ENTMA Launched

Dear colleague,

I am pleased to announce the official launch of the European Network of Trainers in the Management of Aggression, ENTMA, as a formal European, non-profit association with the aim of uniting and supporting trainers from across Europe, who are related to the field of aggression management.

Since 1999 the informal network ENTMA, that was initiated by CONNECTING - a partnership for consultancy and training in the Netherlands (Amsterdam) - has facilitated a positive and productive collaboration between trainers in the management of aggression from different European countries and across a variety of (mental) health care sectors and related fields of work. Trainers had the opportunity to be updated and do some networking at an annual conference in Amsterdam where the most recent research and opinions on aggression management and training was provided.

This encouraged discussions on care perspectives, nature, scope and depth of training and topics beyond trainers’ capacities and skills, like research outcomes, registration, guidelines/standards for training, institutional safety, policy, management and organisational aspects towards training.

Crossing borders in this way already contributed to eye-opening experiences and influenced positive change in relation to the content of many training courses.

In November 2007 the informal network ENTMA decided to formalise its position and function. As a result of this, a steering committee, consisting of representatives from different European countries, agreed a mission statement, vision and aims. ENTMA will be an association of collective experience and expertise in the design, execution and evaluation of training in the management of aggression and aims to facilitate shared collaborative enquiry to inform the debate within a European context. It is therefore linked integrally to different national and international networks and research groups in the field of aggression management.

ENTMA as a formal European association will be officially launched on Tuesday 18th November 2008 in the ‘Amsterdam ArenA’ in Amsterdam where the First General Assembly for members will take place between 17.00 p.m. and 17.30 p.m.

In order to contextualise and celebrate the launch of ENTMA, a two-day conference will take place in the ‘Amsterdam ArenA’ on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th November 2008, organised for all European trainers in the management of aggression and other interested colleagues. The conference will present the aims and scope of ENTMA and will consist of key-note speeches, informative general presentations, panel-discussions and workshops to support and improve the exercise of training in the management of aggression.

For more information on the conference program, subscription and registration to the conference and/or subscription as a member of ENTMA, go to www.oudconsultancy.nl. Although the website is still under construction, more information about ENTMA will soon be available at www.entma.eu.

On behalf of the members of ENTMA’s steering committee, I sincerely hope to meet you all in Amsterdam in November.

Rick Tucker - Chair Steering Committee ENTMA