18th International Conference on the Treatment of Personality Disorders

Conference key dates

 

Conference Event Date
Pre-Conference Thursday, 31 October, 2024
Scientific Conference Friday, 1 November, 2024
Clinical Workshop Saturday, 2 November, 2024

Attending the conference this year can be in-person, virtual, or a blend of both. Registration is essential and presentations and attendees from across the world are welcome.

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Scientific conference theme: 'Working with complexity, trauma and dissociation'

 

The Project Air Strategy for Personality Disorders, Wollongong University Professional and Clinical Psychology programs and NSW Ministry of Health invite you to the 18th International Conference on the Treatment of Personality Disorders. The theme “Working with complexity, trauma and dissociation” provides a unique opportunity to be updated with the latest research and therapies in Australia and internationally.

 

Program at a glance

Thursday, 31 October 9.30am - 4pm Pre-conference Lived Experience Day

Friday, 1 November 9am - 4pm Scientific Conference Day

Saturday, 2 November 9am - 4pm Clinical Workshop Day

 

The conference presents an opportunity for professional development and to have a stimulating and thought-provoking exposure to new ideas and recent work in treatment of personality disorders by experts, service users, family members, carers, service directors, managers and clinical and professional leaders

FRIDAY CONFERENCE: This is the main conference day for scientific presentations and discussion. As well as lightning talks, poster session and open discussion sections, here is a selection of presenters on the program: 

Anne Krause-Utz (Leiden University, Netherlands) on “Working with trauma and dissociation in the psychotherapy of complex mental health conditions
Paul Klotz (Qld) "My lived and living experience as a male with complex mental and physical health - past, present and future
Dianna Bartsch (BPD Co SA) "Brief crisis intervention for people with personality disorder symptoms – Stepping out of the revolving door
Mikaela Tracy (UTS Sydney), Louise Sharpe (USyd), Caroline Hunt (USyd), Bo Bach (U Copenhagen and Centre for Personality Disorder Research, Denmark) 
 "To Diagnose or Not to Diagnose? Clinician Perceptions of Clinical Utility and Stigma in Personality Disorder Diagnoses
Matthew Stuckey and Dervila Gec (Melbourne, Vic)  "First, do no harm: Tailoring care to manage complex consumers with recurring crises and extensive service utilisation
David Muir, Christie Browne and Kris Wilson (NSW Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network) "Consulting to Chaos: Group Reflective Practice with Staff in a High-Secure Forensic Hospital

The SATURDAY WORKSHOP is presented by Dr Anne Krause-Utz (Netherlands) for clinicians and health professionals and is an opportunity to learn from a distinguished researcher and clinical psychologist, who works at the intersections of clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and cognitive-affective neuroscience, in a workshop that will highlight cognitive abilities influencing treatment, titled "Improving Psychotherapy Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: Brain Research Insights On Causes, Pathways and Cognitive Deficits Influencing Treatment”.

Invitation to present at the conference

We invite late breaking presentations to update on scientific research, new innovations and treatment extensions within personality disorder services (e.g., model, structure, implementation, and evaluation), or presentations on another issue relevant to personality disorders. It is possible a selected lightening talks may be upgraded to a full 20m talk. 

Late breaking presentations are in the form of a 2 minute lightening talk presented to the whole conference, plus poster session which allows you to describe in more detail your work. Posters will be at the venue and posted online. Poster size should be set up to be approximately 80 cm across x 100cm high.

Presentation Instructions: Include an abstract with: Presenter names and presenters affiliation and email address. Title of presentation. Abstract (max 150 words) as a short description of the presentation. Submit your presentation proposal by the 20 October, 2024 via email to:
info-projectair@uow.edu.au

 

Friday Conference keynote: Dr Anne Krause-Utz (Netherlands)

Meet our keynote speaker - Dr Annegret Krause-Utz currently professor of Clinical Psychology at Leiden University, The Netherlands, where she is involved in clinical training and research, following earlier work in the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, Germany. Since 2011, she has been providing personalised trauma-focused psychotherapy and DBT in inpatient and outpatient treatment settings with a focus on BPD, trauma and dissociative disorders and has helped establish the current health care treatment guidelines for dissociation in the Netherlands. Her research combines clinical, experimental and neuroimaging methods. She is section editor for the journal BPDED, ESSPD and ISTSS member, and part of the WHO Expert Group Global Clinical Practice Network (GCPN) on the implementation of the ICD-11 Trait Domain Specifiers for Personality Disorders.

Thursday pre-conference: Lived Experience Day

Lived Experience Day – Thursday, 31 October  (9.30am – 4pm)

Theme: Living beyond recovery

We invite people with lived experience of personality disorder (including individuals, family, friends, loved ones, and carers) to share what recovery looks like for them, either via a formal presentation or participation in ‘fireside sessions’ – short panel-style conversations moderated by Air Academy facilitators.

As we are hosting a blended online/in-person conference this year, participants are welcome to present in person or virtually.

We are also accepting art works or brief written works centred around our theme of living beyond recovery to share on our ‘Road to Recovery’ wall.

Please send all expressions of interest to info-projectair@uow.edu.au with subject title: Lived Experience Day. Depending on time constraints, not all applications to present may be allocated in the program.

Conference registration options

This is a blended event which offers in-person attendance, virtual attendance or a combination of both. Ticket prices are consistent across all attendance choices. Early bird and student registration prices are listed below.

Registration is online only with credit card (Visa or MasterCard).

Register early as places are limited and when full we will suspend registrations and open a wait list. Note we are unable to hold a place unless payment has been received online using a credit card. If your employer is likely to be slow in making a payment, the safest way to secure a place at the conference is to pay for it yourself and then request a refund from your employer.

For in-person attendees, tea and coffee on arrival, morning tea and a light lunch is provided.

All prices are in Australian dollars inclusive of the Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST)

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Ticket prices

$150 Friday Conference Day only

$180 Saturday Workshop only

$305 Conference & Workshop (Friday and Saturday)

$15 Thursday Pre-conference Consumer, Family and Carers Day (Thursday only)

$180 Friday Conference Day only

$200 Saturday Workshop only

$355 Conference & Workshop (Friday/Saturday)

$15 Thursday Pre-conference Consumer, Family and Carers Day (Thursday only)

$50 Conference Day 1

$90 Workshop Day 2

$140 Conference Day 1 & Workshop Day 2

$15 Thursday Pre-conference Consumer, Family and Carers Day (Thursday only)

Students must email their student ID card or enrolment record within 5 days of purchase to info-projectair@uow.edu.au.

Conference event location

The event is set among the spectacular coastal and forested environment surrounding the University of Wollongong - about 90 minutes by car south of Sydney.

Venue - The event will be held in the centre of the beautiful University of Wollongong campus. For maps of the University and directions, see http://www.uow.edu.au/transport/maps/index.html

Sydney Airport provides excellent connections to Wollongong from the airport train or by booking a shuttle/limousine.

Sydney Trains - Take the 90 min scenic train to North Wollongong station (http://www.sydneytrains.info) followed by a short bus connection or 15 min walk. A free shuttle bus service, ‘The Gong Shuttle’ regularly runs to and from the University, train station and hotels, or the trip is a short taxi ride.

Driving by car - From Sydney drive south past Sutherland on the Princes Highway then M1 Motorway and take the second exit at the bottom of Mt Ousley (signposted 'University'). The Western Car Park is closest to the conference venue; enter via the Western Entrance along Northfields Avenue. Parking fees apply.

 

Email for conference enquiries