Relational conversation - bringing systemic ideas in to practice
Join us at the international online conference focusing on the topic of conversations worth having, conversations experienced as being useful for helpseeking people
A two-day online conference for everyone interested in communication
Bringing systemic ideas in to practice: A useful professional conversation is a conversation worth having
This conference is about the topic of conversations worth having, conversations experienced as being useful for helpseeking people.
The content of a useful conversation is a combination of asking questions that animates the other to reflecting and finding new meanings, and the ability to listen to the answers to these questions by the listener, and finally that the listener has somekind of ideas of what to do with the answers given together with the answerer.
In short, in a good and a useful conversation the professional is sensitive to both questions, answers and the proces of making meaning in these togehter with the helpseeking person. This conferences aim is to open up our dialouge towards these three elements.
The conference is for everyone who works with, and/or is interested in, communication.
You could be a student, a teacher, a social educator, a social worker, a nurse, an occupational therapist, a therapist, a family therapist, a leader, or any other professional. Everyone is welcome.
Best of all – the conference is free!
All you need to do is sign up through this link
The last day to register is November 24, 2023
Once you have registered, you will receive a link to access the conference.
If you have clicked yes to receive a diploma, you will receive it by email after the conference.
Please note that the conference will be held in English in Zoom.
Programme
27 November 2023
Download programme
CET 16.00-16.15 - Welcome
Joint introduction to the first day of the conference by the coordinators
Presentation of the committee of this conference
Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
Alois Huber, FH-Prof, Mag (Austria)
Jacob Cilius Vinsten Christiansen, Assistant professor (Denmark)
Jeff Chang, Ph.D, R.Psych (Canada)
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
CET 16.15-17.00
Questions that lead a way to both the language and the material
by Jacob Cilius Vinsten Christiansen, Assistant professor (Denmark)
The presentation will center around conversations with young adolescents and their experiences of growing up in families with alcohol problems. Jacob will focus on questions and answers that not only reveal the discourses and socialconstructions around the child, but also the material world that the young adolescents inhabit.
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
CET 17.00-17.15 - Break
CET 17.15-18.00
An interview with Karl Tomm on the history of his system of questioning and the Internalized Other Interview and its implementation in different practices
by Karl Tomm, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary in Canada
A specific therapeutic technique of interviewing the “internalized other” has been elaborated by Karl over the past several years. It is based on a social constructionist perspective in which “a person” as a self-conscious individual is seen to arise through a long history of social interaction. If a therapist is able to apply this perspective and conceive of “the self” as constituted by an internalized community, it becomes coherent to interview another person who is a member of that community as an internalized other within the self. As a result, the possibilities for systemic intervention for therapeutic change may be significantly extended.
This presentation will begin with an overview of the theoretical and practical aspects of internalized other interviewing. Karl will then demonstrate the use of this method with a volunteer from among the attendees at the Conference. The application of this technique in conjoint work with couples and families, where individuals may also meet their “distributed self” (i.e., how they exist in the other) will be described as well.
Facilitated by Jacob Cilius Vinsten Christiansen, Assistant professor (Denmark)
CET 18.00-18.30 - Break
CET 18.30- 19.15
Family systems theory as basis for relational conversations
by Jacob B. Priest, Associate professor and director of the Couple and Family Therapy program in the College of Education at the University of Iowa
As a therapist, couples almost always tell me that they are coming to therapy for "communication issues." But throughout the course of therapy, little time is focused on improving communication. Why? In family systems theory, communication is viewed as one of many mechanisms that maintain the autonomy of a system. As such, the conversations that a couple has reflect the underlying patterns and rules of their system. To have better relationship conversations, we need to better understand family systems theory. This presentation will provide an overview of family systems theory; how family systems theory can be used to "diagnosis" relational conversations; and how it can help make relational conversations clearer and more productive.
Facilitated by Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
CET 19.15-19.30 - Break
CET 19.30-20.15
Listening - For What?
by Jeff Chang, Ph.D, R.Psych (Canada)
It is trite to say that any effective therapy of any kind is built on listening. A great deal of counseling and psychotherapy training is based on listening skills, with the intention that clients can feel truly understood and counselors can be empathic. Conversational or constructive approaches to therapy tend to focus on training therapists to ask questions, sometimes in a specific order, to bring about certain therapeutic initiatives.
Careful and caring listening can convey the practitioner's understanding and empathy. But are there certain kinds of openings that we should listen for? What should we keep our ears open for so that we can bring about particular therapeutic initiatives? Operating from a therapeutic approach that is influenced by the solution focused and narrative therapies, Jeff will describe seven kinds of openings for which we can listen and offer potential “starter questions” to help develop vivid embodied accounts of therapeutic realities.
Facilitated by Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
CET 20.15-20.30 - Break
CET 20.30-21.15
Relational Management. Relational Leadership
by Dr. Sonja Radatz is the founder of the Relational philosophy
The Great Resignation and the breakdown of numerous companies worldwid teach us: Management and Leadership don´t work anymore at all the way they used to do. And it will become worse. Instead of following the well-known course of what the average universities still teach us, or trying to „change“ the way we are used to, Dr. Sonja Radatz provides with her Relational Methodology a radical turnaround which immediately ensures success at any company, be it a business or an administration.
In her keynote, she gives an overview on some essential insights and „turning points“.
Facilitated by Alois Huber, FH-Prof, Mag (Austria)
CET 21.15-21.30 - Wrapping up the first conference day
Joint closing of the first conference day by the coordinators
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
28 November 2023
Download programme
CET 16.00-16.15 - Welcome
Joint introduction to the second day of the conference by the coordinators
Presentation of the committee of this conference
Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
Alois Huber, FH-Prof, Mag (Austria)
Jacob Cilius Vinsten Christiansen, Assistant professor (Denmark)
Jeff Chang, Ph.D, R.Psych (Canada)
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
CET 16.15-17.00
Systemic interviewing, revisited
by Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
Karl Tomm’s (1987) original model of systemic interviewing has gained popularity among practitioners. Students, however, have been vocal in their requests for further operationalization and exemplification of the question categories in this model. In this presentation I will present how I operationalized their request when I made a revised version of the interventive interview model. The presentation will also include talking to professor Øyvind Kvello about his experience of using this model and potential need for adaptations used in conversations with child and adolescent.
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
CET 17.00-17.15 - Break
CET 17.15-18.00
Karl Tomm doing an Internalized Other Interview on a participant
by Karl Tomm, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary in Canada
A specific therapeutic technique of interviewing the “internalized other” has been elaborated by Karl over the past several years. It is based on a social constructionist perspective in which “a person” as a self-conscious individual is seen to arise through a long history of social interaction. If a therapist is able to apply this perspective and conceive of “the self” as constituted by an internalized community, it becomes coherent to interview another person who is a member of that community as an internalized other within the self. As a result, the possibilities for systemic intervention for therapeutic change may be significantly extended.
This presentation will begin with an overview of the theoretical and practical aspects of internalized other interviewing. Karl will then demonstrate the use of this method with a volunteer from among the attendees at the Conference. The application of this technique in conjoint work with couples and families, where individuals may also meet their “distributed self” (i.e., how they exist in the other) will be described as well.
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
CET 18.00-18.30 - Break
CET 18.30-19.15
The necessity of hope in relational conversations
by Sari Lindeman, D.Sys.Psych. and Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych.
The topic of this presentation is how “hope” is a necessity for relational conversations in order to create change. We will discuss how the professionals, based in systemic practice, can work in order to facilitate hope working with life situations where it is difficult to maintain hope.
Facilitated by Lennart Lorås, D.Sys.Psych. (Norway)
CET 19.15-19.30 - Break
CET 19.30-20.15
Relational Conversations in the Style of MRI
by Karin Schlanger, MFT
In this workshop, Karin will describe the MRI approach, using a classic session by the late John Weakland to illustrate how to conduct a therapeutic conversation in the simplest way possible. Figuring out who is the person most interested in having that conversation is part of what John Weakland did so well. Once that person is sitting across from him, he figured out what hurt the most and what they had been trying to do to fix which had not worked. How does he manage to get them to do something different? That will be covered in this interactional workshop. We invite you to join!
Facilitated by Jeff Chang, Ph.D, R.Psych (Canada)
CET 20.15-20.30 - Wrapping up the last conference day
Joint closing of the last conference day by the coordinators
Facilitated by Anne-Sofie Hedengran Vedel, Lecturer and international coordinator, Social work
Countdown
Karl Tomm
Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary
Meet the presenters
Lecturer and international coordinator at UCL, Education of Social Work.
Lecturer in social work, Master in teaching processes.
Coordinating of the “Relational Conversation - bringing systemic Idears in to practice- conferences, 2023.
Jacob B. Priest is an associate professor and director of the Couple and Family Therapy program in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine as a clinical associate professor in the LGBTQ and Weight Management Clinics. Jacob received a B.S. in family studies from Weber State University, a M.S. in marriage and family therapy from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from Florida State University.
Jacob Cilius Vinsten Christiansen is a Danish assistant professor, head of Family Therapy Studies in Odense at UCL Erhvervsakademi og Professionshøjskole, Denmark, and Family Therapist as a private practitioner and associated with a Boarding school in Ringe, Denmark.
Jacob is an educated socialworker and holds a Masters degree in Systemic family Therapy and Practice from VID in Oslo, Norway. Jacob is currently writing his dissertation for the doctorate in Advanced practice and research: systemic psychotherapy at the Tavistock Centre in London, UK. He is in the editorial board on the Nordic journal of family therapy: Focus on the Family. Jacobs special interests in the field of family therapy are vulnerable adolescents, diagnoses and how the therapeutic field intersects with the work of teachers and pedagogues. These are also the fields that Jacob especially teaches and is doing his coming dissertation around.
Dr. Jeff Chang is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University. He is a Registered Psychologist (AB) and a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Jeff has worked in children’s mental health, employee assistance programs, and private practice. In his current practice he works mainly with families embroiled in high-conflict separation and divorce. He publishes in the areas of high conflict divorce, clinical supervision, child and family therapy, postmodern therapies, and school-based counseling.
Karin Schlanger, MFT has been the Director of the Brief Therapy Center (BTC) since 2008. She joined the Mental Research Institute in 1983 and worked directly with John Weakland, Richard Fisch, and Paul Watzlawick at the BTC. She has published three books translated into 8 languages and authored over 50 articles and chapters. She teaches internationally – in Europe, Japan, China, Latin America—and has lectured at Notre Dame the Namur University, University of San Francisco, and Stanford University. She has worked extensively as head counselor in inner city schools in California and is currently in private practice.
Karl Tomm has been a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary in Canada since 1972. He graduated in Medicine at the University of Alberta in 1963 and completed his training in Psychiatry at the University of McMaster in 1971. For the past 50 years he has been the Director of the Calgary Family Therapy Centre. He is widely known in the field of family therapy as clarifying and elaborating new developments in systemic theory and practice. His clinical approach in therapy is collaborative rather than hierarchical and emphasizes therapeutic conversations to deconstruct problems and to co-construct wellness.
Lennart Lorås is professor at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and adjunct professor at VID Specialized University. He is widely used as both lecturer and supervisor on systemic therapy and relational difficulties. He has written approximately 40 articles and book chapters. He has also written and been the editor for several books, such as: Releasing the tangled web of incest, Look out- reflections on relations, Handbook in family therapy, Handbook in individual therapy, Learning communication, Conversations in relational works.
Sari har a doctoral degree in systemic psychotherapy from University of Essex in conjunction with Tavistock Clinic. She is an associate professor at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and is head of the family program.
Dr. Sonja Radatz is the founder of the Relational philosophy (2001), based on her long-term friendship with Heinz von Foerster, Humberto Maturana, Ernst von Glasersfeld, Paul Watzlawick, and Steve de Shazer. She derived from her philosophy the complete methodology and over 700 tools for Corporate Management, Management, Leadership, Coaching, and Self-efficacy, and has been writing by now 20 books. Her book „Consulting without advice“ has been sold over 120.000 times so far. Her newest book „Relational Leadership. Relational Management“ includes on over 1.350 pages all her +500 methods and tools in Relational Management & Leadership, especially for „Non-Readers“.
She owns 3 firms, IRBW at the Palace of Schönbrunn, Vienna, for her consulting and training fields (www.irbw.net), Relational Online Academy as a platform for her Relational streaming courses and supermarkets (www.relationalonline.com), and the Mind Changer Academy as a platform for substantial change through the innovative ideas of thought leaders (www.mind-changer.net).
Dr. Radatz has teached at several European Universities and is regularly invited as a keynote speaker at international conferences. She teaches her methods in her ZOOM and streaming courses, and constantly develops further her methodology. Furthermore, she has been being the editor-in-chief of „Lernende Organisation“ (Learning Organization), the Relational Journal for Management and Organization since 2001.
In 2003, she was awarded the German Prize for Societal and Organizational Cybernetics for her life achievements.
She can be reached by email: s.radatz@irbw.net
