The New Zealand Psychological Society – celebrates its 50^th Jubilee

This year the NZPsS celebrates 50 years of being the largest professional association for psychologists in Aotearoa New Zealand. It will celebrate a history of supporting and growing the professional excellence of psychologists and also our active history of supporting bicultural practice and advocacy on social justice issues that impact on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders. The Jubilee will be marked by events throughout the year and by a Jubilee conference in September.

Free Public talks on supporting child/adolescent wellbeing

Dunedin, 24 April, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 6.00-7.00pm
Speaker: Max Gold (School-Wide Practitioner at the Ministry of Education)
Topic: How can we help children to live meaningful and satisfying lives in the 21st century?
This seminar will help parents to think of ways to engage their children in activities that make their lives interesting and meaningful and assist children to seek out experiences that enrich their relationships and their lives.

Auckland, 2 May – 5.00-7.00 pm at the Parnell Trust, 545 Parnell Road, Parnell
Speaker: Tania Anstiss (Principal Psychologist, Waitemata DHB Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
Topic: Fostering Wellbeing and Resilience in children
We know that the vital role of parenting and supporting young children can be both hugely rewarding and at times challenging. Building strong positive foundations in these early years is critical to long term wellbeing in families. In the early years children are growing fast, developing skills in many areas and moving through important transitions such as starting preschool and school.  At the same time parents and caregivers are wanting to do the best for their children in busy and often stressful lives, while hopefully trying to meet some of our own needs as well.  Research suggests that growing resilience in children is one of the most important roles we can play in their lives, to assist them to weather some of the challenges they will face in life. Exploring ways we can build positive nurturing relationships with children, thereby fostering wellbeing and resilience throughout this important period is the focus of this talk.

Wellington, 15 May, 5.30pm – 7.00pm, Wellington Girls College, The Hall, Pipitea Street
Speaker: Susan Wall (Registered Psychologist in Private Practice)
Topic: Growing Great Adults: An Introduction to Values-Based Parenting
“Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man”. A well-known quote, reflecting
what research and clinical experience shows us; that who we are as adults, is very much shaped
by our experiences, attitudes and beliefs as a child and young person. This workshop is aimed to
help parents consider what values they most want their “future adult” to grow up with, and will
look at how this can be best translated in to action, when raising a young person.
Susan Wall, a Registered Psychologist in private practice, has a special interest in the influence that childhood experiences and beliefs, have on the rest of a person’s life. Whilst clinically she helps individuals identify and reshape beliefs that may be unhelpful; she is keen to work in a proactive way, to
help parents shape their parenting, so that they can raise the best kind of adults for the future.

Christchurch, 24th May, BreakFree on Cashel, 165 Cashel Street, 5.00-7.00pm
Speaker: Sue Bagshaw (GP and Founder of Youth One-Stop Shop)
Topic: Parenting teenagers
Early last Century Professor Hall declared that adolescence is a period of “storm and strife” and this description seems to have stuck. We now understand so much more about the developmental period between puberty and the end of the formative part of brain development, and in the light of this new understanding, we can declare that this is an exciting and ever changing but extremely important time of life.

Hamilton, 28 June, 5-7 pm River Lounge (Celebrating Age Centre), 30 Victoria Street
Speaker: Kirsty Dempster-Rivett (Clinical Psychologist and Teaching Fellow at Waikato University)
Topic: How Adults Can Work with Tweens and Teenagers to Facilitate Positive Outcomes
Walking alongside young people to help them reach their potential can be both enjoyable and challenging. We continue to read about sad life outcomes and statistics for our youth that can leave us wondering, “what can I do?” The good news is that there are things you can do. Simply, we all have immediately accessible information about how adults either helped or hindered our own journey through this life stage. More broadly, it requires adults to understand the unique individual characteristics of each young person, whilst taking into account the important consideration of this dynamic developmental stage. This presentation will draw on the recent literature relating to build supportive relationships with this age group whilst drawing on the wisdom and advice of well-known theorists of adolescent development and therapy. The key points will be illustrated with practical strategies that you can walk away with and incorporate into your repertoire immediately. The end goal is to encourage the use of creative and innovative techniques to help us achieve the best outcomes possible using a collaborative and engaging manner.
Kirsty Dempster-Rivett is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with 20 years clinical practice working with young people, their families and support people. She is a passionate advocate for youth and often presents about creative strategies for engagement that focuses on their strengths to help address areas of concern.