Press Release by Response-Based Practice Aotearoa (RBPA) March 30th, 2015

Tīhei Mauri Ora!
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e rau rangatira mā,
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

Behold the breath of life!
To all authorities, to all voices to the many chiefs who will be gathered
Greetings, greetings, greetings

Dignity is the order of the Day at International Conference

The responses victims and perpetrators of violence receive from professionals, family members and the wider community are key in generating safety and recovery for victims and accountability for perpetrators. Socially just and effective responses to violence; including indigenous approaches and Response Based Practice approaches are the key topics of discussion at the International ‘Response-Based Practice’ (RBP) Conference being held in Te Mātau a Māui, the Hawkes Bay, this April 8 – 11th, 2015

‘Dignity Conference 2015: Response-Based Practice in Action’, is the first Response-Based conference ever held outside of Canada where the practice was developed.

“Victims are commonly perceived as passive and sadly most victims' responses to violence are disregarded as irrelevant both by professionals and themselves,” says Bren Balcombe a member of RBPA, which is organising the conference. “This is usually because these responses don’t stop the violence, or because they are often inward and unseen.”

He says careful discussions with the victim about these responses always reveals the small but significant acts of resistance they have demonstrated. “These are the things victims have done to attempt to uphold their dignity – either individually and of others in the situation.”

Drs Allan Wade, Linda Coates and Nick Todd are acknowledged as the founders of the approach known as Response Based Practice. Dr. Wade is one among many key speakers at this event. Dr. Wade explains that "violence is an affront to dignity" disregarding victims responses continues to ignore people's attempts to respond, whereas acknowledging these responses is key to identifying small acts of resistance and a victims attempt to uphold their dignity.
Also at Dignity 2015, Dr. Wade will present "The Myth of Stockholm Syndrome" in which he will discuss the term ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and its’ association with the concept of how victims can sometimes take up the cause of the ‘kidnappers’, or perpetrators of violence.
“The psychiatrist who termed the phrase never interviewed the hostage Kristin Enmark", says Mr Balcombe. Ms Enmark is believed to be the first person diagnosed with this syndrome.

Dr. Wade has re-interviewed Kristin and in his presentation at the conference will show how she prudently and courageously resisted the violence of the hostage takers and carefully managed a highly fluid situation. “This is a very different concept than what the mainstream thinks of this syndrome,” says Mr Balcombe.
“Response-Based Practice (RBP) challenges all of us in how we use words and the assumptions we make about violence” he said. This conference brings key leaders in the RBP field to show how we all can help people maintain and restore their dignity no matter the nature of violation or offending - individual, institutional, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and so on.
The conference is booked out. With 28 presenters from Aotearoa, Australia and Canada situated on the campus Marae at Hawkes Bay's Eastern Institute of Technology, the stage is set for a diverse and exciting four days of people and presentations.

For more information about the programme, presenter bios and abstracts go to www.dignity2015.co.nz; further links provided below.

Find out more about this conference:
http://www.relationshipcouplescounselling.co.nz/response-based-practice/#SPEAKERS
A programme for this Conference can be found here:
http://www.relationshipcouplescounselling.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Conference-Programme.pdf
Key abstracts can be found from this link:
http://www.relationshipcouplescounselling.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Updated-Abstracts.pdf
Presenter Bios can be found from this link:
http://www.relationshipcouplescounselling.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Presenter-Bios.pdf

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