Hidden in Plain Sight: The Identification and Treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation is the title of our Wellington, New Zealand, conference. We are delighted to see this conference taking shape for 31 October – 2 November 2025, in Poneke, Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-tara). The conference will be held at Te Papa, the National museum of New Zealand, which is an awe-inspiring venue right on Wellington Harbour and in the central city. We have a dovetail plan with EMDRNZ who will run their annual conference two days prior to our conference, so attendees have the opportunity to attend both conferences, as well as enjoying the many other things Wellington has to offer as the capital city of New Zealand.
Our pre-conference workshops are now in place with contributions from Michael Coy, Christine Courtois and Julian Ford, as well as some great half day workshops from Mary-Ann Kate and Kate McMaugh, Allister Bush and Wiremu Nia Nia, and Summer Benton and Graham Pringle. Saturday’s opening is planned to begin with a cultural welcome followed by our keynotes: Michael Coy, Christine Courtois and Julian Ford. Their plenary presentations will be followed by a panel discussion with a range of speakers from Australia and Aotearoa addressing the topic: Connecting Services – Challenges in Delivering Provision for Complex Trauma and Dissociation when Resources are Limited. To round off the conference, Sunday’s schedule has an array of 90 minute mini-workshops and presentations covering a range of topics relevant to the understanding and treatment of complex trauma and dissociation. For the closure of the event we plan a further panel-based discussion on the topic of endings in therapy. There is already considerable interest and we open for registrations in May 2025. Plenty of work to do but it is all now taking shape!