6th Congress of the European Family Therapy Association and 32nd Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice UK Conference
Glasgow, 4th - 6th October 2007
It has taken me some time to put into words my experience of being at this conference but I have put pen to paper, so to speak, and arrived at a short collection of words that I wanted to share.
This joint event brought together two fine organizations Chaired by Barbara Warner and Arlene Vetere who led all of us participants through a most engaging and interesting event.
The range of presenters was extensive with contributions from Europe and probably most of the other continents! No mean feat in itself! This created a unique opportunity to hear about research and clinical practices around the world and to see the way in which systemic approaches were making a contribution to shaping people’s lives.
Each day was introduced by Barbara and Arlene with a dedication made to those members of the therapy world who have made a significant impact on the field and have died in the last two years. This was a most moving and fitting tribute.
The plenary presentations were varied and fascinating. The highlight for me was Kenneth Gergen and IFT’s very own president Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Kenneth Gergen offered us a presentation on The Challenge of Multi-Being. Having read some of his work I was keen to see and hear him present. He did not disappoint. He walked around the stage in a relaxed manner and talked with us in a compelling way. He set forth some ideas about individualistic and relational worlds, inviting us to consider the shift to relational theory and practice which re-conceptualizes the individual as part of the relational process. He called this multi-being with language being generated in relationships, with no private language. The meaning of things is borne out of relationships. He suggested that all of us have the potential to be others through our experience of them and we also carry who we are and have become in relation to him or her. Kenneth gave some lovely personal family relational examples to illustrate his ideas. As always for me this really brought the theory to life.
I could go on but would rather encourage everyone to read some of his work.
I was also struck by the presentation by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Known for her forthright and strident views, she offered some thought provoking ideas. As with Kenneth Gergen, Yasmin used the richness of her own experience in relationships and across cultures to bring a warmth and vitality to her presentation.
Yasmin talked of her experience of living in and between cultures and the changing cultural contexts since the terrorist bombings of late. She challenged practitioners to consider ways in which the internal and relational world of those who move into terrorist activity can be explored, researched and understood in order to make a different future. She recognized that this view of being curious and wanting to understand might not be a common view but her argument about creating a future in which all people can have aspirations and all have a voice was very compelling.
In practice, Yasmin talked of her own attempts to make sense of the current situation by inviting a group of Muslim women to her home and creating a discursive space for them to talk about the effects of the terror in their lives, families and communities. She considers this to be a small but significant step and challenged us as therapists and practitioners to pick up the baton, to make opportunities to create dialogue across cultures and religions. Any suggestions about how to do this gratefully received.
I could say more about the other plenary sessions and the workshops I attended, but I think I might find I write a small thesis! I would like to say, however, that the conference was a huge success and sincere congratulations should be offered to all of those who made it possible.
See you next time.
Barbara McKay
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