The 2012 Conference Lecturers

Andre Sourander (Finland), Professor in Child Psychiatry

Dr. Andre Sourander is Professor in Child Psychiatry at Turku University, Finland and he is faculty member at Division of Epidemiology, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York. Since 1999 he has had an affiliation at Tromsö University, Norway. He is principal investigator (PI) or coprincipal investigator (coPI) in several research projects funded. by the Finnish Academy, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Norwegian Research Foundation and Finnish research foundations. He has established several collaborative research projects between research groups in Finland and Columbia University / New York State Psychiatric Institute including Finnish Prenatal Studies in Autism (FiPS-A), Bipolar Disorder (FiPS-Bip), Schizophrenia (FiPS-S), and “SSRI Exposure During Pregnancy on Developmental Outcomes in Offspring” study (CONTE Center grant, NIMH).

His research activities include large  birth cohorts studies (The Finnish 1981 Nationwide Birth Cohort Study, Finnish Family Competence Study) followed from early pregnancy and early childhood until adulthood  In these longitudinal studies, Dr. Sourander has experience linking data from multiple information sources, including Finnish registries, questionnaires from several informants, and clinical interviews. He is the Finnish principal investigator in an ongoing RCT study of web based parent training intervention for four-year old children with oppositional behaviour (Strong Families Finland-Canada). Dr Sourander is coPI in a longitudinal research project “Violence and Child Rights in Brazil” funded by Norwegian Research Foundation which investigates children’s exposure to violence in a high risk area.

Dr. Sourander has an extensive clinical experience in child and adolescent psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and pediatric neurology. He is trained as a supervisor in family therapy in Finland and Rome (Accademia di Psicoterapia della Familia). He has supervised 10 doctoral thesis (in medicine, criminology, psychology and nursing sciences). He has approximately 150 published, or in press, original research articles in peer reviewed journals.

Elspeth McAdam (UK), Child and Family Psychiatrist and systemic therapist  

Elspeth McAdam recently retired from the UK National Health Service (NHS) after 30 years. With her experience as a systemic therapist and consultant psychiatrist she has been on the cutting edge of developments in both the therapeutic and organisational world. In her NHS work she has used systemic, narrative and appreciative practices in working with tough situations. She has specialised in working with children who are on the criminal edge and also families in which there has been violence or child sexual abuse. With Peter Lang she has developed some unusual and very effective ways of working with these situations. She now supervises all over Europe in complex situations where therapists or families have felt unable to move forward.

 Elspeth has worked as an Organisational Consultant in Sweden, Denmark and Finland as well as in Southern Africa and Columbia. She has been involved in organisational development programmes of the public and private sector organisations. Her style of working is to validate and appreciate the strengths and skills within the personnel of an organisation; recognising what each individual person can contribute and using these strengths and skills to create dreams of an ideal working situation. Practical plans are created as to how these visions can be actualised.

At present she is involved in a HIV Prevention programme in Uganda where HIV positive people are being trained as the agents of community change. She is also involved in a research project on effective ways of working in situations of drugs and alcohol misuse in young people, involving their communities and families.

Working both organisationally as well as therapeutically she draws on both her systemic and appreciative enquiry skills. Appreciative Inquiry has been used extensively in the organisational world and with Peter Lang, she has enriched the process by adding her extensive psychotherapeutic experience to motivate and get the very best out of the people she works with. Elspeth co-authored with Peter Lang the book: Appreciative Work in Schools.

David Denborough (Australia), is the author of Collective narrative practice

David Denborough works as a teacher and writer/editor for Dulwich Centre Publications and a community practitioner for the Dulwich Centre Foundation. Recent teaching/community assignments have included Bosnia, Rwanda, Uganda, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and a number of Aboriginal Australian communities. David’s songs in response to current social issues have received airplay throughout Australia and Canada.

Recent books/publications include:  

• Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma 
• Working with memory in the shadow of genocide: The narrative practices of Ibuka trauma counsellors 
• Raising our heads above the clouds: Using narrative practices to spark social action and economic development (the work of the Mt Elgon Self-Help Community Project)
• Beyond the prison: Gathering dreams of freedom 
• Family therapy: Exploring the field's past, present and possible futures 
• Queer counselling and narrative practice 
• Trauma: Narrative responses to traumatic experience. 

Jim Wilson (UK), CQSW, UKCP registered Systemic Psychotherapist

Jim Wilson is the Co- Director of Partners for Collaborative Solutions and an internationally renowned expert in and trainer of Collaborative Systemic Family Therapy. He is former Director of the Centre For Child Focused Practice at the Institute of Family Therapy in London, UK; has previously served for many years as periodic Training Director and Chairperson of The Family Institute in Cardiff, Wales. Jim has extensive experience in working with families that have a long history of involvement with professional helping agencies. He practices as a Consultant Family Therapist.

As a trainer, Jim is highly rated for his exceptional clinical skills and creativity, great sense of humour and dynamic presentational style. His highly acclaimed practice-oriented book, Child Focused Practice: A Collaborative Systemic Approach, is in its third print and has been translated into German and Swedish. Jim has published numerous articles and chapters for Family Therapy publications since 1988; His second book, The Performance of Practice; enhancing the repertoire of the family therapist was published in October 2007 by Karnac and is used as a important source for training family therapists about the development of their personal style.

Jim is particularly interested in exploring and extending the range of therapeutic opportunities open to therapists and practitioners and is especially passionate about avoiding the dangers of dogmatism and religiosity in therapeutic approaches. His training courses endeavour to expand the thinking, practice and methodologies available to therapists from many different orientations and practice bases.