11.15 to 12.00pm
This session explores the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the counselling professions, highlighting its current applications and future potential. Attendees will examine how AI is being used to streamline administrative tasks, enhance training, complement therapeutic practices, and, more controversially, provide standalone support. The session addresses common fears among therapists about AI鈥檚 role, including concerns over ethical boundaries, the loss of human connection, and its impact on therapeutic relationships.
By balancing these challenges with opportunities, the discussion emphasises the potential of AI to enhance accessibility, efficiency, and client outcomes. Central to this conversation is the concept of responsible innovation, underscoring the importance of human-centric AI developments that align with the values of therapy.
The session concludes by encouraging therapists to actively engage in shaping these technologies, ensuring they serve as tools that enhance, rather than replace, the relational essence of therapeutic work.
This presentation is available online and in person.
11.15 to 12.00pm
The session will ask: In a time of deep change, who or what needs to change?
What does counselling and psychotherapy have to contribute in a time of global upheaval, when the familiar is dying?听听 And how might counselling and psychotherapy have to change in order not to perpetuate the same patterns that keep the system in a stuck place?
I will introduce the main findings of my book 鈥淐limate Psychology and Change鈥� (2024), which explores the ways in which power, colonialism, capitalism and our innocent seeming familiar practices and theories impact our myriad crises - while also shaping Western psychology as we know it.
The findings of the book suggest that we can no longer think of therapeutic practice as bringing clients back to baseline 鈥渘ormal鈥� when our society鈥檚 鈥榥ormal鈥� is profoundly unwell and our familiar ways of being reflect the same unsustainable systems that erode our ecosystems, accelerate global destruction, and extract our humanity.
Together, we will reflect on the aspects of our profession that are urgently needed in a world in crisis whilst not shying away from a critical reflection of some familiar professional lenses that seem to collude with a system that is costing us the Earth.
This presentation is available online and in person.
11.15 to 12.00pm
One aim of this session is to allow participants to develop their ability to engage with others in relation to racial differences. Another is to help student counsellors identify their own areas of further development in order to become confident with racial diversity in their client work. All of this is facilitated with the focus explicitly being of healthy and growthful racial differences and not the common focus of racism, oppression or discrimination. A vital part of counselling work is working with the client as a 鈥榳hole person鈥�, and yet so much of counselling training aimed at racial diversity is actually focused on racial discrimination, an important consideration but only part of any racialised experience.
This workshop will allow candidates to opportunity to connect with others beyond racism, developing an understanding of how they can work more empathically, congruently and non-judgmentally with a racially diverse client group. In doing so they will also be exploring their own racial identities, considering how and why they have come to view the world as they do.
This presentation is available in person only.
11.15 to 12.00pm
This session will provide an educational perspective on the Ethics Service available through us in order to help you with ethical decision making processes as part of your overall practice. This is an important skill to develop for emerging practitioners and will support you understanding how to use the tools available to you.
This session will cover three key areas:
- Our Ethic鈥檚 team will provide insights into the Ethics Service and the support we can provide you
- We鈥檒l also explore the limits to the support available, particularly relating to working with confidentiality
- This 30 minute session will include a 15 minutes session about the Ethics services and getting to know the team. We鈥檒l then have time to explore an example 听ethical dilemma and close the session with 10 minute Q&A exploring questions/thoughts/comments about the ethical dilemma and information provided
This presentation is available in person only.