This Workshop called the Gift of Listening is founded on Robyne’s deeply held belief that people genuinely want to understand each other and on occasions actually need to understand each other. The intention underpinning this 90-minute on-line workshop is to create an opportunity to bridge the space between one’s own culture and the First Nation Cultures of Australia.

Participants will experience though an experiential process, the First Nation concept of deep listening, listening with all your sense. Robyne would like to welcome the opportunity to work together.

Prior to this workshop you may want to view any or all of the following:

• Documentary of The First Australians.
• DADIRRI (Official Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Video)

You will need to bring for the workshop:
Black A4 paper, white chalk or conte crayon, sticky tape and scissors. Any black paper will do, most people will need four (4) to five (5) A4 sheets of paper at the most.

PRESENTER

Robyne Latham is a Yamatji/Caucasian woman, though originally from Western Australia she has lived and worked in Melbourne for some thirty-five years.

Robyne’s career traverses two paths, her work within the university sector and her art-practice. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education and a Master’s in Fine Art. Robyne has worked in academia and research at Curtin, Deakin, Edith Cowen and La Trobe Universities, in the faculties of fine-art and allied-health. For the past 14 years Robyne’s worked part time in the Bouverie Centre’s First Nation’s Team, at La Trobe University. The Bouverie Centre is an integrated practice-research organisation that draws on their history of bringing family therapy to Australia to promote healthy relationships in families, organisations and communities.

Robyne also works in the complex area of Cultural Bridging. Her workshops explore ways of ‘working well’ with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, colleagues and clients. Robyne has previously delivered this training to many varied sectors, including GP specialists, midwifery and philanthropy.

Robyne’s art works are collected national and internationally. Some recent art-works include:

• Royal Children’s Hospital 150 Public Art-work, Bronze. Titled LEAF. LEAF
• The performance work, ‘Remembering the Empty Coolamons’ which was originally held at the Atrium Federation Square in 2017. This work has since been performed another seven times, within Australia. Remembering the Empty Coolamons

Date: Friday, 2 December 2022
Time: 12pm - 2pm AEDT (9am HKT & WA, 11am QLD, 2pm NZT)
Location: ZOOM
CPD: 2 hrs
Cost: $40 (+GST for Australian members)
Open to: All members

Due to the experiential nature of the work, recording would compromise the intention underpinned the workshop. So on this occasion the workshop will not be recorded.

Cancellation Policy
When you register and pay to attend one of our events, you are holding a space on our calendar that is no longer available to other members. In order to be respectful of your fellow members and the presenter, please email events as soon as you know you will not be able to attend the event. We keep our events as affordable as possible and need to pay presenters the fee they request. While we understand sometimes urgent matters come up, if registrants cancel at the last minute, we struggle to pay presenters. A full refund will be given if the cancellation occurs more than 24 hours before the event. If the cancellation occurs less than 24 hours before the event, 50% of your registration fee will be refunded only to defray our costs.

In a Climate Conversation people attend to share their feelings about the climate and ecological crisis – a thinking and feeling space, a haven from busyness and activity. We do this in a safe space, because sharing feelings in a supportive setting helps to build our resilience during this confusing and difficult time.

Instead of assuming that our anxiety will go away if we act, or assuming that embracing anxiety means accepting the planet's fate, research advocates for the creation of more safe spaces, platforms free of judgement with expectations of respect and a willingness to listen, where feelings can be shared and heard.

We have limited numbers to 12 participants supported by two facilitators.

This event is experiential. Explore how art can support and enhance a climate conversation. What to bring:

• your art/drawing materials
• a natural object or photo of a natural object that has meaning for you
• your cup of tea or coffee and cake or yummy treat snack to gather around the zoom screen

The duration is 90 minutes. 15 minutes at the end of the program will include reflection on how the drawing/art enhanced the experience of the Climate Conversation.

Date: Monday 5 December 2022
Time: 5pm - 6.30pm AEDT (2pm HKT & WA, 4pm QLD, 7pm NZT)
Location: ZOOM (this session will not be recorded due to privacy reasons)
CPD: 1.5 hours
Cost: $60 (+GST for Australian members)
Open to: All members

Facilitators

Michelle O'Sullivan is a highly experienced practitioner in leadership development, HR, organisation transformation and change. Michelle creates the space to explore the undiscussable, sit with ambiguity, seek to understand, and provide a source of inspiration whilst holding the organisation and the individual in mind.

Fiona Martin brings practical experience to facilitation and coaching, drawing on experience as a senior executive and business entrepreneur with a focus on learning and development, innovation, building collaboration. She is qualified in Organizational Role Analysis and is an accredited Advanced Analytic-Network Coach.

Topic Overview: Māori and Pasifika approaches in culturally based Creative Therapies

Marion Gordon-Flower, AThR, will provide an overview of her multidisciplinary work context and introduce two cultural specialist colleagues, Manaakinui Te Kahu and Emanita Aholelei. Manaakinui will provide an insight into tāonga pūoro, traditional Māori wind instruments used in healing.  Participants will experience the sounds and vibrations of four different instruments and will be asked to notice their own responses, and to give verbal feedback as each is presented.  Emanita will present a comparison of three Pacific Island cultures of Tongan, Samoan and Niuean, exploring the differences within the making of lei. She will explain the way in which Pacific Island dances can reflect everyday life; and will take Arts Therapists through the process of creating a seated Sasa group-dance based on aspects of their collective lifestyles. Marion will close the webinar with a mindfulness-movement-meditation.

This event is experiential, so please bring your journal and art media to the zoom.  There will be opportunities to make quick responses through the course of the session, and time permitting, there could be the opportunity of a drawing process as an integration within the session, after the two key presentations are made.

Date: Wednesday 7 December 2022
Time: 4pm-6pm AEDT (1pm HKT & WA, 3pm QLD and 6pm NZT)
CPD: 2 hours
Location: Zoom (link will be provided in registration email)
Cost: $45 (+GST for Australian members)
Open to: All members (maximum 30 participants)

Please note: This event will be recorded.

Biographies

Marion Gordon-Flower, BMA, Dip. T, MAAT (Clinical) Hons, AThR, is an established practitioner and internationally published author in the creative arts therapies field in Auckland since graduating with her master's degree in 2008. She has been a regular presenter at conferences in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore (prior to Covid-19). She was a committee member of Creative Therapies Association of Aotearoa and established the Arts Therapy 5-Pt Star model and assessment tool through international research. For the past five years, Marion has worked for a Māori iwi mental health and social housing NGO, assisting in the development and facilitation of culturally-based creative therapies group programmes. She currently co-ordinates and oversees programmes with four different cultural foci of Māori, Pasifika, Asian and Muslim and is arts therapist for a youth crisis respite unit and day programme, which caters for ethnic and gender diversity.

Manaakinui Te Kahu is a pou whirinaki Māori cultural specialist and advisor, skilled in the many different dimensions of Māori protocols, rituals, arts and healing practices. He currently provides culturally-based services within transitional housing to assist the residential community in moving forward from homelessness, and is also a degree student in theology. Ko Whakataha ko Tāwhirirangi ngā maunga Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua Ko Takitimu ngā waka Ko Waitangi ko Mohaka ngā awa Ko Te Rangiawhiowhio ko Te Kahu o te Rangi ngā tipuna whare Ko Te Whiu ko Ngāti Pahauwera ngā hapu Ko Ngāpuhi ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa ngā iwi. Ko Manaakinui Te Kahu tōku ingoa. Tihei mauri ora "My passion is in education around the Māori worldview and all the treasures it has for todays ever changing world. I have a particular passion for taonga pūoro or our treasured Māori instruments. It is a few of these gifts that I will be sharing within the therapy space and how the treasures of our ancestors may help in bringing wellbeing to someone's hauora, social, mental, physical and spiritual health, in relationship to the natural environment."

Emanita Aholelei has a background in traditional arts of the Pacific Islands and the fashion industry. After making her own health recovery journey, she has become a specialist in the therapeutic use of Pasifika arts in mental health. She has facilitated highly successful community-based group programmes in central Auckland since 2017 and now also works in a consumer-leader role as advisor to Te Whatu Ora which is the new Health New Zealand. Emanita has previously been a presenter at TheMS Conferences in Sydney and Perth where she presented a Pasifika model for heath recovery which used the visual concept of canoe. "I am of Tongan/Fijian decent born in Aotearoa, and involved in a variety of projects in the mental health services, maternal mental health, youth justice and Pasifika mental health. I also continue to support whanau/family members with their mental health needs outside my work. Through my own recovery journey, I have discovered the significance of culture in health and have developed approaches which assist people to reconnect and discover a sense of belonging through Pasifika culture, materials, language and the history, passed down from our Pacific ancestors. I value my Tongan culture and everything that comes with it including my passion for creative arts. Malo Au Pito, Vinaka vakalevu."