IAPOP Conference 2010 Portland, Oregon (Feb 25 to March 1)

The Process Work Institute of Portland, Oregon will celebrate its 20th birthday in 2010 and will be hosting the 2nd IAPOP conference for the international Process Work community. Portland is at an equal distance for Australia, Europe, Japan and Korea. The local community would love to host the event and welcome everybody in Portland. In addition to exchanging information about ourselves we hope for connecting with the professional community of the West Coast and from everywhere. The national and international medical community recognizes Portland for its unique position. It is one of the only cities in North America with a naturopathic school, a school of oriental medicine, a chiropractic university, two schools of massage. In addition, it is the location of the Oregon Health Science University (OHSU), a leading-edge health and research facility, which brings together education, research, patient care and community service. The cooperation between traditional and complementary medicine in Portland is exemplary. We intend to establish new connections not only among the PW practitioners but also with healing/health leadership and trauma and coma groups worldwide. Here is a beginning concept that we hope to refine with colleagues from other cities from our international community.

Community and Global Health

People have many different beliefs about their illnesses and the modes of treatment they expect to be most effective. Biological, psychological, social, spiritual or indigenous explanations are often drawn on in parallel and influence health behavioral choices of individuals and communities. This suggests the need for a pluralistic treatment philosophy, which fosters understanding and cooperation amongst diverse approaches to health. Process Work’s conceptual foundation in facilitative awareness seems ideally suited to bring together multiple health perspectives, and facilitate dialogue and collaboration amongst health providers and consumers.

Today’s health care culture is beginning to change. There is greater recognition of the value of a partnership-oriented health care system and the importance of empowerment, hope, and self-determination as keys to recovery. There is an increasing understanding that the current emphasis on expert knowledge can be detrimental to the healing process and needs to be expanded and complemented with a more holistic and patient-centered orientation.

Given the growing complexity of the health care system, and the difficulty consumers experience navigating it, the need for new facilitative leadership roles is emerging. Peer leaders and medical facilitators are needed to assist individual consumers and communities to advocate for their own health and facilitate the successful achievement of treatment goals and expectations. Health care professionals who are currently trained in recognizing and treating disease would gain from developing skills in facilitating complex relationships and incorporating consumers’ beliefs and expectations in treatment approaches. Process Work offers a range of conceptual and practical tools that serve to increase facilitative abilities. Its cutting-edge approach to health and health care emphasizes the need to partner with consumers in addressing every aspect of their health process: physical, emotional, spiritual and social.

Portland, Oregon occupies a totally unique position in the world of health care. It is one of the only cities in North America with a naturopathic school, a school of oriental medicine, a chiropractic university, two schools of massage. In addition, it is the location of the Oregon Health Science University (OHSU), a leading-edge health and research facility. Its medical, nursing and dental schools bring together education, research, patient care and community service. The cooperation between traditional and complementary medicine in Portland is exemplary.

Portland with its many green parks and recreation sites is seen as one of the most livable cities in the US. It has an excellent mass transit system and its proximity to the Oregon Coast, Mt. Hood, and the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area makes it an enjoyable place to visit.

The proposed 3-day conference co-sponsored with the Process Work Institute of Portland will address individual approaches to symptom management and coping, as well as systemic issues of health community relationships and policy making. The conference will solicit participation from an extensive network of medical professionals, alternative health practitioners, health activists, policy makers, and consumers throughout the Pacific Northwest, the United States and internationally.

Possible topics include symptom work, coma work, movement work, trauma and health, care-team and consumer-provider relationships, health policy, health leadership and partnership systems, health and environment, and more.

Each day of the conference will have a specific focus within the field of health and health care and will address the interests of a particular audience. For example:

Day 1: Health disparity and diversity.

Day 2: Multidisciplinary and multilevel approaches to individual health and treatment.

Day 3: New health leadership and partnership systems.