Dr Reenee Singh

Dr. Reenee Singh is a Consultant Family and Couples Systemic Psychotherapist, with over 25 years of clinical experience. She is the former CEO of AFT and former Editor of the Journal of Family Therapy. Reenee is the author of four books and numerous academic articles. She presents her work at national and international conferences and teaches all over the world.

​

'Transgenerational trauma: reclaiming cultural identities within multicultural families'.

This presentation will draw on literature, political events, film and contemporary systemic writing to highlight the impact of trauma, forced migration and displacement on couple and family relationships. One such effect seems to be the fracturing of linguistic and cultural identities. Through clinical material, I will demonstrate how couples and family therapy can heal; by restoring disavowed and disowned cultural identities with multicultural families. I will weave in my family's story of flight during the partition of India in 1947 and it's effect on subsequent generations.

​

Hendrix Hammond

Keynote presenter biography coming soon...

Amanda Middleton

Amanda is a white, queer, antipodean Systemic Psychotherapist and Supervisor. She has been a passionate fighter for putting queer lives at the centre of knowledge-making for more than 20 years. Initially qualifying as a Psychologist in Australia and then a Systemic Psychotherapist in the UK, Amanda has specialised in working with LGBTQIA+ people, families, and relationships.

Her clinical home is The Pink Practice, and she also delivers training and supervision for therapists and counsellors at Gendered Intelligence. A keen educator and supervisor, Amanda is the Theory Lead for the MA in Systemic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and teaches on various therapy training courses. Her favourite things so far in 2022 are vegan ice-cream,  leaving the house and the disruptive potential of joy. 

www.pinkpractice.co.uk 

​

Keynote: Adventures in time, gender and therapeutic practice: embracing a queer systemic way of working with gender expansive families.

Gender is constantly seeking our attention. Our reference points for this living and lived concept are transforming as people inhabit new truths of gender. Therapy faces the challenge of holding multiple heart-felt truths about what gender can be in the context of increasingly polarized views of what gender should be.

How can we leave the mirrored room (Hare-Mustin, 1994) where dominant socio political discourses reflect back limited possibilities for inhabiting gender and sexuality? This presentation suggests that installing a mirror ball could be helpful, its multi faceted refractions queering our discourses to reflect wider language communities.

As new ways of relating across genders emerge, we find joy, expansion, confusion, loss, possibility, euphoria and dysphoria in the space between family members. Time travel brings old worldwide wisdoms of gender diversity to help us expand what’s possible in our conversations with families. This talk explores the coherence between our most fundamental systemic principles and the lived wisdom of our gender expansive ancestors.

People have inhabited genders beyond the binary for time eternal. Theirs and other ancient narratives of gender expansiveness interweave with our systemic knowing, of the importance of both and.  Bringing together the transgenerational sageness of trans people and therapists, and trans therapists gone before, this paper hopes to loop back into the past to bring forward new hopeful truths.

​

Arlene Vetere

Arlene is Professor Emeritus of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway. She is a clinical psychologist and systemic psychotherapist and supervisor, registered in the UK, where she resides.

​

Working in the Territory: A Duty of Care to Ourselves?

​

Looking after ourselves and each other is the secure base in teamwork, and work in general. Ideally it is mediated by supervision processes that pay attention to the well-being and developmental needs of the practitioner. In contrast to other psychotherapy professions, the systemic field has been somewhat silent on this topic, so we have been slow to capitalise on the special contribution that systemic research and thinking could offer. The emotional impact of the work that we do on the working person her/himself, has often been denied and we will explore the affect and effect as well as the consequences which can take place if understanding and care are not present. We will pay particular attention to ways of preventing stress and what to do if life has become overwhelming and made people ill. The presentation will include some audience participation based in a brief joint interview between the two presenters. We will ask each other how, and with what support, have you navigated a long career as therapists, trainers and supervisors? Audience participation will be following our joint interview, forming small groups to discuss how it relates to their own experiences.

​

Helga Hanks

I retired from my full time post of Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Psychotherapy and Family Therapy and psychodynamic Psychotherapist. I have worked in the Department of Clinical Psychology and Dept. of Community Paediatrics, Leeds Teaching Hospitals. I was also a Visiting Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Leeds University and Clinical Director of the Leeds Family Therapy & Research Centre (LFTRC) at Leeds University. A founder member of the Centre which began in 1979 and one of the core staff who developed the MSc in Family Therapy at Leeds University. Since 1979 and in parallel to my involvement in Systemic Family Therapy I have also worked in the area of Child Protection. Working together with Paediatricians I have seen children and families when child abuse was at the centre of cases. I have researched, published and trained professionals both in the UK and abroad . I am a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Human Systems