Creating space to meet the other

Reflections on the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists’ Annual Conference, 2012

Abstract

This paper reflects on the creation and experience of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists’ Annual Conference and its theme, “The Face of the Other”. It is written by a member of the Conference Organising Committee in a personal capacity and from a personal perspective. The author’s role on the Committee was largely focused on relationship-building and communication. The author — and article — suggests that the Committee and the Conference itself were influenced by our Association’s aim to work toward partnership with Māori, as tangata whenua, people of this land. My reflections are influenced by my encounters with Committee colleagues, keynote and panel speakers, and two of the papers I attended.

Waitara

E whakaata ana tēnei tuhinga i te auahatanga me te wheako o te Hui ā-Tau a te Rōpū Kaimahi Hinengaro o Aotearo me tana kaupapa: “Te Kanohi o Tētahi Atu.”. Nā tētahi o ngā mema o te Rōpū Whakahaere o te Hui i tuhi i raro i tōna ake mana, ā, mai hoki i ōna ake whakaaro wheako. Ko tā te kaituhi mahi i runga i te Komiti i te nuinga o te wā, e arotahi ana i ngā ara taura here whakawhitinga kōrero hoki. E hōmai ana te kaituhi-me te tuhinga-i mau te Komiti me te Huinga, ki raro i tā mātou whāinga ki te whai kia tūtahi ki te Māori, te tangata whenua. te tangata tuatahi o tēnei whenua. Ko aku whakaatanga i hua ake i aku tūtakitanga ki ngā hoa o te Komiti, ngā kaikōrero, mai i te kaikōrero matua ki ngā kaikōrero rārangi, ā, mai i ngā kauhau e rua i haere au ki te whakarongo.