Making Connections Glasgow 10.10.24 - BACP - British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

We’re delighted to welcome back our free in-person Making Connections events.

These regular face to face conferences take place throughout the year and give you the chance to network with other members and our divisional executive members.

Programme

Click on the sessions to find out more. If you are viewing this page on a mobile, rotate your screen to view the programme.

10.00am – 10.30am	Registration
10.30am - 10.50am	Welcome from BACP
10.50am – 11.35am	No more stigma, no more shame: let's talk about eating disorders, presented by Emma Salazar
11.35am - 11.45am	Comfort break
11.45am – 12.30pm	Gestalt Chair-Work, presented by Stefan Charidge
12.30pm – 1.30pm	Light lunch
1.30pm – 1.50 pm	Local member two-minute platforms
1.50pm – 2.40pm	Connecting together The room will be divided into different areas of interest, for more focused and structured networking. You’ll be encouraged to move around the room and engage with colleagues, volunteers and BACP staff to network, share ideas and meet new people with similar interests. You’ll be able to add a new area of interest if yours isn’t represented.
2.40pm – 3.10pm	Refreshments
3.10pm – 3.55pm	Putting up our hope umbrellas in the ACE downpour, presented by Nancy Burn
3.55pm - 4.00pm	Event close

This programme is subject to change.

Presentation information

No more stigma, no more shame: let's talk about eating disorders

10.50am – 11.35am

This session aims to provide an overview of the various presentations of eating disorders (EDs) and the crossover with neurodiversity and complex emotional and relational needs. Common driving mechanisms behind, and maintaining factors of EDs will be explored using the two main modalities of MANTRA and CBT-E. Practical tools and strategies for ‘in the room’ with clients with EDs will be presented alongside a handful of brief case studies to bring the contents to life. The session will also focus on mythbusting assumptions and stigmas surrounding eating disorders, as well as endeavouring to alleviate the common anxieties and nervousness expressed by practitioners when encountering clients with EDs. The session contents draw from Emma’s years of experience as a specialist eating disorder psychotherapist and clinical lead of an adult community eating disorders service, as well as lived experience of having personally recovered from an eating disorder.

Emma Salazar is the clinical lead of the community adult eating disorders service in Stockport, as well as an integrative psychological therapist specialising in eating disorders (EDs). She has personal lived experience of recovering from an ED and is passionate about helping others through their own journeys of recovery and deeper self-understanding. Emma also has special interests in working with LGBTQ+ clients, especially trans and nonbinary folk, as well as neurodivergent clients. She also has lived experience as a queer and neurodivergent person herself.

Emma has a BSc, MSc, and Doctorate degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University. Her doctoral thesis focused on understanding how people maintain long-term ED recovery, and culminated in her developing an ED recovery support app. In her free time, she loves to paint, knit, play board games and tennis, and spend time in nature, as she’s lucky to live in the beautiful Peak District.

Gestalt Chair-Work

11.45am - 12.30pm

The purpose of this session is to provide insights and tools regarding Chair Work, which can facilitate significant insights and personal growth. The session will offer experiential examples regarding fear, beliefs and internal judgements that can become most debilitating and also evoke anxieties, panic and shame.

Stefan Charidge is a UK Gestalt therapist, counselling supervisor, international trainer, and facilitator with over 24 years of experience. He has delivered training on various topics within many environments. An experienced group facilitator, he started a men's group in Hampshire many years ago, which was eventually run by attendees after moving out of the area.

Stefan started training as a Gestalt Counsellor in the late 90s and has since obtained his BACP accreditation and supervision qualification, as well as additional skills and training with other creative ways of working and coaching. He completed his MKP weekend on a cold November 2002 at Sopley UK. In addition to this, he has had extensive training in “Shadow Work” (Cliff Berries Model).

Over the years, Stefan has blended and developed his own style and modality of working, which he offers within his webinars and workshops globally.

Putting up our hope umbrellas in the ACE downpour

3.10pm – 3.55pm

The importance of adverse life experiences and the impacts that these can have is something that is regularly discussed in public life as well as within our practice with people of all ages. One of the key therapeutic tasks that we perform for our clients is holding the hope but what hope is there is the face of the overwhelming evidence of the impact of traumatic situations and events in our childhood?

Fortunately not every person with a high Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) score is impacted to the same degree, and there is strong evidence that positive childhood experiences act as a neutralising agent. Sharing this research allows us to reflect on those protective factors, both within our own experiences and with clients and also allows us to be part of the positive effect, putting in to practice what research shows helps clients mitigate some of the impacts of their adversity.

Nancy Burn currently manages therapeutic services for MYPAS, a third sector organisation offering a range of support for young people. Prior to this she worked in a local authority schools counselling service in the North East of England. She trained as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and subsequently as a Child & Young Peoples Psychotherapist with Northern Guild in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, after ten years working in Secondary & Special Needs Education. The decision to change paths came after realising that the bit she loved about her job was building relationships with young people, and how often their emotional challenges were a barrier to their achievement. Seeing this impact young people’s choices and futures spurred her to a new career path. She loves cake and novels and swimming as well as anything that involves making with textiles. She’s terrible at small talk and passionate about social change and the role of therapy to support change.