problems. She will describe dietary patterns and food choices that have been supported by scientific evidence. She will then introduce the recent paradigm shift of using broad based micronutrients, probiotics and other nutrients like omega 3s to treat these challenges, reviewing the hypothesized mechanisms of action and the evidence to date. The talk will challenge our current treatment regime for mental disorders and suggest one alternative course of action. She will discuss practical ways that psychologists could implement this research into every day practice alongside psychological treatments.

Julia Rucklidge is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she joined the Department of Psychology where she teaches child psychology in the Clinical Psychology Programme and introduced the topic of Mental Health and Nutrition into the wider psychology programme. Her interests in nutrition and mental illness grew out of her own research showing poor outcomes for children with significant psychiatric illness despite receiving conventional treatments for their conditions. In the last decade, she has been running clinical trials investigating the role of broad-spectrum micronutrients in the expression of mental illness, specifically ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety and stress associated with the Canterbury earthquakes. She is passionate about helping people find alternative treatments to medications for their psychiatric symptoms.

Developmental Trauma & Attachment Disorganisation: intervention & care

Presenter: Dan Hughes, Ph.D.

Compass Seminars is delighted to announce a New Zealand speaking tour with influential US psychologist, author and speaker Dr Dan Hughes. Dan developed Dyadic Developmental Practice (DDP) for professionals and families who care for young people who have experienced developmental trauma and have resulting difficulties in their neurological, affective, cognitive, and behavioural development. In this 1-day presentation, the central role of attachment in enabling an individual to resolve conflicts and traumatic experiences, develop affect regulation and reflective functioning, and establish a coherent narrative will be explored.  Principles and strategies for both psychological intervention and daily care which draw on an understanding of attachment, trauma, and neurodevelopmental processes will be presented and discussed. Some of the specific content areas Dan will present include:

• Understanding the differences between safety-based and trauma-based neuropsychological development
• The symptoms of developmental trauma and disorganised attachment
• Attachment security, intersubjectivity, and their developmental effects
• The key components of Dyadic Developmental Practice with young people and their caregivers (including case and video examples)
• Caregiving principles and interventions - the characteristics of day-to-day care
• Keys to enhancing secure attachment for traumatised young people

Motivational Interviewing: facilitating lasting change with children and young people

Presenter: Dr Emma Woodward

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a strength based approach that aims to enhance people’s capacity to make positive changes in their lives. Originally developed as an intervention for the addictions field, MI has developed in recent years into a mainstream evidence based approach with generic applicability across sectors. Motivational Interviewing is a form of collaborative conversation for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to changing, recognising that people do not make simple black and white decisions about making changes in their lives, rather they go through a gradual process of stages of change. MI has proved effective at overcoming ambivalence and strengthens an individual's motivation for and movement toward a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the persons own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion. MI can be applied whenever motivation for any form of behaviour change is sought and has been shown to be highly effective, particularly with young people.

• An Introduction to the empirical research behind understanding motivation and effective behaviour change (why traditional behaviourist type approaches might not work)
• The Cycle of Change: Understanding how people change
• History and principles of MI
• Using Motivational Interviewing in a 'real world' contexts
• Describing and practicing the process of using Motivational Interviewing with children and young people, including a discussion of important neuro-developmental considerations.

Dr. Emma Woodward is a Child, Educational and Community Psychologist. She completed her Doctorate in Child, Community and Educational Psychology at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and an Undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Sussex. She has always worked in the social care and education sector, predominately with children and young people in care in both community and residential settings. Her interest in Motivational Interviewing comes from seeing firsthand how it can be applied to enable people to facilitate change for themselves and move past entrenched and detrimental behaviours. Emma’s belief is that everyone has the capacity for change if they are supported in the right way, Motivational Interviewing fits this belief and Emma has successfully used it in all areas of her work with great results. 

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Presenter: Michael Durrant

The Solution-Focused Brief Therapy approach immediately appeals to many practitioners because it is considered conceptually very simple; however, it is easy to underestimate the discipline that the approach requires in order to be used effectively. Practitioners rapidly discover that SIMPLE does not necessarily mean EASY! We often joke that "there are only three questions" in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, but those three questions demand a focus and a way of listening that is very different from the way most of us were trained. This three-day intensive will do more than just introduce participants to Solution-Focused ideas; it will IMMERSE them in it! This is a "hands-on" course, grounded in the reality of peoples' work with clients. The course will discuss the major components or tools of the Solution-Focused approach in detail. Case examples and video examples will be used to demonstrate the various ideas and techniques in detail. These will not be "video highlights"; we will examine the process of counselling sessions, including bits that didn't work so well. Exercises, group discussions and role-plays will allow participants to experience the ideas and to experiment in a friendly environment.

The course is open to anyone but will be particularly suited to:

• people who have attended Michael's one-day seminar in the past and who wish to pursue more focused training
• people who have had some exposure to Solution-Focused ideas and would benefit from more systematic training
• people who are interested and willing to explore a therapeutic approach that offers real hope to clients but some uncertainty to practitioners.

Michael Durrant is the director of the Brief Therapy Institute in Sydney. A psychologist and an author with a international reputation in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Michael consults with agencies and teams in Australia and overseas and has presented more than 750 professional training workshops throughout the world. His vast knowledge of his subject combined with his engaging presentation style ensure that this is a program not to be missed for anybody wanting to gain a more in-depth understanding of this approach.

Living with Stuff that Sucks: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Young People

Presenter: Dr Ben Sedley

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically supported therapeutic approach that draws on behavioural and mindfulness principles to help people make space for painful thoughts and feelings and instead turn their focus towards values. ACT is rapidly growing in popularity internationally and is being used successfully with people experiencing a range of life challenges including low mood, worries, difficult behaviour, anger, anxiety, and  interpersonal or family conflict.  This workshop will introduce participants to the fundamentals of ACT with a specific focus on its successful application with younger people.   
Ben will demonstrate and expand on ideas presented in his book ‘Stuff that Sucks’, including:

• An introduction to the ACT model and how to adapt the core principles of ACT to make it resonate with young people
• Reconciling developmental challenges of adolescents with ACT ideas, and normalising the range and extent of teen suffering
• The importance of Validation, Perspective Taking and Metaphor in the therapeutic process
• Helping young people let go of their struggle against the Stuff that Sucks (self-critical thoughts and painful emotions)
• Talking about the Stuff that is Here and Now (Mindfulness) in ways that make sense to adolescents
• Helping young people identify the Stuff that Matters (Values) and ways in which they can move towards these
• The importance of involving parents in the therapeutic process and challenging their perceptions of their child’s struggles
• Helping clients learn from their experiences and active exercises in session, rather than being taught by a clinician

Ben Sedley, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, lecturer, author and ACT therapist based in Wellington. He splits his time between his work as a clinical practice advisor for the Psychology programme at Victoria University, and his own successful private practice. He has worked in both New Zealand and the UK in a range of clinical settings, utilising ACT to assist adolescents and adults. Ben is the author of ‘Stuff that Sucks: Accepting what you can’t change and committing to what you can.'