Dignity Is the Opposite of Violence: An Interview With Allan Wade

Allan Wade, C.M., Ph.D. is co-founder of Response-Based Practice, an approach to therapy and other forms of direct service with adults and children, people who have been harmed by violence or who have committed violence, and their loved ones and community members. Allan is perhaps best known in Solution Focused circles for his article Small Acts Of Living: Everyday Resistance to Violence and Other Forms of Oppression (Wade, 1997). He was a keynote speaker at the EBTA 2025 conference in Roskilde, Denmark where his work was enthusiastically received. Allan was appointed to the Order of the Medal of Canada – one of the country’s highest civilian honours – in 2024. In this interview we explore his background, his connections with Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, Janet Bavelas and others familiar (and not so familiar) in the solution focused world, and his work in helping recognise the fundamental role of everyday resistance to violence.