By Cathy Hicks (Australia) and Sarah Calvert (New Zealand)
Conference Committee Co-chairs

Next year we in Australia and New Zealand will co-host the annual IARPP International Conference. We warmly welcome you to come and invite you to encourage your colleagues, whatever their professional backgrounds may be, to attend as well. The organizing committee has put together a really exciting program featuring presenters from all around the world and that has as its theme, “From the Margins to the Centre: Contemporary Relational Perspectives.”

Progress and creativity thrive when familiar concepts and ideas are seen from new angles. Those who live, work, and think at the margins, at the edges, away from the centre, necessarily have perspectives that differ from those who look from the center, or from the mainstream. In this conference, in acknowledgement of the fact that Australia and New Zealand are geographically very far away from the center – down-under – we want to encourage dialogue about these issues.

The conference will feature pre-conference workshops that will provide focused learning about and experience with some of the most important issues we deal with in our practices.

The main conference will have a series of plenary sessions that will bring us all together to think about ourselves, our work, and the contemporary world we and our clients inhabit. The plenary sessions will be followed by facilitated group discussions that will allow us all to experience a relational processing of the conference.

IARPP 2017 also features invited panels and parallel paper sessions. We received a very large number of submitted papers (more than 130), and those that were accepted have been grouped together to allow you as participants to select those that particularly interest, intrigue, or challenge you. The conference will also include presentations by Whaka Oranga (Maori Psychotherapists), Gunawirra (who work with Aboriginal groups) and others working with Indigenous communities in Australia.

The conference dinner is being held in the historical Paddington Town Hall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington_Town_Hall) and will be a fabulous event. For your dining pleasure, we’d like to let you know that Sydney is a fantastic foodie city with great ethnic and modern Australian food.

 

The Venue:

We chose the venue, the SMC Conference Centre (www.smcfc.com.au), because there is a wide range (in cost and type) of accommodations in very close proximity where attendees can stay. And the same goes for food outlets. The wharf area, the Opera House, and Hyde Park are all close by, allowing attendees many opportunities to enjoy their visit to Sydney.

 

Registration:

We will be opening registration in January 2017.

Travel and Accommodations:

Currently there are many flights available to Australia and New Zealand at good prices. We suggest that you begin looking for such flights soon. Please note that the World Masters Games are on in Auckland, New Zealand, at the end of April so flights around that time will book out quickly (including flights to Australia as many airlines fly through Sydney on the way to New Zealand).

International attendees will need a visa to enter Australia. Most airlines have information about this on their websites. Additionally, excellent information can be obtained on this website: http://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/immigration-and-visas.

The conference secretariat is also able to help and advise about visas. Feel free to contact them via email: iarpp2017@dcconferences.com.au. And if you require a letter of introduction for the conference please contact us at this email address: iarpp2017@dcconferences.com.au.

There is a very wide variety of accommodations available within easy walking distance of the conference venue. The official conference hotel is the Rydges World Square (https://www.rydges.com/accommodation/sydney-nsw/sydney-central/). Other accommodations have been secured at Travelodge (https://www.tfehotels.com/brands/travelodge-hotels/travelodge-sydney). Once registration opens, accommodations at these hotels may be arranged through the conference website.

The conference venue is in downtown Sydney; before booking accommodations outside of the city centre we suggest you consult a map and get information about transportation to and from the venue.

To keep up-to-date with conference news visit the dedicated conference website: www.iarppsydney2017.com. This will soon provide you with information about the entire program and will be updated with other information on a regular basis.

Catherine Hicks PhD
P O Box 1719, Neutral Bay Junction,
NSW 2089, Australia
Email Catherine Hicks also  iarppsydney2017@gmail.com
Website: www.wycombeclinic.com

 

 

 

Sarah Calvert, PhD
1602 18 Beach Rd, Auckland
New Zealand 1010
Email Sarah Calvert
Website: http://millenniumconsulting.co.nz