18th Annual BACP Research Conference

11-12 May 2012, Roxburghe Hotel, Edinburgh

Co-hosted by the University of Edinburgh

"Understanding counselling and psychotherapy: preferences, process and outcomes"

THE CONFERENCE HAS NOW PASSED

Look out here for an evaluation report of the conference. Abstracts of all presentations will also be submitted online here and also at: http://bacp.co.uk/research/conf_archive/2012.php

Download the conference brochure

Draft programme for each day

To download the draft programme for each day of the conference, please click on the day below

Thursday pre-conference workshop

Friday

Saturday

Keynote presentations

We are delighted to welcome Professor John Cape and Professor Else Guthrie to our conference who will give keynote presentations on the Friday and Saturday respectively.

Professor John Cape

Professor John Cape will present 'What makes a good counselling and psychological therapy service?'

The presentation will describe recent research on the quality of counselling and psychological therapy services.  There are different elements to quality. A good service can be described as one which is accessible, provides appropriate treatment by adequately trained and qualified practitioners, people receiving treatment feel well treated and experience the service as meeting their needs, and it delivers good outcomes. To what extent do services vary in these qualities and are services which are better in one quality also better in others (e.g. do accessible services with shorter waiting times also provide therapies with better therapeutic relationships and better clinical outcomes?).  The presentation will draw on unpublished analyses from the National Audit of Psychological Therapies for Anxiety and Depression and recent analyses of differences between IAPT services.

John Cape is Head of Psychological Therapies, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Professor, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London. Following training as a clinical psychologist in London in 1972-74 he worked as a mental health counsellor in California for three years. Returning to the UK, he has worked as a clinical psychologist and manager of psychological therapy services in the NHS for over 30 years. He has longstanding clinical and research interests in primary care mental health and in the organisation of counselling and psychological therapy services between primary and secondary care. He was clinical lead and steering group chair for the National Audit of Psychological Therapies for Anxiety and Depression which reported in November 2011 and chair of the NICE Guideline Development Group for the NICE Generalised Anxiety Disorder guideline published in January 2011.

Professor Else Guthrie

Professor Else Guthrie will present 'Understanding counselling and psychotherapy for clients with physical symptoms and medical conditions.'

This talk will focus upon ways in which counselling and psychotherapy can provide help for people who have physical health problems that are being exacerbated by emotional difficulties or relationship issues. It will draw upon the work we have been undertaking in Manchester using the conversational model of therapy to help people with severe irritable bowel syndrome, somatisation and other long term physical conditions such as diabetes and asthma. I will also describe the work we have done in training counsellors in the conversational model and the similarities and differences between the two approaches. The talk will also cover our experience in using ‘goodbye letters' and how helpful these letters can be for clients in the year post therapy.

Else Guthrie is Consultant in Psychological Medicine at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester.  She is a former Chair of the Faculty of Liaison Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists, former UK Vice-President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, former Chair of the Research Committee BACP and is currently Chair of the Research Foundation Advisory Committee.  Her research interests have been in exploring the relationship between psychological and physical factors in patients presenting in medical settings.  In addition she has carried out a series of randomised controlled trials to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of conversational model therapy (psychodynamic interpersonal therapy) for a variety of different conditions.  Current areas of research are efficacy effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy and the psychological factors which determine use of unscheduled care in the physically ill.

Tips for presenters

Please click on the buttons below for specific tips on the various types of presentation. These tips include information on what to include in your abstract, as well as ideas for presenting.

For details about the venue and dates, or to register interest, please contact Katy Hobday at katy.hobday@bacp.co.uk.

Pre Conference Workshop (Thursday evening):
We are pleased to offer another free pre-conference workshop the night prior to the conference. Full details on the pre-conference workshop can be viewed at http://bacp.co.uk/research/conf2012/preconf_workshop.php

Who will be there?
Built on a reputation for excellence, this two-day conference has much to offer those working in the counselling and psychotherapy world, including researchers, students, trainers, providers and practitioners.

Conference Structure
It is anticipated that four strands will run simultaneously on each day with papers and workshops running throughout the day. Presentations are placed in strands, grouped to form coherent themes which run throughout the event giving you a wide choice from a varied programme. Posters will be presented separately; posters are displayed throughout the event and poster presenters have one minute in which to address the whole conference in order to attract interest to their research and visitors to their poster. An abstract booklet is available well in advance so delegates can plan their conference attendance. Free movement between strands is encouraged and booking for particular sessions in advance is not necessary, although sessions should not be interrupted once they are underway. Papers last for 30 minutes, workshops are for 60 minutes and symposia presentations are for 90 minutes, and each presentation allows for Q&A and feedback session.