Invited Speakers

Prof Derek Bolton

Professor of Philosophy & Psychopathology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings’ College London, UK and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; senior faculty member of the new Centre for Humanities and Health at King’s College London

Professor Bolton has both a clinical and a philosophical background.  His philosophical interests are particularly related to the themes of the conference; for example one of his most recent publications is What is Mental Disorder? which has been published by the Oxford University Press (OUP 2008) in their International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry (IPPP) series.  In this he discusses the conceptualisation of disorder and its relation to distress, and the nature of causal explanation in psychology and psychiatry.  He practices as a clinical psychologist and so brings to the conference both a psychological (as opposed to medical psychiatric) approach and the practical concern to bring conceptual discussions to bear upon the treatment of patients.

Prof Sir Mason Durie

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori and Pasifika) Massey University, New Zealand.  Professor of Māori Research and Development (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Raukawa)

Professor Durie completed postgraduate psychiatric training at McGill University in 1970. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and has published extensively on Maori health and Maori mental health. He was appointed to a Chair in Maori Studies at Massey University in 1988 and has also served as Professor of Maori Research and Development.  He has affiliations with the Rangitane, Ngati Kauwhata and Ngati Raukawa tribes. 

His proposed address is:  ‘Marae encounters, Māori world views, and dilemmas for clinicians’.  He will focus on the interface between Maori systems of knowledge systems and knowledge derived from science with particular reference to the impacts of two world views on clinical practice.  The emergence of indigenous models of practice is seen as a response to both tensions and opportunities at the interface.

Dr Te Kani Kingi

Director; Te Mata o te Tau, The Academy for Maori Research and Scholarship Massey University, New Zealand

Te Kani Kingi is Director of Te Mata o te Tau, The Academy for Maori Research and Scholarship at Massey University in Wellington. He has a specialist interest in mental health research, psychometrics, and Maori health. He has formally been an executive member of the New Zealand Public Health Association, The Mental Health Advocacy Coalition, the National Ethics Advisory Committee, the National Health Committee, and the Public Health Advisory Committee.  He is currently a member of Statistics New Zealand’s Mäori Advisory board, the Health Research Council’s Assessment Committee, the New Zealand Pharmacy Council and is Chair of the Mental Health Commission’s Advisory Board.

He was born and raised in Poroporo (near Whakatāne) and was educated at St Stephen’s School in Bombay (Sth Auckland).  He attended both Waikato and Massey University and has tribal affiliations to Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Pūkeko.

Armon Tamatea

Senior Advisor, Psychological Research, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Services, Department of Corrections, New Zealand

Armon Tamatea has worked extensively in the assessment and treatment of sexual and violent offenders. His experience in working with violent offenders, for example those diagnosed with psychopathy, will provide the conference with invaluable insights.  In addition he has carried out a review of the Bicultural Therapy Model, and has an abiding interest in the role of culture in forensic settings.

Prof Tim Thornton

Professor of Philosophy & Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire, UK

Professor Thornton brings to the conference a sense of the overall interaction between philosophy and mental health, which are expressed in two of his recent works:  Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry (OUP 2007), and (as co-author) the Oxford Textbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (OUP 2006).  A particular area of interest is his work on the interpretation of psychopathology and on reductionism and social constructionism in psychiatry.  He connects these to wider issues in the contemporary philosophy of thought and language.  From the point of view of the conference, these relate strongly to major themes around the relation of biology and culture.

Prof Werdie van Staden

Nelson Mandela Professor of Philosophy & Psychiatry, Head: Division of Philosophy and Ethics of Mental Health; Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist (Weskoppies Hospital); Editor (in Chief): South African Journal of Psychiatry; Managing Editor: Philosophy, Ethics & Humanities in Medicine; Regional Editor (for Africa): International Journal of Person-Centered Medicine

Professor van Staden is both a psychiatrist and philosopher.  His core interests are in values in health, incapacity, and the symptomatology of schizophrenia.  His most important paper, published in the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology (the journal most closely associated with the INPP), is “Linguistic markers of recovery: theoretical underpinnings of first person pronoun usage and semantic positions of patients” (2003).  His interest in the patient’s expression of his/her experience, as well as his background in wider philosophical work and in psychiatry make him an ideal key speaker.