The Australian Clinical Psychology Association welcomes you to the 2022 conference in Cairns, tropical Far North Queensland on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 June 2022. The conference will be held at Riley Crystalbrook resort on the Esplanade, Cairns.

“Being Here Now: Harnessing the power of the therapeutic alliance and the

mechanisms of what makes psychotherapy work”

A conference exploring the therapeutic process, relationship and factors that underpin how and why psychotherapy works. The conference will be followed by a half day workshop that will focus on developing skills to work in the 'here and now' of therapy.  

A social event will be held between 6pm and 8pm after the first day of the conference at Rocco's roof-top restaurant with a complimentary drink on arrival and canapes overlooking the beautiful Cairns Esplanade.  This event will offer a chance to socialise with friends and colleagues and take in the views over the tropical city and sea.

Day 2 is a half day workshop hosted by Professor Robert Schweitzer and will focus on exploring the practical elements of working in the here and now.

Tickets:

Standard ticket (until 10 June) - ACPA member - $660

Standard ticket (until 10 June) - Non ACPA member - $700

Student - $250

Conference timeline:

Day 1: Friday 17 June

Registration: 8:00am - 8:30am

Conference welcome: 8:30am - 9:00am

Conference end: 5pm

Social event: 6pm - 8pm

Day 2: Saturday 18 June

Time: 8:30 - 1:30pm  (lunch and morning tea included)

Workshop: Mechanisms of Change: Contributions from a Process Oriented Sensibility. Facilitated by Professor Robert Schweitzer (QUT, Brisbane Australia)

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Conference Speakers:

Emeritus Professor Bruce Wampold (USA) - Presenting in person.

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Bruce E. Wampold Ph.D., ABPP, is Emeritus Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison and Chief Scientist, Theravue.com.   He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is Board Certified in Counseling Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, and is the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research Award from the American Psychological Association, the 2015 Distinguished Research Career Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research, and the 2019 Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation.  His work is summarized in The Great Psychotherapy Debate: The Evidence for What Makes Psychotherapy Work (with Z. Imel, Routledge, 2015), which involves understanding psychotherapy from empirical, historical, and anthropological perspectives. Currently he is focused on improving the quality of mental health services by using deliberate practice of therapy skills used by the most effective therapists. 

Title:  How Psychotherapy Works — and How to Improve Outcomes

Psychotherapy, as a mental health treatment, is remarkably effective for a variety of disorders.  Decades of research have shown that a variety of treatments are effective and that there are few, if any, differences in outcomes among these treatments.   Despite extensive research on psychotherapy, the mechanisms of change are largely unknown.  That is, we really do not know how psychotherapy works, although a thorough review of the psychotherapy literature and evidence from related areas, such as placebo studies, sociology, anthropology, and social psychology, is beginning to coalesce into a comprehensive model of psychotherapy.

In this presentation, the Contextual Model of psychotherapy will be presented.  This model involves three pathways; that is to say, psychotherapy works in multiple ways simultaneously.  The first pathway involves the real relationship with the therapist, which involves understanding, caring, empathy, and positive regard.  The second pathway involves the therapeutic actions. The patient and the therapist agree on the goals of therapy and how collaboratively they will work to achieve those goals. This agreement leads to positive expectations for change and attribution that the hard work of therapy is responsible for change (internal attribution).  The third pathway involves the effect of the specific interventions, which will differ depending on the theoretical approach.  All approaches involve having the patient do something that is health promoting.

As it turns out, some therapists, regardless of the treatment, achieve better outcomes than other therapists, a phenomenon called “therapist effects.”  Evidence suggests that more effective therapists utilize a sophisticated set of interpersonal skills, particularly in challenging instances.  These skills are employed to successfully implement the three pathways.

To produce better outcomes, therapists need to improve their therapeutic skills.  As in other domains, deliberate practice is needed to become an expert therapist.  The focus of deliberate practice should be the interpersonal skills that characterize effective therapists.  Evidence is emerging that deliberate practice, at an individual level (i.e., the therapist) and at the agency level, leads to improved mental health care.

Dr Jacqui Winship

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Dr Jacqui Winship has over twenty-five years of experience as a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and supervisor. Jacqui works in private practice and believes in the power of the therapy relationship to enable individuals and couples to grow, heal and thrive.

Jacqui offers an integrative approach informed largely by Relational Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and she is a full member of the NSW Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Jacqui is co-director of the Centre for Applied Studies in Psychotherapy and Counselling (CASPC) and is the co-author, along with Gill Straker, of The Talking Cure, published by Pan McMillan in 2019. Jacqui will be co-presenting with Professor Gill Straker.

Professor Gill Straker

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Professor Gill Straker is a highly experienced clinical professor in the School of Psychology at University of Sydney and a visiting research professor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. She is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice, co-director of the Centre for Applied Studies in Psychotherapy and Counselling (CASPC) and is involved in several local and international training programmes. She is a member of the NSW Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and has published widely in the area of psychotherapy and psychology.  Gill is a passionate believer in the transformative power of authentic relating and is firmly of the belief that we are all engaged in psychological struggles that we tend to hide, including from ourselves. She has published two books: Faces in the Revolution and The Talking Cure (co-authored with Jacqui Winship).

Title: Being here now: Harnessing the power of the therapeutic alliance (presented by Prof Straker and Dr Winship)

Despite general agreement in the field that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is crucial, there are many differences in the degree to which the relationship is foregrounded as a unit of analysis. This includes which aspects of the relationship should be a focus, for example the working alliance, the transference-counter-transference matrix, or the co-constructed relationship. Each of these foci point to different ways of thinking about change processes.

This presentation will focus on the co-constructed relationship. It will give a brief theoretical introduction to the key concepts in relational psychoanalysis and then focus on how the co-constructed relationship is used in the here and now of therapy. Case material from their book, 'The Talking Cure' will be used to demonstrate how the therapist uses her own reverie to help the patient understand unconscious repetitive communication styles that are reflective of attachment patterns, as well as wishes and defences. Given the importance of the therapist’s contribution to co-construction, material from a relational psychoanalytic supervision session will also be presented to showcase how the therapist’s blind spots may hinder the treatment.

Professor Robert Schweitzer

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Professor Robert Schweitzer is a clinician, teacher and researcher in the School of Psychology and Counselling at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. His research and practice are informed by both psychodynamic approaches and metacognitive reflection and insight therapy which has led to publications on the effectiveness of therapy in addressing the needs of people with significant mental health issues.  His current research is focussed upon mechanisms of change underpinning metacognitive-based therapeutic approaches.  During the conference, Prof Schweitzer will present a paper, drawing upon a body of research undertaken at QUT aimed at identifying those components of therapy which have been associated with effective outcomes.  

This will be followed by a workshop (on day 2 of the conference) titled Mechanisms of Change: Contributions from a Process Oriented Sensibility in which he will discuss process-oriented approaches associated with clinical effectiveness.  The workshop will include experiential components addressing three concepts:

- The notion of the alliance in the “here and now” of therapy,

- The ways in which we may draw upon the “here-and-now” of therapy to make sense of the person’s experience,

- Developing a capacity to better reflect upon the nuances of implicit, or unconscious processes which emerge within the therapeutic relationship.

Dr Aaron Frost

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Dr Frost is a Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years' experience working in clinical research and teaching settings. For over a decade Dr Frost has been a passionate advocate for the importance of outcome evaluation in therapy.  He launched Benchmark Psychology, (a large private practice) around principles of routine outcome evaluation and consults widely for government, NGOs, and the private sector on how to improve client outcomes.  Dr Frost is a certified trainer with the International Centre for Clinical Excellence as was recently awarded a Fellowship of the APS for his advocacy around client outcomes and return on investment methodologies.  Dr Frost is also the project lead for the Supervisor and Training and Approval Program (STAP), and has trained over 1000 psychologists as part of their supervisor accreditation.

Title: What works in therapy - beyond the panacea of therapeutic alliance

Common factors research has grown in recent decades, demonstrating not only the relative similarity of many therapy modalities, but also the central importance of therapeutic alliance.  However, this reliance on alliance has not led to improved outcomes in therapy, and in fact may have been associated with deskilling of clinicians and training programs.  In this presentation, Dr Frost will discuss the research findings around therapeutic alliance in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the phenomena and its importance.  He will also present some preliminary data from his practice about the commonalities of top performing therapists and the behaviour and thinking style that seems to be associated with improved client outcomes.

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Location

Riley Crystalbrook Resort
131-141 The Esplanade, Cairns QLD 4870

Riley Crystalbrook is offering a 10% discount for conference presenters and attendees using the code CBCACPA on booking (https://riley-a-crystalbrook-collecti-cairns.booked.net)

The conference venue is located near numerous accommodation options all within walking distance of Cairns CBD and The Esplanade.  Cairns is busy in June/July and ACPA recommends booking accommodation and domestic flights well in advance as the city's options can fill up quickly.

Receipts / Registration confirmation: 
Trybooking.com issues receipts at the time of registration, and this confirms registration. Please retain receipts for your records, including as a Tax Invoice/Receipt for the transaction. No other receipts are available via this booking system or through ACPA.

Cancellation Policy:
Refunds are offered for all cancellations received in writing via email to qldsection@acpa.org.au. However, cancellations must be received 7 days prior to the event. Regrettably, due to the logistics of the event, refunds are not possible after this time, regardless of personal circumstances or difficulties preventing attendance.

A full refund will be issued if:

- ACPA needs to cancel the conference because of unforeseen reasons

- Your are affected by a COVID lockdown

 Further information will be provided to attendees should the situation change with the ongoing pandemic.

Contact Details

Conference organiser

Dr Liam Connor - ACPA QLD Section Chair

Contact Event Organiser