National Conference Explores Family Therapy

UWinnipeg’s Aurora Family Therapy Centre to host first Canadian meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – APRIL 21, 2008

WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg’s Aurora Family Therapy Centre will host The Registry of Marriage and Family Therapists Conference (RMFT) on Friday, April 25 & Saturday, April 26, 2008. Issues being discussed include Integrating Narrative and Systemic Practices in Couple and Family Therapy, Family Assessment and Intervention and Systemic Effects of Abuse in Residential Schools.“This is a significant conference in that it is the first on Canadian soil organized by the Canadian Registry of Marriage and Family Therapy,” said Randy Rehbein, UWinnipeg faculty member and supervisor of Aurora Family Therapy Centre. “Previously, conferences have only been held in the United States under the umbrella of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AMMFT).”

Dr. Karl Tomm is the keynote speaker at the Winnipeg gathering. Dr. Tomm is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Calgary and family therapy program director, seasoned presenter and published author and practitioner. Dr. Tomm is renowned for his series of articles on interventive interviewing. The presenters include Dr. Maureen Leahy and Jann Derrick.

Dr. Leahy currently is a manager with the mental health outpatient program and faculty member in the Family Therapy Training Program, Calgary. She also is adjunct associate professor, Faculty of Nursing and Department of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. She has more than 25 years of direct clinical experience working with families experiencing serious illness.

Derrick is based in British Columbia. She is a registered family therapist with the Canadian Psychological Association and a clinical member and approved supervisor with the AMMFT. She is a highly skilled and experienced group facilitator and author. She has extensive knowledge and experience working with traditional First Nations healing methods and in the early 1980s she provided ground-breaking work with community residential school survivors.

To register or for more information on the conference please visit http://aurora.uwinnipeg.ca/ or call 204.786.9251.

UWinnipeg’s Aurora Family Therapy Centre is committed to promoting interpersonal and personal well-being through the provision of family therapy that is accessible to all, and to providing a venue for the clinical training of marriage and family therapists, with the overall intent of contributing to the promotion of healthy relationships and healthy community.

The Registry of Marriage and Family Therapy in Canada was incorporated in 1995 and exists to promote the profession and practice of individual, couple, and family therapy in Canada.

There are six Canadian divisions working to support the goals in the Canadian Registry Strategic Plan: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Naniece Ibrahim, Communications & Marketing Officer, University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7130, E: n.ibrahim@uwinnipeg.ca