REPORT TO NZAP AGM, APRIL 2016
Northern Branch
The Northern Branch seems to be in good shape and we have had a number of interesting presentations by NZAP members over the last year, with average attendances of between forty and fifty each month.
Mary Farrell used clips from the TV series “Mad Men” in her evocative talk on relationships and marriage. Louise de Lambert and Jennifer Howarth gave us an engaging and quietly evocative feel for their work with Balint groups. Claudia Gross spoke on unbidden experience and the psychotherapist’s use of the self and the mind as a home. Beth St Clair delivered a comprehensive presentation on ‘Gender Queer’- discussing terminology, developmental issues, vignettes from her practice, and her own development while working with clients whose birth sex differs from their gender. We held a rich panel discussion on supervision in August where the three panellists – MargotSolomon, Brigitte Puls and Jean Burnton – sharedvarious reflections on supervision, being supervised and supervising.
In October we were fortunate to have Kirsty Robertson, the current NZAP President, join us for a conversation on a range of issues, including the ‘senior pathway’ to membership for experienced overseas psychotherapists, which had been an issue of concern in our branch meetings for some months. October last year was also a sombre month for us as we took time to honour the passing of our esteemed colleagues, Dale Dodd and Evan Sherrard. In November, Alayne Hall’s presentation on contextualising Māori Psychotherapy in Aotearoa New Zealand was well received. She was also presented with a Te Tiriti Scholarship toward her recent and ongoing study and research costs.
We finished the year with a well attended Christmas party, ably organised by Penny Kennett, Isabella Van Hoye and Fay Lilian. At this function we thanked Fay Lilian as she handed over the Treasurer role to Cathy Langley. We also thanked Deborah Heays as she finished her term as Co-convenor and passed the baton to Jean Burnton.
We started this year with Stephanie Forde’s stimulating talk about ethics and in March, Jane Tuson’s talk on homoerotic countertransference stoked an intimate and reflective conversation in our group.
We have also been thinking a lot about the running of our branch – inmuch the same way that the wider organisation is doing. Our large size as a group has many benefits, but it does also make attending to all the needs of the branch into a job that is too big for two Convenors and a Treasurer. We are opening a discussion around whether we might not do better if we allocated certain key functions to a number of ‘working groups’ so that important things (like properly welcoming new members, meeting our commitments as Treaty partners, or attending to our professional development) are not neglected.
Gavin Stansfield and Jean Burnton
Co-convenors, Wellington Branch