More of Dublin

An old bank turned into a lecture hall

Well, I have been having such a busy and wonderful time here in Dublin that I have lost track of the time and my post publishing activities have waned. I have had an amazing week here at Trinity College but sadly, the experience is coming to an end. I hope this will not be my final journey to this magical place. I have given two talks since I have been here--one on PART and the other related to my dissertation. The reality is, that here in Ireland, they are fascinated with our use of technology and webinars. My talk seems to have generated a significant amount of discussion amongst academics and students and so I hope that I have left them with some food for thought.

The key learnings for knowledge exchange here is:





Dr. Patricia Walsh


• Many discussions with the faculty here has made me realize that we really have to focus on engaging and training the academics to present material that is relevant to the field and provide them with templates and ideas of how presentations can look. Developing webinars series as well, that focus on specific topics and encourage participation as well from practitioners and consumers is also vital. Stephanie Holt, an academic who specializes in the area of domestic violence is willing to participate in a series on webinars on this topic. Perhaps we can invite Peter Jaffe etc. and maybe engage practitioners in the discussion of how the material could link to their practice. So, my PART thinking cap has been on during my visit here!
• Kinship or as they call it, relative care is intriguing. They are not as apt to place children in foster care while waiting for the assessment to be completed. On the flip side, it would seem that their assessment of kin families is not as in-depth as it is back home.




Passing the talking stick


• I met with Dr. John Canavan this week to keep the 'ball rolling' for the international event. I passed the 'talking stick' to him which is an aboriginal symbol. We were unable to achieve this goal as the volcano thwarted our plans last April. He and Kathryn Higgins from Belfast are now moving forward!

Perhaps the greatest learning of all this week is the recognition that people here really connect with one another on a deeper level. The hospitality and warmth shared with me over the past week far surpasses anything I have experienced in my life and I feel so very fortunate to have met with so many amazing faculty members from Trinity, spent more time with my beloved friend, Hilda and kept the momentum going for our international network of EIP professionals and practitioners. All amazing stuff! Below is a picture of Mary Dunne, who took care of me all week at Trinity and made me breakfast everyday and made me feel so very special. Thank you Mary! You are wonderful!

Off to Belfast today to give more lectures up at the other Queen's University. Stay tuned for more, devoted followers. Katharine

Fantastic Mary!