Pepe shares the challenges she faced along the way and how she continued to push through to achieve her goal.
Anissa Chung (mentor) says: "I've found mentoring a trainee counsellor through the scheme deeply meaningful. My mentee and I share our lived experiences in the UK as people of colour and this enhances trust and understanding in our relationship. My journey as a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer has opened her eyes to the possibilities in front of her and gives her hope as a growing counsellor."
Anissa Chung and Pepe Sarpong podcast transcript (docx 3MB).
Biographies of speakers
Anissa Chung MBACP (Accred)
Anissa Chung is a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer of Chinese origin, who has lived in the UK for over four decades. Her first career was teaching maths in a secondary school, she then took a change of direction and became a qualified therapist. She's now a registered accredited member of BACP, a qualified psychotherapist and supervisor with UKCP. She's been running her private practice in the Midlands for 20 years. Between 2010-2021, she was actively involved with the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute in Nottingham as a tutor.
Whether it was delivering training at the Introductory level or the Masters level, Anissa found it rewarding to connect deeply both with white students and those from other ethnic backgrounds due to her own bicultural experience. When Anissa heard that BACP was setting up a mentoring scheme for non-white trainee therapists, she volunteered to be a mentor without hesitation. She sees the importance of investing in the next generation of therapists, with the hope to pass on her baton and that they would be motivated to make their marks in the profession regardless of their race or culture.
Pepe Sarpong MBACP
Pepe Sarpong is a qualified and BACP registered counsellor, a mum and a grandma. After secondary education, she studied a secretarial course and worked as an administration secretary for a private hospital. She's had various part-time jobs while bringing up her family and ended up owning a catering business, being in this industry for nearly 20 years.
Pepe comes from a small but strong and supportive family and humbled by her work as a counsellor walking alongside clients through their therapeutic journey. She enjoys working with students and also volunteers for Cruse Bereavement Charity, an area of particular interest, which she finds very rewarding. Pepe currently work as a restore practitioner at England’s first secured academy trust for young people in custody which provides a caring, holistic, bespoke rehabilitation and a therapeutic environment for children so that they can move on to lead positive and productive lives.
Pepe loves nature and enjoys working with plants as she finds it very therapeutic and calming. She’s passionate about cooking good and tasty food. She also enjoys walking and being around water. Pepe Sarpong is the co-author of the BACP podcast, From catering to counselling.