Hosted by Blue Borage – Friday 14 November 2025
This full-day online event brings together survivors, parents, practitioners, legal experts, and advocates from around the world to engage in bold, informed and compassionate conversations on sibling sexual trauma and abuse (SSTA).
In seven unique sessions, we explore systemic gaps, healing approaches, relational repair, legal navigation, and what’s needed to support individuals and families beyond disclosure of SSTA.
- Date: Friday 14 November 2025
- Location: Online (Zoom)
- Tickets: See below to book via Eventbrite or for organisational team bookings contact us at connect@blueborage.com.au to discuss invoicing, group discounts and arrange payment via direct deposit.
Why Seven Conversations?
Sibling sexual trauma is the most common — and least understood — form of intrafamilial abuse. For too long, families, survivors, practitioners and professionals have faced this crisis without coordinated language, support systems, or public dialogue.
This event aims to:
• Create safe, inclusive, trauma-aware spaces for conversation
• Uplift survivor, parent, and practitioner voices
• Share research, resources and real-world responses
• Model dignity-driven approaches to address shame that remains at the core of what keeps individuals, both children and adults, whole families and society silent on what has often been called ‘the hidden taboo’.
Each “conversation” is unique, a presentation, Q&A, conversation, and blends lived experience, clinical insight, legal and cultural context, and shared storytelling.
Featured Contributors
Dr Anne Welfare (Australia)
Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, PhD in Sibling Sexual Abuse
Dr Anne Welfare is a clinical psychologist and family therapist with decades of experience working with individuals and families affected by sexual abuse. Beginning her career in psychiatric institutions in the early 1980s, Anne witnessed firsthand the widespread impact of childhood sexual abuse long before trauma and complex PTSD were widely understood.
She spent 35 years at The Bouverie Centre in Melbourne, where she led systemic family therapy training and founded a specialist sexual abuse team in 1990. A rise in sibling sexual abuse referrals led Anne to pursue her PhD on this under-acknowledged topic. She now provides consultation, training, and private practice support for survivors and families navigating historic disclosures.
Michael Derby (Australia)
Mental Health Social Worker, Clinical Family Therapist, Therapeutic Leader
Michael Derby is an accredited mental health social worker and clinical family therapist with over 17 years of specialised experience in trauma, family violence, and sexual abuse. He’s led therapeutic programs for children and adults, supported state-wide responses to harmful sexual behaviour, and contributed to inquiries into institutional child abuse.
Michael is creator of the Exploring Shame clinical card kit, and serves as Executive of Therapeutic and Recovery Services at The Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre. Through his private practice, Anchor Point Therapy, he continues to offer trauma-informed relational healing.
Brandy Black (pen name) (USA)
Parent Advocate, the siblingsexualtrauma.com website creator, Cofounder of 5WAVES
Brandy Black (pen name) is a parent advocate, survivor ally, and cofounder of 5WAVES, Inc. After her child’s disclosure of SST, Brandy created the globally recognised website siblingsexualtrauma.com, the most comprehensive resource hub on SST to date.
Brandy leads a global Facebook community for parents and co-leads research partnerships focused on the needs of families after disclosure. Her work bridges lived experience with public education and survivor-informed systems change.
Maria Socolof (USA)
Scientist, Author, Survivor Advocate, Cofounder of 5WAVES
Maria Socolof is a Harvard-trained environmental health scientist and the author of The Invisible Key: Unlocking the Mystery of My Chronic Pain. Her healing journey led her to discover her chronic pain had roots in childhood sibling sexual trauma.
Maria co-founded 5WAVES and was a founding member of Incest AWARE, and now advocates for survivor-informed responses to abuse. At the symposium, she will co-present findings from a global parent survey conducted with Hebrew University, highlighting unmet family needs and paths forward.
Jacinta Guilhermino (UK)
Social Worker, Trainer, Policy Advisor, NOTA Chair
Jacinta Guilhermino is a registered social worker with 25+ years’ experience across sexual abuse response, child protection, and restorative family work. Based in the UK, she co-founded DG Etali Ltd and chairs NOTA South West.
Jacinta co-authored the AIM Intervention Guidance (2019) and supports professionals working with young people and families impacted by harmful sexual behaviour. Her work is grounded in relational safety and restorative justice.
Emma Rees (Australia)
Social Work Practitioner and Researcher
Emma Rees is a frontline social worker and early-career researcher whose academic thesis, Beyond Denial, Silence and Collusion, explores fostering allyship with children who experience sexualised abuse and torture. Her work integrates survivor-centred advocacy and critical systemic reflection. Emma believes that honest research and cultural introspection are keys to better responses.
Farrah Motley (Australia)
Legal Practitioner Specialising in Literary & Defamation Law
Farrah Motley provides legal support to individuals writing or speaking about their experiences publicly. With expertise in defamation, privacy, and publishing law, she provides comprehensive analysis of manuscripts, giving clarity around risks and rights. Her guidance empowers survivors to navigate public advocacy with care and courage.
Wendy Walker (Australia)
Survivor, Writer, Essayist
Wendy Walker is a survivor-writer whose unpublished essays reflect on the emotional undercurrents of sibling sexual trauma within families. Her writing captures what is often left unsaid — the layered grief, longing, and reckoning after disclosure. At the closing session, Wendy will read selected excerpts to invite others into reflective dialogue on identity, rupture, and healing.
Susan Dunlop (Australia)
Founder, Blue Borage • Host, Conversation Café Series
Susan Dunlop is the founder of Blue Borage and a certified 3VQ® and TED*® Trainer and trauma-aware certified coach. A former CEO and self-leadership coach, survivor of sibling sexual trauma, and advisory board member of 5WAVES, Susan is committed to dignified, trauma-aware dialogue that breaks cycles of silence. She created the Conversation Café model to hold space for courage, truth-telling, and hope. Seven Conversations is part of her ongoing mission to centre survivor and family voices in systems change.
Program & Schedule
Global Symposium Program
Seven Conversations on Sibling Sexual Trauma and Abuse
Friday 14 November 2025
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM AEDT (Sydney/Melbourne)
🌍 Global Time Zone Reference
- USA (CST): Thursday 13 Nov, 3:00 PM – 3:00 AM
- USA (EST): Thursday 13 Nov, 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM
- UK (GMT): Thursday 13 Nov, 8:00 PM – Friday 14 Nov, 8:00 AM
Your registration includes access to the full 12-hour program.
Drop in and out as needed, or stay for the full day of courageous conversations, global perspectives, and healing insights.
Participant’s Zoom link and session details will be emailed to the emails provided on registration one day ahead of the event.
Will it be recorded? Participants will have access to some, not all, session recordings. The final session is a Conversation Cafe format with full participation of the audience in conversation, so we can tell you now that session is one that will not be recorded.
We will advise closer to the time which recordings are going to be made available. If they are, they will solely be of the presentations, not the Q&A or conversations that follow.
Flow of the Day (AEDT)
7:00 AM – 7:30 AM
Welcome & Opening Circle
With Susan Dunlop, joined by Emma Rees
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Welcome to the day and Blue Borage
- Conversation Agreements and Housekeeping
- Overview of sessions and speakers
7:30 AM – 8:45 AM
The parental experience and emotional response to sibling sexual abuse: When a parent’s most valuable gift becomes a source of trauma
Science Direct link for pre-reading is here: Science Direct
Presenters: Brandy Black & Maria Socolof, 5WAVES Founders and Researchers:
- Presenting insights from their recent study on parental experience of sibling sexual abuse
- The emotional terrain, resilience, and motivations of parents who chose to contribute their stories
- Discussion on future research directions, prevention and support
Includes presentation + live audience conversation/Q&A
We will have a short break to let people get away from the screen and be back to start on time at 9:00 AM
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Understanding All Family Members’ Experiences in the Aftermath of Disclosure
Presenter: Dr. Anne Welfare, Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist, PhD in Sibling Sexual Abuse
- Drawing from her dissertation and published article on clinical interventions for families
- Exploring shame, denial, grief, and shifting family narratives after SSA disclosure
- With guided interjections from a co-facilitator (TBC) and reflective dialogue
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Tea Break
A moment to rest, reflect, refill your cup
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Exploring Shame Through a Creative Toolkit
Presenter: Michael Derby, Social Worker, Clinical Family Therapist and Therapeutic Leader
- An interactive 90-minute session using Michael’s digital shame toolkit
- Guided exploration of how shame manifests across roles in SSA (parent, sibling, survivor)
- Small group sharing, visual tools, and conversation practice
We’ll be back with an update on the next three sessions – works-in-progress as we finalise session title details etc, around our presenters busy schedule. Coming very soon!
Hosted by Blue Borage
Seven Conversations is part of the Blue Borage Conversation Café Series. Blue Borage is a global initiative supporting trauma-informed leadership, family healing, and survivor advocacy.
These events offer structured, compassionate space for co-creating new understandings of justice, relationship repair, and intergenerational change.
To learn more about Blue Borage or sign up for future events, please visit blueborage.com.au or join our newsletter.