Officers and governors
How we are run and governed

Our Governors are elected, appointed or co-opted to oversee our strategic direction and the management of the Association. Representing and accountable to our members, their role is to provide strong leadership, enhance our decision making and to make sure that we achieve our objectives.

After completing 36 years with Barclays Bank, I worked in the charity sector for 19 years, the last eight with Age UK in the role of National Manager, Finance Governance. Combining my banking skills with deep charity financial governance knowledge, I’m looking forward to working with BACP as a Governor and Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee (FRAC).

I’ve a keen interest in the provision of mental health services for younger people and volunteered for a time with a charity which provided counselling for children in primary and junior schools. My personal life revolves around supporting my family and our dogs. 

Paul brings extensive experience in governance, public protection, and professional accountability across health, justice, and education. He has served on a wide range of scrutiny, disciplinary, and professional suitability panels, as well as acting as an Independent Member on police officer misconduct hearings, giving him significant experience in fair decision-making, safeguarding, and upholding professional standards.

Paul is Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Chester, where he provides strategic leadership. His research and wider professional activity have focused on mental health, criminal justice, occupational culture, and safeguarding in sensitive environments. Paul has also served as a trustee for national and regional charities, including Mind and All Together Now!, supporting public wellbeing and community resilience.

As Chair of BACP’s Public Protection Committee, Paul is committed to ensuring the highest standards of safety, ethics, and transparency in counselling and psychotherapy, strengthening public trust and supporting practitioners to deliver safe and effective services.

I’m a trustee of BACP and chair of the Assurance, Appointments and Remuneration Committee, which looks after how we make appointments and approach remuneration.

My career has been in HR, most recently as Global Director of Talent, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at a large multinational whose work is about helping people through social and technological change. What I’ve always loved most is helping people to find the right role, grow and do their best work.

I’m curious, open, and straightforward, and I care about building relationships based on trust. I’d rather have an honest conversation than a polished one.

I’m part of BACP’s Board because I believe good counselling and psychotherapy change lives, and I want to help make sure BACP is fair, welcoming and well run for the members and the people they support.

My counselling career has been broad, from working in residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, to private practice. I'm currently the Head of Psychological Services for a mental health charity and Lead Tutor on level 2 to level 6 counselling courses. My passion lies with working with the family unit, so in addition to my qualifications working with adults, children, young people, couples and clinical supervision, I've recently completed the first year of family therapy training. I'm a keen writer and am about to publish my first therapeutic children’s book.

My experience shows me that the general public are not aware of the unregulated nature of counselling and psychotherapy and the steps they can take to protect themselves when searching for a therapist. Raising public awareness was one of my motivating factors for joining the board of BACP.

I'm a therapist, supervisor, consultant and trainer working in private practice, specialising in working with people who have had previous harmful experiences of therapy. A significant portion of my work involves collaboration with other specialists in therapy harm, bringing the impact of harm into the professional consciousness, and developing good practice in this area. 

I'm particularly interested in addressing the impact of professional harms on marginalised and minoritised people, at all levels, putting antiracist, and disability-affirming practices at the heart of my thinking, and standing in firm opposition to conversion practices. 

I'm passionate about client rights, ethics, boundaries, and the way we conceptualise professional standards in the context of a diverse profession. 

I worked as a caseworker for two Members of Parliament for 15 years. For over 30 years I’ve been involved in alternative therapies, and have facilitated a number of workshops and training courses on these, which has included mindfulness and meditation.

For many years, I’d wanted to look at counselling, especially within men's health and took the opportunity to train at Fife College.

In my spare time, I enjoy writing.

After enjoying many years as a Clinical Director of an EAP, I now run my own consultancy firm supporting businesses and organisations to improve employee engagement through sustainable mental health and inclusion strategies. Before retraining in psychotherapy, I worked in the City of London. It was a time that's afforded me a well-rounded view of what workplace wellbeing really looks like.

Today I work with clients and patients across a vast array of sectors and my experience includes working with the NHS to the Armed Forces and prisons to Harley Street. I'm proud to have supported survivors and armed forces personnel following the Westminster Bridge attacks, the Grenfell Tower fire, the Manchester Arena bombing and coronavirus pandemic bereaved and key workers.

I'm an integrative psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and a psychosexual and relationship therapist. I'm a Senior Accredited member of BACP and a Registered Member and Registered Supervisor with COSRT. I began working in sexual and mental health in 2007 and have worked and volunteered with many LGBT+ organisations over the years. I'm a Clinical Associate of Pink Therapy and hold Advanced Accreditation as a GSRD Therapist with them. They predominantly work with GSRD, neurodivergent, and kink communities. I conducted the first clinical research into autistic people’s experience of psychosexual therapy.

I previously sat on the BACP Spirituality Division Executive. I was the Counselling Lead for Edinburgh College, managing a team of counsellors, and worked as a counsellor in further education for years. I bring experience of leading teams both as a counselling lead and as an organisational lead.

Known as Bumi, an integrative clinical supervisor and counsellor. A mediator and an accredited public sector complaints manager, I have decades of leadership experience in: influencing change at strategic levels in healthcare environments, healthcare governance and improving patients’ experience. 

My counselling specialisms are bereavement counselling and employee assistance programme (EAP) provision. My clinical supervision specialisms include all things thriving on your professional journeys either as a student or a qualified professional. 

As the founder of VIADCOMS EAP & Well-being services, I support organisations with strengthening workplace / employee well-being and resilience, encouraging a culture of “thriving in your work”. 

As a new BACP trustee, I look forward to opportunities to pursue my passions in: 

• compassionate complaints management
• improving counselling trainees’ experiences through the removal of unpaid or voluntary placements and encouraging the promotion of fair compensation
• advocating for equal recognition of counsellors alongside other health and social care professionals 

I'm driven by a desire to support the profession and bring to the Board my experience as a member of our Finance, Risk, Audit, Policy and Performance (FRAPP) Committee, which has given me a deep appreciation for BACP’s mission and purpose. Beyond BACP, I've helped organisations navigate complex challenges, including regulatory change, mergers and acquisitions as well as the development of strategic plans. I've a highly facilitative approach that has included a role as Interim Chair of the Board of Directors at OutdoorLads. Through my consultancy work, I'm currently building reflective practice groups for individuals striving to increase their impact on the communities they serve.

We have four committees which support the Board by focusing on strategic business areas. Each committee is made up of lay and member volunteers and is chaired by a Trustee.

Following a restructure in 2021, these committees are:

• Finance, Risk and Audit Committee (FRAC) has delegated responsibility for our financial strategy and budgeting processes as well as managing our risk profile, audits and performance against strategy. (It combines the functions of our former Finance and Policy Committee (FaPC) and Audit, Risk and Performance Committee (ARaP).)
  Chair: David Chenery
  
  
• Assurance, Appointments and Remuneration Committee (AARC) has delegated responsibility for considering and determining the framework for the remuneration of our senior staff members. It also supports nominations to the Board of Trustees. 
  Chair: Emily Garvie

• Public Protection Committee has delegated responsibility for developing our public protection strategy. It supports the functions of the BACP Register, including professional conduct.
  Chair: TBC

I'm a professor of counselling and mental health at York St John University and was Chair of BACP between 2008 and 2011.

I was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours in 2022 for services to higher education and mental health.

I took over from David Weaver, who stepped down as our President at our AGM at the end of his five-year tenure.

I’m honoured to be asked to be President of my professional body. I'll work with our Chair and CEO to look at how I can support BACP to move forward. I see my role as being a supportive presence to BACP.

Baroness Luciana Berger, Natalie Creary, Dr Jessie Emilion and Dr Caryl Sibbett.