A Mulinjahli woman from the Bundjalung Nation, respected Elder, family therapist, and cultural consultant, Aunty Darleen brings deep cultural knowledge to therapy practice and research. An alumna of the Bouverie Centre’s Graduate Certificate of Family Therapy (First Nations), Aunty Darleen has since co-facilitated every Workin’ with the Mob WIT session with both First Nations and non-First Nations families. She also has extensive experience working in Victoria’s men’s and women’s prisons, including her previous work with the Bouverie Centre’s Strengthening Connections program. 

Bruce Smyth is Professor of Family Studies with the Australian National University. He is a social scientist who has been working in family law for 30 years. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters and presented over 300 papers at conferences and workshops. In 2018 in Washington, DC, he received the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award from the American Association of Family & Conciliation Courts (AFCC) in recognition of outstanding research and research achievements in the field of family and divorce. Many of his closest friends and collaborators are family therapists, and when he grows up he wants to be one. 

Lawrence Moloney is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University. He is a practising psychologist, family therapist and family mediator, a former Director of the Family Court Counselling Service, former Head of the Department of Counselling and Psychological Health at La Trobe University and former Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Lawrence has a special interest in processes that promote the welfare of children and their parents in the context of family separation. He is also interested ‘what works’ in the practice of counselling and psychotherapy.  

Sonja Baram is an Adelaide Narrative Therapist of 20 years’ experience in community and private practice settings. She takes a Feminist Family Therapy and Open Dialogue approach to mental health presentations – always with foundations in rigorous Narrative and Accountability practices that have origins in Adelaide and now international reach and influence. She is currently forwarding Family Law Counselling in her private practice with a foundation in specialised family and intimate family violence. She is an Associate Editor with the ANZJFT and has a long-time association with the journal since she first published on psychosis and magical realism in 2016. Sonja takes a progressive, social justice approach to personal and social change by subverting structural rigidity through incremental invitations toward socio-political accountability and personal agency. 

Paul Rhodes is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Sydney, convenor of the Ecological Emotions Research Lab and practicing fine artist at Lennox St Studios. In terms of family therapy he has worked and researched in a variety of fields including FBT for anorexia, Open Dialogue and systemic practice in forensic disabilities. Paul has published over 200 peer review articles in a variety of areas including qualitative inquiry, climate emotion, decolonising psychology and cultural psychology. He is currently writing a book A Psychogeogaphy of Florence: Art and Writing on the Immanent Plane. 

Anne is a Clinical member of the Australian Association of Family Therapy (AAFT). In addition to her Private Practice of thirty years, Anne is committed to training other professionals in Systemic and Family Therapy. She was part of the training team at the William Street Family Therapy Centre for 15 Years in Perth, Western Australia and is currently a Private Consultant Trainer/Supervisor with numerous government and non-government agencies in the Perth Metro Area. Anne has presented her work as an Agency Based Systemic Trainer at the Australian Association of Family Therapy Conference in 2018. She has presented at the Asian Academy of Family Therapy Conference in 2019 and 2023. She has provided articles for the Australian Association of Family Therapy Newsletter of her attendance at the Asian Academy in 2019. She was the AAFT Representative at the International Conference in Assisi, Italy in July 2023 and the Asian Academy of Family Therapy, Hong Kong, October 2023. Anne was the Treasurer and Secretary of the WA Family Therapy Association (from 2007) before amalgamation to become the National Australian Association of Family Therapy in 2012. She became the State Representative for Western Australia in 2014 – 2021, providing the Members of the Association with regular Professional Development Events. She was the Convenor for the inaugural Virtual Annual National Conference for the Australian Association of Family Therapy in 2021.   Anne has been President of AAFT since February, 2024 and looks forward to continuing promoting the advancement of theory and practice of Family and Systemic Practice in Australia in this role.

Josephine and I have worked as a systemic psychotherapist for 10 years. My work experience includes Relationships Australia (NSW) registered family dispute resolution practitioner; a family and adolescent counsellor;  a functional family therapist (FFT). After and during completing the Master’s in family therapy at Kings College, London, I worked for CAMHS, and the Maudsley Couples Clinic, Enfield’s child and adolescent self harm and suicidal ideation clinic and eating disorders clinic in the UK.

When I moved back to Perth due to havin I’ve been with AAFT since 2020. Before this I was a licensed psychotherapist with the UK Counsellors and Psychotherapists as well as a member of the Association of Family Therapy (UK).

Recently I’ve entered back into the workforce working as a Therapeutic Specialist for an organisation in foster care and who works directly with the department of child protection. Through leading reflective practices, I help guide and give therapeutic advice to the youth workers and case managers who look after the young persons in care, and who have a history of complex needs and behaviours due to their significant trauma.

Matthew is a counsellor with Relationships Australia NSW based in the Illawarra and Southern Highlands. While working with individuals, couples and families over the last 18 years he has held a variety of counselling roles in non-profit organisations. He has keen interests in systems thinking, dynamic psychotherapy, and their intersections with complex trauma. An insatiable integrationist, Matthew is also a natural teacher and compassionate advocate at heart. In 2008, while studying counselling, he led a community outreach team engaging with youth at risk to win an Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award. More recently Matthew has been reflecting with his peers on the question of whether relationship therapists have a unique role to play with specialist-served populations — especially among people who have intellectual disabilities or who may be neurodivergent.

Alicia is Counselling Team Leader with Relationships Australia NSW’s Illawarra Centre.  She was Team Leader with RANSW’s Disability Royal Commission counselling service from 2020-23. Alicia has worked with individuals, couples and families for 12 years. As a former circus director and performer she worked with mixed ability casts, most recently The Strangeways Ensemble, Merrigong Theatre’s company of neuro-diverse actors and musicians.

Elsha is passionate about working from a place of authenticity and vulnerability. Her focus is on building a safe, nurturing space, where children and families can strengthen and heal their relationships with themselves and others. 

Elsha holds a Clinical master’s degree through the Bouverie Centre and La Trobe University in Family Therapy and a Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Practice. She is Certified in Synergetic Play Therapy and Supervision and has completed L2 training in IFS with Children & Adolescents. 

Elsha has worked in the field for over 15 years, in roles such as Senior Child Protection Practitioner, family therapy work, with adolescents who were violent towards their parents and siblings, family violence dyadic mother infant/toddler therapy and group work. 

Elsha has specialised in child trauma work and was a Senior Counsellor at a Child Trauma service for several years before moving into private practice where she currently enjoys working on the Mornington Peninsula working with children of all ages and their caregivers. Elsha also provides individual and group supervision and training workshops to professionals. 

Dr Kate Owen is a Clinical Family Therapist, Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Hypnotherapist with over 25 years’ experience working across mental health, education, and private practice. She is passionate about teaching, training, and supervising individuals and teams, with a focus on integrative systemic psychotherapy.  Drawing on systemic theory, neuroscience, and fourth-wave modalities, Kate supports sustainable change in complex systems and relationships. She is also the creator of the Keep Calm Cards and provides free resources at www.drkateowen.com. 

Anne is a Clinical Psychologist who initially trained as a Family Therapist in 1981.  She joined the Bouverie Centre in 1983 and worked there until 2011.  At Bouverie Anne was both an advanced practitioner developing ideas with the original sexual abuse team and was also the first formally appointed Lecturer in Family Therapy for La Trobe University in 1995. She has presented extensively at family therapy conferences in the past and provided training in the Masters of Family Therapy and other courses for 30 years.  She completed a PhD in family sexual abuse, she has provided independent assessments to the Children’s Court of Victoria and investigated child deaths for the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner of Victoria.  She moved to Child Protection in 2011 as a Principal Practitioner and moved again in 2016 to become the inaugural Statewide Principal Practitioner for Anglicare Victoria. 

Anne-Marie Wilson is a team leader for one of OzChild’s Functional Family Therapy – Child Welfare (FT-CW) teams in NSW.  She has extensive experience both nationally and internationally working therapeutically with families and the service system whose children are at risk of entering the OOHC system.  

Miruna is a clinical family therapist and counsellor with extensive experience in both mental health and educational settings. She works primarily with adolescents in schools and enjoys supporting parents, couples and individuals through her private practice. Miruna believes that people’s stories are key to understanding behaviour patterns and uses a family therapy framework that considers individuals within the context of their family and social relationships.   

In the school setting, her understanding of adolescents is broadened by recognizing not only their personal systems but also the wider school system. Becoming aware of the common or differing—and sometimes conflicting—pushes and pulls within these systems brings further insight. Miruna hopes that by sharing her learnings, she can help others hold multiple agendas and create balanced alliances—ultimately bringing hope to young people and their families who often feel stuck within the systems they occupy. 

Her mission is to empower individuals and families to gain insight and foster stronger, more supportive connections. 

Dr. Glenn Larner is a senior clinical psychologist and family therapist with over 4 decades of experience in child and adolescent mental health and private practice. He been editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy since 2010 and published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. and is co-editor with David Pare of Collaborative Practice in Psychology and Therapy (2004; New York: Haworth).  Glenn is an approved clinical supervisor with the Australian Association of Family Therapy and has been a course writer and lecturer in family therapy at the NSW Institute of Psychiatry, Health Education and Training Institute, Sydney HETI and Clinical Supervision Services since 2003. Glenn has trained clinical psychologists and interns, doctors, child and adolescent psychiatry trainees, psychotherapists, and family therapists over several decades and has conducted training in Australia, the U.K. and Europe.  

Naomi is a social worker and clinical family therapist with over 20-years’ experience in clinical work, supervision, and training, specialising in single session and family inclusive approaches.  She is currently undertaking a Medibank funded PhD, examining the clinical and economic benefits of the Walk-in Together program at the Bouverie Centre.  

Michael Derby is an accredited mental health social worker and clinical family therapist. He has worked for over 15 years with children, young people and their families who have experienced significant trauma including family violence & sexual abuse. He also has extensive experience working with parents who have caused harm to their partners and children, as well as children and young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviours.  

Since 2019 Michael has developed & delivered ongoing training to the state-wide Victorian Governments child protection practitioners on how to work with siblings where one has engaged in harmful sexual behaviours towards the other. Michael has a passionate interest in Shame and has since partnered with Innovative resources to create a resource titled “ Exploring Shame”, which was realised in 2022. Finally in 2023 – 2024 Michael delivered support services to the state-wide governments board of inquiry into historic childhood sexual abuse within schools. Currently Michael is the Manager of Practice and Development at the Sexual Assault & Family Violence (SAFV) centre and is on the board of ethics for the Australian association of social work(AASW) ,as well as being on the committee of management for Australian Association of Family therapy (AAFT). 

I am a Family Therapist, Social Worker, and Psychologist. I recently retired from La Trobe University /The Bouverie Centre after having worked there for many years, the last 20 years as a Senior Lecturer in the Academic Team and as a member of First Nations Team. 

I was the academic responsible for the successful launch of the Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy: First Nations. This course has been successfully delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Child and Family Workers for the last 15 years with over 170 graduates to date. I continue to remain as a consultant to the First Nations team especially in the delivery of the Family Therapy pedagogy.

I was a member of the HIV and AIDS team from 1990 to 2000 working with HIV affected and infected people and their families. It was a significant period not only because being HIV infected was often a death sentence but also because it was a period when gay men were coming out to their families for the first time. 

 I have had an interest in Supervision training and practice and developed the curriculum for the 6 Supervision training at the Bouverie Centre. I have taught Supervision in Australia and overseas over many years.  

Lauren Errington is the Executive Director of the Family Systems Institute and a Mental Health Social Worker and Clinical Family Therapist and Supervisor at the Family Systems Practice. She has extensive experience in mental health and counselling settings, in Sydney, Canberra and Scotland and has taught and presented nationally and internationally on the clinical application of Bowen family systems theory. Lauren has published several articles in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy and most recently has been a co-editor for a special issue of the ANZJFT on Bowen Family Systems Theory. She is particularly interested in understanding and thinking about families as systems, and helping others become experts in their own families as they work out how to manage challenges.   

Tara Schintler is a Clinical Family Therapist and Mental Health Social Worker. She works in the Clinical Program at the Bouverie Centre. She has worked in the areas of family violence, sexual assault and private practice where she has worked with individuals, couples and families as well as providing supervision to clinicians working in the area of trauma. Tara has a specific interest in the area of complex trauma and has extensive experience in EMDR and Havening techniques. 

Colleen Cousins is a Psychologist, Family Therapist and Educator. She currently co-ordinates Bouverie/ LTU’s Graduate Certificate of Family Therapy, lectures and provides supervision to students in the Master of Clinical Family therapy program. Colleen has substantial experience as a therapist with those impacted by relational trauma and as a clinical supervisor, consultant and trainer of practitioners working in this field. She has a long-held commitment to developing effective collaborative responses to victim/ survivors and their families and to embedding individually orientated treatment approaches within systemic trauma practice.  

Robyne Latham is a Yamatji/Caucasian woman from Western Australia. She has lived and worked in Melbourne for the past thirty-five years. 

Robyne’s career traverses two distinct paths, that of an artist and as a university educator, academic and researcher. Her art practice explores a number of mediums, including ceramics, works on canvas, performance art and bronze sculptures. Robyne’s art works are collected nationally and internationally. Robyne has recently won the tender for several large sculpture commissions in Melbourne. (https://www.robynelatham.com) 

For the past 16 years Robyne’s also worked within the Bouverie Centre’s First Nations Team, at La Trobe University. This team has delivered a Post Graduate Degree in Family Therapy to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family workers, across Victoria and Northern Queensland. To date, there are some 200 graduates from this landmark training program, and several have attained a Clinical Master’s in Family Therapy. 

Robyne holds a B.A. Fine Art, Curtin University, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, Edith Cowan University and a Master in Fine Art, by research, Monash University.  She’s worked in the faculty of fine arts and education at Curtin and Edith Cowen Universities in Perth, WA and of fine arts and allied health at Deakin and La Trobe Universities in Melbourne, Victoria. 

Claire is a neurodivergent Speech Therapist and Family Therapist who has a passion for working with the neuroqueer community. Over the past 10 years, Claire has worked across education Queensland, Child and Youth Mental Health Services, and was a part of the very beginnings of the QLD Children’s Gender Service, where she set up the speech therapy role. Claire also has a passion for providing education and upskilling to speech therapy students, new graduates and experienced therapists to create a more inclusive, affirming future in healthcare. 

Dr Carol Smith is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years’ experience working with children and adolescents in a variety of settings. Carol is the owner and director of a large private practice, has worked in private practice for 25 years, and it is in this role where she has been Family Court involved therapist for hundreds of cases. Carol honed her systemic therapy skills and understanding over 17 years working at child and adolescent public health services; CAMHS and eating disorder programs. Along with a master’s on clinical psychology (UWA), Carol has an additional master’s in child psychology (Melbourne University), and her PhD was in eating disorders (ARFID) in children. 

Nella Charles (Psychologist) have worked as Family Therapists for over 25 years with families seeking support with adult and child mental health difficulties, family recovery following trauma, family violence, acquired brain injury, disability, illness and loss. Nella have taught family therapy clinical skills extensively in the Master of Clinical Family Therapy, La Trobe University and provide training, supervision and consultation to health and community services practitioners. They have a particular interest in the application of systems theory to notions of resilience and the role of systems in supporting family adjustment to major life challenges.

Alicia Martin, Freya Reynolds and Julie Goldsmith are all Psychologists working in a Child and Youth Mental Health Day Program (CYMHS) in Children’s Health Queensland, Brisbane. The Day Program South works intensively with young people and their families in a medium term program with a combination of mental health care and a supported education placement with a goal of transitioning to external education options. The program is highly family focussed and works with families and stakeholders. Therapies are provided by an extensive multidisciplinary team. All three clinicians have worked in CYMHS for between 9-23 years, and have recently completed advanced training in family and systemic therapy. 

– Alicia Martin Team Leader (Psychologist) Day Program South, Children’s Health Queensland 

– Freya Reynolds, Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Day Program South, Children’s Health Queensland 

– Julie Goldsmith, Clinical Psychologist, Day Program South, Children’s Health Queensland 

Mark is a Social Worker and completed his postgraduate social work degree in the United Kingdom in 2021 at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). Mark has been working as a social worker with AASW eligibility in clinical settings in Victoria since February 2023. Mark has primarily worked with infants, children and young people with neurodiversity and mental health difficulties providing assessment and treatment to children and their families. This has been across public mental health and local government settings, both in the United Kingdom and Australia. 

Since January 2024, Mark has been employed as a Clinician with the Youth Forensic Disability Clinical Service in the Department for Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) providing specialist clinical assessment and treatment to young people, aged 10 – 21, with a cognitive disability who are involved in, or at risk of involvement in, the legal justice system. 

Sandra has 25 years of experience in alcohol research and has repeatedly developed and evaluated health promotion and prevention programs. A central topic of her recent research is the impact parents have on their children’s alcohol-related knowledge as well as the role alcohol plays in the work-life balance of parents. 

Bliss Jackman is a leader in public mental health, systemic reform, and carer-inclusive practice. As Team Leader, Lived Experience at the Victorian Centre of Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED), she drives strategy, workforce development, and policy reform to embed lived experience in all aspects of care. Bliss holds advisory roles on key Department of Health and Office of the Chief Psychiatrist committees and is a board member at Tandem. She is also a researcher at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, contributing to adaptations of eating disorder treatments for neurodivergent young people. Bliss works privately at Eat Love Live and The Togetherness Project, providing neurotherapy, and carer support for those supporting someone with a mental health difficulty. With lived experience supporting her children through Anorexia Nervosa and Bipolar Disorder, she is passionate about equipping families and carers. A sought-after speaker and educator, Bliss advocates for trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and family-inclusive approaches to mental health care. 

Kate is a systemic family therapist and psychotherapist working with individuals, couples and families. She has also done 98 organisational trauma recovery jobs between WA and Vic. Kate is known as a creative strategist and compassionate listener, one who sees the patterns and speaks to them. Her recently published book ‘Pathways Beyond Crime and Trauma’ is a deep dive into human complexity and the value in having the courage to heal; an offshoot of 40 years of clinical work, theoretical training, and lived experience. It is a great read. When relaxing, Kate enjoys tennis, meditation, writing, and spending time with family and friends.

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This book is an inspirational deep dive into our humanity and the healing we need if we are to overcome the trauma and violence of our society. Through a discussion of four  criminal cases, the human being behind acts of murder is brought into full view; the influences and the likely source of their actions are discussed. It provides a revelation in understanding.

It will also give you insight into where emotional triggers and relational dissatisfactions arise, the source of attachment difficulties. You will want to know more. In short, this book will give you insight into managing human and relational complexity better. We all need this.

If you are coping with current challenges, there are eight stories of people who faced great hardship and, with courage, took a healing ‘rite of passage’ to overcome their defensive ego self and inspire their lives once again. They rebuilt with new authenticity, Grace and personal power. This is the consciousness accessible for us all.

It is a book that draws upon the author’s expertise in systemic family therapy, depth psychology, spirituality and her studies of quantum science. Her reflections arise from 40 years in these fields, partnering clients through their despair and onward to upliftment and growth.  It is a book that presents our journey of human becoming through the worst imaginable to what is actually possible. It provides tools and discussion on how to journey along this pathway. It is  a book of inspirational human possibility and a means to the consciousness we need to prosper our own lives and our planet. It brings a promise of the future we need, with compassion, freedom and peace.