We’re delighted to continue sharing highlights from the Vietnam Child Wellbeing and Safeguarding Summit 2025 held in February, where our team member Dr. Ira Heilveil presented a highly relevant session “Navigating Difficult Conversations”. This key event, which brought together experts to focus on advancing best practices for child protection and mental health, underscored our firm commitment to enhancing the wellbeing and safety of young people across Vietnam.
Dr. Heilveil emphasized that the primary goal, or “Prize,” in all difficult conversations must be the Safety of the child. He introduced the principle of Intention and Intensity, noting that virtually any subject can be discussed if the professional’s intention is clearly read as helpful and child-focused.
The session explored the need to “Think Paradoxically,” understanding that deep knowledge often reveals contradictory truths. Furthermore, he highlighted that the path to forgiveness is a long one, noting that almost all perpetrators were victims themselves, underscoring the nature of multi-generational transmission in mistreatment.
Dr. Heilveil stressed the principle of Collaboration, recognizing that “we need all the help we can get” when dealing with complex cases of suspected mistreatment. Finally, he advised professionals to “Lower Your Expectations,” acknowledging that failure is an option in this challenging work, and the highest arts are humility and poetry.
The Vietnam Child Wellbeing and Safeguarding Summit 2025 was an inspiring platform for collective learning and dialogue. Our team valued the opportunity to contribute, and we are committed to building on the collaborative spirit of the summit.
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