This fall (October 8-13, 2025, Okinawa), the Asian Academy of Family Therapy 10th Annual Conference will feature Harlene Anderson, founding visionary of collaborative dialogic practice in the US, and other experts in family therapy. Be sure to check it out!
Open Dialogue: Building Anticipation for a New Era in Mental Health Care
World Mental Health Day Conference – October 10th, 2025
Open Dialogue is one of the most talked-about innovations in mental health care of recent decades. The UK is now home to the largest and most rigorous study of Open Dialogue in the world to date – the ODDESSI trial. This multicentre randomised controlled trial has been followed with great anticipation by clinicians, patients, and health systems internationally. Its findings, ODDESSI results to be published mid Dec ‘25 in the Jan ‘26 edition of the Lancet, have the potential to shape the future of mental health services across the globe.
Annotated List of Links to Articles and Podcasts
“3.7 Lauren Markham: Unlearning Systems” Open POD pod
Lauren Markham describes her experience working and training in peer-supported Open Dialogue training in the UK. Her account spans over 10 years and I highly recommend this podcast to learn about the ethos and tone of Open Dialogue.
https://openpodpod.buzzsprout.com/2113667/episodes/17562102-3-7-lauren-markham-unlearning-systems
“#129—Open Dialogue w/Dr. Eija-Liisa Rauntiainen” The Radical Therapist
Experienced trainer, Dr. Eija-Liisa Rautiainen, provides both the background and history of Open Dialogue but also points to practical ways through which practitioners can apply its principles in your sphere.
“Open Dialogue Around the World – Implementation, Outcomes, Experiences, and Perspectives” Frontiers in Psychology
This special issue is a collection of 25 research articles by over 100 authors describing of recent (2022–2025) developments in Open Dialogue. “Open Dialogue (OD) is receiving increased interest across mental health systems worldwide, inspiring practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to explore dialogical alternatives to conventional psychiatric models.”
[https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1621237/full]
HOPEnDialogue
Alita is on the Advisory Board of HOPEnDialogue: an international collaborative study to evaluate the effectiveness of Open Dialogue in various contexts and to support the centers that adopt this approach.