A tribute to Russell Meares: a celebration of his vision and work

The RANZCP NSW Faculty of Psychotherapy invites you to join their one day conference to be held in honour of Russell Meares (24/05/1936 - 11/06/2024) at John Loewenthal Auditorium, Westmead Hospital, on Thursday 31/07/2025 from 8.30AM to 4.30PM (AEST).

Date and time

Thursday 31 July 2025
8.30 am to 4.30 pm (AEST)

Location

John Loewenthal Auditorium, Westmead Hospital and online via Zoom.

Cost

A$40.00 for in-person and online participants.

For in-person participants, please mention your diet requirements when registering.

For online participants, register to receive the Zoom/Teams details closer to the event.

Event details

The event is organized in collaboration between Western Sydney Local Health District, Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychotherapy, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry and the University of Sydney.

Russell Meares was a pre-eminent figure in Australasian Psychiatry, particularly in relation to psychodynamic psychiatry. He developed an approach to psychodynamic psychotherapy that has become known as the Conversational Model (CM), beginning from his collaboration with Robert Hobson in England. His research interests spanned neuroscience, developmental psychology and linguistics as well as psychotherapy. This one-day conference will cover the breadth of his work and will anticipate the future directions that are likely to become his legacy.

The opening session will cover the "conversational beginnings" of the Conversational Model (Frank Margison, UK) followed by an appreciation of Russell Meares by one of his closest colleagues (George Lianos). We will then hear from Janine Stevenson, who collaborated with Russell in researching Borderline Personality Disorder, establishing the Westmead Program as a leader in the field. Finally, we hear from Evian Gordon, an eminent neuroscientist, who will speak to the foundation of the Brain Dynamic Centre at Westmead under Meares' academic leadership and the work that has been generated subsequently in Australia and the USA.

The late morning session speaks to current "homes" of the Conversational Model in Australia: ANZAP and Westmead (Nick Bendit and Anthony Korner, respectively).

After lunch, there will be a session covering the breadth and range of Russell's work. Firstly, David Butt will speak to the long-time research collaboration between the Westmead Program and the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University. Joan Haliburn will address the adaptation of the Conversational Model in Australia as a Short-Term Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy and Deb Chisholm will speak to Meares artistic and poetic sensibilities.

In the final session, we look forward to the ongoing work and future expectations of the model with Loyola McLean speaking to the CM as an open model, Anthony Harris speaking of the recent work and future plans for the Brain Dynamic Centre and Else Guthrie (UK) telling us of her current and anticipated research in the CM.

Terms and conditions

Cancellation - change of mind

If you change your mind, please send your cancellation to binational.committees@ranzcp.org. Cancellations made prior to 30 July 2025 will receive a full refund. Cancellations made after this date will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Cancellation - Medical

The health and safety of attendees is our highest priority. If, on medical grounds, you are unable to attend the event, please send your cancellation to binational.committtees@ranzcp.org as soon as possible. A full refund will be provided; however, you may be asked to provide additional details.

Contact

For any enquiries, please contact binational.committees@ranzcp.org