Day 1

November 21, 2025 (Fri)

9:15 am – 5:00pm

Language: English 

Day 1 – Birth Order and You

“Falling leaves settle to their roots.” Chinese proverb.

Birth order in our family constellation is one major factor in the development of our personalities and characteristics. The birth order of our parents affected how they parented us. Our birth order affects how we function in our families growing up and later in our adult life. It affects our marriages, parenting, our work life, and friendships. It helps explain what is distinctive about us and how we can be so different from our siblings. Every sibling position has strengths and also challenges a person may want to tackle.

Ronald W. Richardson, D. Min.

Dr. Ron Richardson was a Presbyterian pastor for ten years in the United States before becoming a pastoral counsellor. He was the Executive Director of a metropolitan-wide counselling agency in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada when he retired. He was a Diplomate and Supervisor in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and a Clinical Member and Supervisor for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He has taught and consulted with many churches, church leaders, and pastors. He is the author of a number of best-selling books on the application of Bowen theory to congregational lifeincludingCreating a Healthier Church, Becoming a Healthier Pastor, Polarization and the Healthier Church, The Church in Transition, and The Pastoral Care of Congregations.

Day 2

(Half Day)

November 22, 2025 (Sat)

9:15 am – 1:00 pm

Language: English

Day 2 – Creating a Happy Retirement

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Peter Drucker

Most people, thinking about retirement, tend to focus on the financial aspects of that change of life experience. While that is important, they may think in only very general terms about how they will spend their time as retired people. Someone said, “Retirement isn’t the finish line.” It is the start of a new part of our life.

Ronald W. Richardson, D. Min.

Dr. Ronald Richardson (retired) was the Executive Director of Living Systems in Vancouver, Canada. Living Systems became a local counseling agency with 5 clinical staff when he joined it. By the time he retired there were 25 clinical staff and 8 field offices around the metropolitan area.

Shortly after he joined the agency in 1977, he began to introduce Bowen family systems theory into this individually focused therapy staff. He started teaching a training program for graduate level therapists in Bowen theory at the agency and gradually, over a few years, the agency used Bowen theory as its primary modality for working with all clients – individuals, couples, and families.

He was also on the faculty of The Pacific Coast Family Therapy Training Program in Vancouver, where he met Peggy Chan. Dr. Richardson has written many books on the application of Bowen family systems theory to many settings including Couples in Conflict. He is a respected teacher and has given many workshops over the years.

He will give an in-depth presentation on the application of Bowen theory to working with couples. He will give many personal examples of his work and show specifically how Bowen theory applies to the work with couples. He will welcome questions and have discussions with attendees about the work. Those who attend will learn a great deal about how to work with couples using this approach. For instance, many ask about “unresolved emotional attachment” in Bowen theory and he will explain how this works with examples, including from his own family.

Fee

(Hong Kong Dollars)

Students are required to provide proof of student identity (transcript, copy of a current student identification card, or letter signed by head of department) by email (issfi@isshk.org). 

Enrollment

You may proceed to online enrollment. 

Early Bird rate enrolled before Nov. 7, 2025!

Click HERE for the application form.