Conference Registration
Annual Conference Registration
The cost for the conference is 150 GBP and includes a hosted reception and light refreshments on Friday evening, two coffee/tea breaks and lunch on Saturday and a coffee /tea break on Sunday morning.
We welcome Accompanying Persons to the Friday evening Welcome Reception and Keynote. The Reception will offer hosted appetizers, wine and soft drinks. The cost for each Accompanying Person is 25 GBP.
Each participant will register separately.
For local hotels, including one offering an EARLY BIRD registration opportunity (through 10 April, 2023), click here.
Workshop #1: Digital advances in family courts worldwide helping resolutions for families.
Presenter:
Prof David Hodson, OBE, Solicitor, Mediator, Arbitrator, and Part-time Judge, London – UK
Changes in family courts and family justice around the world prompted by the pandemic have brought real differences in resolution for family difficulties with an active exploration of which models and forms of resolution and ADR are best for particular families in particular situations. Digital technology opens major opportunities alongside anxieties of access to digital justice. This presentation will address the digital benefits, present practice, and likely digital future in this element of couple and parent relationships.
Contact: dh@davidhodson.com
Workshop #2: When the Family was Not so Elastic and Resilient During the Pandemic.
Presenters:
Yasmine S. Mehmet, Certified Family Law Specialist, San Francisco – USA
Justin Dorham, Associate Attorney, Schapiro-Thorn, San Francisco – USA
Two California divorce attorneys present their unique perspectives on family law and the pandemic – what happened, what worked, what did not work, and lessons learned moving forward. This workshop will consider the family, not as a unit, but as individual members acting within the unit and the interplay of that dynamic on their individual needs. The attorneys will present summaries of what they experienced during the pandemic, both from the perspective of their clients, as well as their own perspectives as lawyers within the legal institutions that were impacted in unexpected ways. Discussion will follow about how lawyers, family law courts and other non-profits adapted in a variety of ways that continue to be relevant moving forward.
Contact: ysmehmet@sbcglobal.net
Workshop #3: Early Coparenting Programmes with Parents of Infants with a highly reactive temperament.
Presenter:
Ingrid Grech Lanfranco, PhD. Head Department of Child and Family Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta – MALTA
Changes in family courts and family justice around the world prompted by the pandemic have brought real differences in resolution for family difficulties with an active exploration of which models and forms of resolution and ADR are best for particular families in particular situations. Digital technology opens major opportunities alongside anxieties of access to digital justice. This presentation will address the digital benefits, present practice, and likely digital future in this element of couple and parent relationships.
Contact: ingrid.grech-lanfranco@um.edu.mt
Workshop #4: Time that makes a difference: Building resilience in families through delivering parenting courses in prisons.
Presenter:
Kate Duroux, London Coordinator, Care for the Family, UK
Research shows that family relationships are the ‘golden thread’ which help prisoners to not reoffend and break the cycle of intergenerational crime. Care for the Family has been working with prisons to provide resources to help prisoners maintain strong bonds with family members. Drawing on her experience of running parenting sessions with dads in prison, in this workshop Kate will explore how parenting courses can build the resilience of prisoners and their families, ultimately benefitting society as a whole.
Contact: kate.duroux@cff.org.uk
Workshop #5: The onlife family. Hybrid Family Life after the Pandemic.
Presenters:
Francesco Belletti, sociologist, Cisf Director, Milan
Linisha Perera, Cisf, researcher in International Center For Family, Milan – ITALY
This workshop is based upon the data of a survey (April 2022) submitted to 2,227 Italian families with cohabiting children– see the 2022 Cisf Family Report (Famiglia & Digitale. Rischi e opportunità, Family & Digitality. Costs and opportunities). From the data an interesting positive correlation emerges between higher rates of family social capital (bonding and bridging) of the Italian families and their attitude towards the integration of ICT into their daily routines. This helped families to successfully cope with the pandemic stresses. The research confirms that the accelerated digitalisation in most Italian households, initially perceived as a threat, quickly turned into a pivotal tool of resilience and reinforcement of inner and outer family relations.
Contact: cisf@stpauls.it
Workshop #6: Blended families who are “doing well”: Stories of resilience in everyday life.
Presenters:
Angela Abela PhD (Professor, Dept. of Child and Family Studies), University of Malta
Suzanne Piscopo PhD (Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Health, Physical Education & Consumer Studies),University of Malta
Sue Vella PhD (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Social Policy and Social Work), University of Malta
Allison Zammit Said Mpsy (clin), M.Fam.Ther. (Clinical psychologist & family therapist) – MALTA
This presentation is about the stories of a number of blended families who consider themselves to be “doing well”, seen from multiple perspectives including those of the stepchild, the mother, the step-parent and where possible, the biological father. The study is situated in the Maltese socio-cultural context, and the use of narrative analysis allows us to remain faithful to participants’ voices. In analysing the experiences of the 22 family members interviewed to date, we draw upon systemic, attachment and resilience theories. Our findings bring to light the day-to-day actions taken by our participants that have allowed them to thrive, notwithstanding the challenges they faced in building a new family together.
Contact: angela.abela@um.edu.mt
