This event is designed to support the transition from counselling and psychotherapy trainee to fully qualified practitioner.
As well as a keynote presentation, there will be presentations and workshops on a range of themes including personal development, career pathways, practitioner experience and feeling out of your depth. These themes are designed to highlight potential career options as well as explore the current challenges impacting the profession today. You’ll hear taster talks from BACP staff, exhibitors and experienced practitioners who can provide insights into the steps they’ve taken to get where they are today.
Book your place
The Student conference 2025 is a hybrid event. Our hybrid events provide you with the opportunity to attend and engage both in person and online. In person attendance includes networking opportunities and the chance to engage with BACP staff. Online access includes interactive Q&A's, a chatroom to network with peers, and interactive polls.
Programme
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Time |
Enterprise Hall 1Strand 1: Online and in person |
Enterprise Hall 2Strand 2: Online and in person |
Interact HubStrand 3: In person only |
Synergy HubStrand 4: In person only |
| 8.45am - 9.45am | Registration and taster talks (in person only) |
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| 9.45am - 9.55am | Event welcome by Professor Lynna Gabriel and Dr Faisal Mahmood | ||||
| 9.55am - 10.55am | Legacy in action: my journey in counselling, entrepreneurship and purposeful legacy building, presenter by Myira Khan | ||||
| 10.55am - 11.15am | Break | ||||
Out of your depth |
11.15am - 12.00pm | Workshop presentation to be confirmed | Workshop presentation to be confirmed |
Re-visioning Psychotherapy in a time of global upheaval, presented by Steffi Bednarek |
The Ethics service, presented by Patrick Cawley |
Career pathways |
12.10pm - 12.55pm | Using BACP research to bridge the gaps through your training, practice and career progression, presented by Dr Clare Symons | Employment opportunities in workplace counselling & psychotherapy, presented by Kris Ambler | Becoming and being a therapist with Children and Young People, presenter by Sanjay Badhan |
Working in different Healthcare settings, presented by Satinder Panesar |
| 12.55pm - 1.55pm | Lunch | ||||
Personal development |
1.55pm - 2.40pm | What can I do beyond the therapy room? Harnessing therapeutic training and therapeutic principles in social action projects - introducing the Social Response Cycle, presented by Beverley Costa | Workshop presentation to be confirmed | Self-Care as a Therapist, presented by Andrew Langford | Bridging the gap: from trainee to trainer and beyond, presenter by Aisha Gordon-Hiles |
| 2.40pm - 3pm | Break | ||||
Practitioner experience |
3pm - 3.45pm |
How can the Ethical Framework help members make ethical decisions on International working?, presented by Marita Morahan | Workshop presentation to be confirmed | Effective safeguarding for therapists working in private practice: Identifying safeguarding concerns and how to respond confidently and effectively, presented by Phillip Beisty | Workshop presentation to be confirmed |
| 3.55pm - 4.40pm | Keynote presentation to be confirmed | ||||
| 4.40pm - 4.50pm | Event Close | ||||
This programme is subject to change
The session will focus on sharing Myira's journey as a counsellor, overcoming the barriers they've experienced and how they were able to achieve success in creating a portfolio business, to share and inspire students on their journey, with hints and tips along the way and to encourage students to reflect on opportunities in the field and to think broadly about their careers.
10.55 - 11.15am - How to use BACP Specialist Competence Frameworks to support your practice and training
BACP competence frameworks and curricula set out evidence-based knowledge, skills and attitudes that help counselling and psychotherapy practitioners to deliver specific therapeutic modalities, or to work effectively with defined presenting issues or in specific therapeutic contexts. These documents can be used by practitioners, trainers, supervisors and employers to support practitioners in building and maintaining competence to carry out their work (BACP, 2023).
In this session Gabriel Wynn BACP's Competence Development Lead and Keri Johnson BACP's Professional Standards Development Facilitator will introduce the suite of specialist competence frameworks and curricula available for download from the BACP website. They will explain how they are laid out for ease of use. Then they will provide a short live demonstration of how a competence framework can be used by a trainee therapist and their supervisor to enhance trainee practice.
1.35 - 1.55pm - Get involved, get noticed, get connected
This session will aim to demystify the process of contributing to Therapy Today so that newly qualified members can feel confident to get involved.
It will cover:
- Why get involved with your membership journal – how contributing to a membership journal has shaped the career journeys of many members
- How to get started – tips to help you work out what to write and how to write it
- Dos and don’ts – what doesn’t work, and why
2.50 - 3pm - BACP Communities
This session will highlight the Communities of Practice and Network Meetings from BACP's Communities of Practice Lead Rebecca Stew.