Editorial

Psychotherapy in Aotearoa New Zealand: Past, present and future

Abstract

As the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists (NZAP) celebrates its 75th year we have much to be proud of, to celebrate, to recognise and acknowledge. The Ka mua, Ka muri Conference, out of which many of the papers in this issue of Ata have emerged, was a wonderful and creative celebration of the work of many. We are very grateful to the conference organisers of this stimulating and fruitful event. It celebrated the wisdom of our ancestors, the depth and energy of contemporary practitioners, and the many potentially creative opportunities and difficult challenges before us all. Our hope is that in engaging with the papers in this issue of Ata, these papers might invite us to consider how we are contributing clinically, as inhabitants of this planet, and as Association members, to creativity and life- giving possibilities, and also to reflect upon our own self-destructive capacities; to challenge ourselves to notice the ways in which we might engage with each other as an Association that might be deadening rather than enlivening. And, as Ogden (1999) suggested in his paper on aliveness and deadness, we hope this may assist us to continue to creatively associate, to reach across our differences, to understand, support, challenge, and enable each other and our remarkable Association. With these musings in mind, we are delighted to outline the creative and challenging papers which make up this issue of the Journal.