________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As associate members of UKAHPP (UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners) we adhere to their ethical codes and procedures.
Member of BAPCA (The British Association for the Person-Centred Approach).
Ffynnon Patron: Lay Canon Professor Brian Thorne, FBACP, FCollP, FRSA .
Ffynnon Director: Jonathan Skipper MA, Dip Surv, PCAT cert.
r e t r o s p e c t i v e
previous events
'Still in Mind' - Children and attachment - Norma Howes - 2nd July 2011
Pluralistic counselling - Mick Cooper - The practical implications of a pluralistic approach to counselling and psychotherapy - 18th June 2011
Mindfulness and Relationship: 'Embodied Presence - a way of bringing mindfulness into relationship' - David Elias - 14th May 2011
Emotion Focused Therapy - Robert Elliot: A Taster day workshop offering an Overview of Emotion-Focused/Process-Experiential Therapy - 2nd April 2011
A seminar with Brian Thorne and Dave Mearns - The Power of Being Human - October 2010 ‘We have not done this event before… this is going to be one of the last times people will have an opportunity of working with us…’ Dave Mearns & Brian Thorne
To describe this event at this point in time is beyond me; however a poor attempt would be a most powerful, unforgettable, significant day that was a great privilege to host. Some of the comments we received from participants were along these lines:
‘Remarkable… truly inspirational… incredibly nourishing… wonderful, unforgettable… laughed and cried and learnt… very powerful, at times incredibly moving… emotional and inspiring - Dave and Brian were brilliant…’
Additions to the day included Brian Thorne in his role as Ffynnon’s Patron announcing our charitable status and there was a book presentation and launch in honor and recognition of Brian.
(Approximately 260 people were in attendance including volunteers and Ffynnon staff).
To get a fuller sense of the seminar you can see the design of the day as written by Dave and Brian if scroll down to the end of this page.
Workshop with Susan McGinnis - 'Potentiality: A person-centred approach to working therapeutically with young people' in schools and education, in care, in pastoral settings and in private practise. June 2010
This was a workshop that focussed on understanding and engaging with a child’s inherent potential and responding in ways that develop resilience by bringing child-centred values to our work with children and young people in schools and education, in care, in pastoral settings and in private practise.
A Weekend of Two Workshops Presented by Ffynnon PPD May 2010. Presented by Mick Cooper & Helen Cruthers, May 2010
Working at Relational Depth – Mick Cooper
This workshop will gave participants an opportunity to explore their experiences of relational depth, and how it feels to meet others at this level of intensity and intimacy in both their therapeutic practice and everyday life.
The Therapeutic Power of the Arts – Helen Cruthers
This workshop was experienced as a safe and stimulating space for practitioners to explore their creative energies with opportunities for both personal exploration and for facilitating others’ self expression.
No Person is an Island - Race, ethnicity, culture and society: A Transcultural perspective to psychotherapy, workshop with Colin Lago, April 2010
In this workshop we addressed the question, how does culture and society shape us in our development, our relationships, and our attitudes to others and what are the implications of these early influences upon for us, both as individuals and as therapists? This workshop was an opportunity to take a step back and reflect upon these life shaping forces and to consider their relevance to the therapeutic task.
Workshop with David Elias ‘Mindfulness for Therapists', February 2010
Mindfulness is a way of becoming more consciously aware of our experience moment to moment. In this workshop we explored the relevance of this as a skill for therapists in their work and life.
Trauma and the Body (Part One) - Workshop with Norma Howes and Deborah Robinson, January 2010
Following the popularity of this workshop in January 2009 and requests for its repeat Norma Howes this updated workshop was co-presenting with the added expert input of Deborah Robinson.
Trauma and the Body Advanced (Part Two) - Workshop with Norma Howes and Deborah Robinson, March 2010
‘Trauma and the Body Part Two’ was very much about putting theory into practise and blending ‘Body Work’ into ‘Talking Therapy’ and the ways we work as counsellors, therapists, care professionals and pastoral workers at present. The workshop included further insight, research and information including the neurobiology of the brain in relationship to the body.
Teenage Kicks Self Harm, Drugs and Alcohol: Part of Adolescence or a Consequence of Abuse? Conference with Norma Howes and Mark Limmer, November 2009
The conference considered teenager sex and sexuality and what it means to be a teenager biologically, socially and emotionally. The day included research and information including the neurobiology of the teenage brain whilst looking at understanding their risk taking behaviours, links between alcohol and teenage pregnancy in the context of risk taking and included ideas for creative interventions and engagement strategies.
Interpersonally Sensitive CBT - Seminar with Dr Frank Wills, October 2009
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is most well known as a form of therapy with many techniques. This seminar focused on the notion that CB therapy is vastly strengthened when therapists are able to use interpersonal skills such as immediacy to recognise and work with these processes.
Look and Listen - The Social Psychology of Clustering: Innovative Prevention Strategies in Working with Parasuicidal Teenagers - Seminar with Dr Arthur Cassidy (Northern Ireland), October 2009
‘Look and Listen’ was a day seminar designed to help caregivers and those in positions of trust to become more ready and able to help young people at risk.
A Relational Perspective on Supervision - Working with the counsellor’s developmental agenda in supervision Seminar with Elke Lambers, September 2009
In this seminar we explored supervision as a relationship that supports the development of the counsellor's ability to meet clients at depth.
Love in Therapy - Suzanne Keys, July 2009
This day was an opportunity to explore what love means in therapy relationships focused on client experience and person-centred theory.
Integrating Prayer and Counselling - Dr Peter Gubi University of Central Lancashire, June 2009
This experiential and informative workshop was a day for participants to discuss the issues around integrating prayer in counselling. The focus of the day was the suggestion that prayer (connectedness) is at the centre of all spirituality (and arguably counselling), and is enabling of mental health well-being.
Existentialism: Challenges and Contributions to Therapeutic Practice - Workshop with Mick Cooper, May 2009
This one day workshop offered counsellors and psychotherapists of all orientations an opportunity to develop their understanding of existential philosophy and therapeutic approaches, and to look at ways in which it may help them to enhance their therapeutic practice.
The Challenge of Relational Depth in Therapeutic Working - Seminar with Professor Dave Mearns, March 2009
Within the field of person-centred therapy Dave Mearns has developed the notion of ‘working at relational depth’, a stronger relational engagement that challenges the therapist to offer an unusual quality of relational contact. This seminar presented analysis of the theory, the practice and the developmental agenda incumbent on the practitioner working at relational depth.
Trauma and the Body - Conference with Norma Howes, January 2009
This conference was an opportunity for those attending to gain understanding of the complex nature of trauma and the impact trauma has on the brain and the body.
Therapeutic Accompaniment as a Spiritual Discipline - Seminar with Canon Professor Brian Thorne, December 2008
Ties that Bind – The Impact of Trauma on Attachment - Conference with Norma Howes, October 2008
This conference was an opportunity for those attending to gain understanding of the complexities of a trauma bond and as a result more effectively intervene to protect children and adults.
In this Seminar Brian presented his view on counselling as an essentially spiritual undertaking and will explore the implications of this for the training and development of counsellors and psychotherapists.
The Power or Being Human - Design of the day
We thought that participants for our October 30 event would be interested in our projected design for the day. We have not done this event before, so our timings and content may need to be modified on the day. Though we designed this day for a fairly large group of people, interest has been even greater than we had guessed. Since this is going to be one of the last times people will have an opportunity of working with us we decided not to limit the numbers beyond the limits of the work space. (Approximately 260 people were in attendance including volunteers and Ffynnon staff).
Morning session one:
Experiences and concepts
In this first session we will begin by briefly introducing our work together over the past 35 years, making mention of Carl Rogers’ 1974 Workshop in Britain (Dave); our summer FDI workshops (Brian); our PCT Britain counselling training courses (Brian); and our books (Dave).
Thereafter, each of us will devote up to 20 minutes to describing personal experiences of the power of being human in counselling and psychotherapy, drawing from those experiences some of the concepts we have developed, such as tenderness, relational depth, configurations and existential touchstones. These presentations may include extracts from the books we have written.
After five minutes, where participants can exchange thoughts with a neighbour, there will be 20 minutes available for open dialogue between participants and ourselves.
Morning session two:
Grounding, discipline and development
Central to both of us is the grounding of our work in who we are as people, notably for Brian in his Christian faith and for Dave in his atheism. Each of us will offer 15 minute outlines of our grounding, after which we will dialogue together for 20 minutes on our similarities and differences and on the personal discipline that underpins our work and our development. The dialogue will not be rehearsed in advance. We will be interested to explore how such apparently different groundings seem to lead us to similar views about discipline and development – or, perhaps our groundings are not as disparate as they might seem?
This session will continue with a five minute exchange with a neighbour and a 20 minute dialogue in the same fashion as in the first session.
Afternoon:
Social, political and institutional contexts/ open forum
In a world where incongruence dominates and where many in even the helping professions collude to keep their own humanness separate from their clients, it can be hard work to resist those norms and offer a consistent human presence. In the first 30 minutes of this final session we will focus on such powerful norming influences as the politics of helping (Dave), statutory regulation (Brian) and on recent developments in regard to litigation (Dave). After taking a few questions on the input, the Chair will ask participants to form groups of about six participants to share an informal discussion on what has been coming out of the day so far for those present.
The remainder of the afternoon, about 80 minutes, will be given over to an OPEN FORUM where participants may ask any questions they wish. The Chair will start this session by presenting a few questions in areas that were particularly prevalent among those submitted in the morning.