Satir Centre

United Nations International Day of Families 15 May 2008, New York
(The DPI/NGO Relations and DESA/Social Integration Branch, Division of Social Policy and Development)

Theme: "Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges"
The International Day of Families is 15 May every year. Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 47/237 of 20 September 1993, this annual observance reflects the importance the international community attaches to families around the world. The theme for 2008 was "Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges".

ICP Delegates to the New York United Nations: Professor Emirita Florence Denmark, Dr Margot Nadien, Dr Eva Sandis

Briefing-Panel Members:
Mrs. Joyce C. Kafanabo, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations
Ms. Nurper Ulkuer, Senior Adviser and Chief, Early Childhood Development Unit, UNICEF
Prof. Anderson J. Franklin, Department of Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Boston College

Invited Address: Dr Sandra E. S. Neil
The International Year/Day of The Family, 2008 New York, USA
Panel Discussion
Theme: Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges
Topic: "Fathering: A Life Work for Men (and In Some Measure, Women)"

ABSTRACT
Dr Sandra Neil will discuss Fathering from the perspective of the Satir Model with a practicing Family Psychologist's viewpoint. She works in a multicultural setting in Victoria, Australia. Dr Virginia Satir maintained that "the form of a family does not determine its functioning". Fathering is a multifaceted job for both men and, in some measure, women. The integrity of fathering lies along the along the continuum of presence to absence, and involves four levels of functioning. Firstly, the Biological Father; secondly, the Real Father (involving many Fathering images in the child); thirdly, the Imaginative Father (portrayed from the mother to the children); and fourthly, the all-important Cultural Father. All levels of functioning are required to be included and honoured in family life. Cases from "The Multicultural Family Chessboard" and "The Psyche and Soma" therapy techniques will be briefly discussed.