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As associate members of UKAHPP (UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners) we adhere to their ethical codes and procedures.
As an Organisational Member of BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) we are bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and subject to the Professional conduct Procedure for the time being in force.
Member of APSCC (Association for Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counselling a division of BACP).
Member of BAPCA (The British Association for the Person-Centred Approach).
Member of FSB (The Federation of Small Businesses).
Ffynnon Patron: Lay Canon Professor Brian Thorne, FBACP, FCollP, FRSA .
Ffynnon Director: Jonathan Skipper MA, Dip Surv, PCAT cert.
CPD certificates issued for each of the events.
Retrospective
Previous events
Ties that Bind – the impact of trauma on attachment
Conference with Norma Howes - 25th October 2008
To ensure their survival children and adults will make a form of attachment – a trauma bond – with the person who holds them hostage or does them harm.
This conference is 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.
This conference will be of particular interest to anyone working with children and/or adults who are or have suffered the trauma of sexual, physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual assault perhaps resulting in a ‘tie that binds’.
Norma Howes is a Social Worker, Child Forensic Psychologist and Sensory-motor Psychotherapist. Norma is involved in training police, social workers, health and education staff on all aspects of childhood trauma and abuse.
Therapeutic Accompaniment as a Spiritual Discipline
Seminar with Canon Professor Brian Thorne - December 6th 2008
In this Seminar, Brian will present 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 seminar will also be of direct relevance to those involved in pastoral work and religious education. The day will consist of lectures, small group work and plenary sessions.
This is an exceptional opportunity to work with a practitioner who has gained an international reputation not only as a professional therapist but also as someone who cares deeply about the spiritual evolution of humanity at so critical a time in the history of our planet.
Brian is a prominent member of the international person-centred community and a prolific author. His work covers the fields of counselling, education and pastoral theology and in recognition of this interdisciplinary contribution he was made Lay Canon of Norwich Cathedral in 2005. Currently he directs the Diploma in Spiritual Accompaniment at the Norwich Centre and lectures widely both in the UK and abroad.
Trauma and the Body
Conference with Norma Howes - January 2009
Talking therapies address how the mind is affected by trauma but rarely involve the therapist or client in working on the effect of the trauma on the body. Van der Kolk, one of the leading researchers and authors on trauma and its affects sums this up when he says ‘The Body Keeps the Score’.
This conference is 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.
This conference will be of particular interest to social workers, police, emergency service workers, health, education workers, therapists in NHS and private practice.
Norma Howes is a Social Worker, Child Forensic Psychologist and Sensory-motor Psychotherapist. Norma is involved in training police, social workers, health and education staff on all aspects of childhood trauma and abuse.
The Challenge of Relational Depth in Therapeutic Working
Seminar with Professor Dave Mearns - March 7th 2009
Much therapeutic working is achieved with only a degree of relationality – enough to sustain the ‘working alliance’. 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. The seminar will include an analysis of the theory, the practice and the developmental agenda incumbent on the practitioner working at relational depth. Dave’s hope is that this seminar will speak to people from a range of therapeutic backgrounds.
Bio : Dave Mearns
As a student, Dave Mearns had additional paid employment as a bus driver and as a manager of a betting-shop. During a winter spell working in a sand-mine in arctic temperatures that resembled a Gulag he read Buber’s I and Thou. Such reading, along with the modern ‘death of God’ theological writings af the 1960s was unusual for a student of Maths and Physics and an atheist.
Not surprising then that he switched his studies to Psychology and in 1972/73 took up the postgraduate position of Visiting Fellow to the Center for Studies of the Person in La Jolla, California, under the stewardship of Carl Rogers. His early therapeutic internship involved him in daily therapeutic work with profoundly traumatised war veterans. This sensitised him to the power of relationship in connecting with the private existential world of the other.
In the past 20 years he has written seven books, including four best-sellers, founded the Counselling Unit of the University of Strathclyde and developed extensive primary care and school counselling services. Now retired from the University, he lives with his long-term colleague, playmate and wife, Elke Lambers and admires the lives led by his daughters Kirsty and Tessa. His favourite pastimes are hill-walking, fly-fishing, gardening, horse-riding, horse racing and golf. His favourite territory is Patagonia which he visits frequently.
Existentialism: Challenges and Contributions to Therapeutic Practice
Workshop with Mick Coooper - May 2nd 2009
This one day workshop offers 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 workshop will involve a combination of theoretical input, discussion and exercises, and will focus on three particular aspects of existential thinking: the exploration of freedom and choice, coming to terms with the limitations of existence, and the need for meaning.
Facilitator: Mick Cooper is a Professor of Counselling at the University of Strathclyde and a UKCP-registered existential psychotherapist. Mick is author of Existential Therapies (Sage, 2003), co-author with Dave Mearns of Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2005) and has written several chapters and papers on aspects of existential therapy, person-centred therapy and self-plurality.
Integrating Prayer and Counselling: Dr Peter Gubi University of Central Lancashire – June 6th 2009
Prayer (connectedness) is at the centre of all spirituality (and arguably counselling), and is enabling of mental health well-being. Research shows that prayer influences the work of a considerable number of counsellors, but not much has been researched or written about it, and it is seemingly a 'taboo' in mainstream counselling. This experiential but informative workshop will enable counsellors to discuss the issues around integrating prayer in counseling.