BACP CYPF conference 2024
Neurodiversity: the therapeutic encounter

CYPF Programme, 9 March 2024

View the programme, click through to read session information and find out more about the event sponsors.

We welcome you to join the CYPF conference 2024 to develop knowledge, understanding and skills for working with neurodiversity.

This year's CYPF Conference will focus on the challenges and opportunities of working with neurodiversity when supporting children, young people and their families. The conference aims to create a learning environment to enhance knowledge through research and evidence-based practice.

The programme will include lived experiences to provide important insights and create a safe space to encourage reflective learning. The day will also focus on helping practitioners develop a range of skills and techniques to support the therapeutic process and explore collaborative ways of working with children, young people and their families.

Book your place

The CYPF conference 2024 is a hybrid event. Our hybrid events provide you with the opportunity to attend and engage both in person and online. In person attendance includes networking opportunities, lunch, refreshments and the chance to engage with divisional representatives and BACP staff. Online access includes interactive Q&A's, a chatroom to network with peers, and interactive polls.

Programme

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Time	Strand 1 Online and in-person Premium suite	Strand 2 Online and in-person Creative suite	Strand 3 In-person only Impressive
9.00 – 9.45am	Registration
9.45 - 9.55am	Networking
9.55 – 10.15am	Event welcome
10.15 – 11.25am	Keynote presentation: The Prism of Neurodiversity – the place where the light shines through, presented by Edith Bell
11.25 - 11.45am	Break
11.45 – 12.45pm	How do I feel as a young autistic person?, delivered by Mark Wallis	Doing life in hard mode , delivered by Linda-Jayne Elliott	Embracing inclusivity - going beyond the therapeutic encounter, delivered by Veronica Rosello
12.45 – 1.50pm	Lunch
1.50 – 2.50pm	Working within diversity: How to develop an anti-oppressive and inclusive approach in therapy to wor k within neurodiversity, delivered by Myira Khan	Experiences of therapy - Neurodivergent CYPF experience of accessing, engagement and non-engagement with therapy, delivered by Maggie Worth	Neurotransception: a new conceptual framework exploring a relational understanding of neurodivergent experiences across power dynamics and social hierarchies, delivered by Raymi Doyle
2.50 – 3.10pm	Break
3.10pm – 4.20pm	Keynote presentation: Harnessing ADHD, Bipolar, Tics, and Anxiety: My Unique Superpowers, presented by Abz Abby
4.20 – 4.30pm	Plenary and event close

This programme is subject to change.

Sponsors and exhibitors

Keynote session information

The Prism of Neurodiversity – the place where the light shines through

The aim of this session is to support counsellors in having a confident and welcoming approach to working with neurodiversity. This session will provide ways for counsellors to build a strengths based model of working, from assessment, through face to face working, to ending. It will support counsellors to empower and celebrate client diversity and to allow an active, strengths based collaboration, based on a systemic view of intra-client and contextual factors.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

Edith has worked as a school’s counsellor, service manager and is now the Clinical Director. Edith has over 25 years experience of working with both adults and children who have had a variety of forms of neurodiversity. Edith has experiences of supporting families who've had struggles with diagnoses and development and have had the chance to see them grow together, to find connection and to find news ways of living successfully in the world and in their communities.

Edith is a previous lecturer at the University of Gloucester and has authored and delivered the level 5 Diploma in Child and Adolescent Counselling. Edith has delivered several workshops and training events for BACP and is part of the BACP expert reference group for the development of the competency framework in working with children and young people.

Edith Bell is a practitioner and the Clinical Director of Familyworks NI who loves her job and considers it the best job in the world.

Harnessing ADHD, Bipolar, Tics, and Anxiety: My Unique Superpowers

In this session Abz, will delve into his personal journey of living with ADHD, Bipolar, Tics, and Anxiety, framing them as unique superpowers. Abz will explore the experienced challenges in education and his personal life and highlight the pivotal moments of transformation at UA92.

Sections of this presentation may be sensitive and will highlight the importance of emphasing the life-altering impact of how to support those from neurodiverse backgrounds. Abz will aim to inspire and advocate how tailoring therapeutic support can make a difference.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

Workshop session information

How do I feel as a young autistic person?

This session aims to provide participants with an underpinning background knowledge of human sensory functions of sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing and balance. There'll be an emphasis on ‘hypo’ and ‘hyper’ sensory categories in relation to individual needs. The non-diagnosed of individuals sensory factors negatively impacting autistic young people will be explored and examples of when misunderstood sensory factors become labelled and viewed as behaviour that challenges will be highlighted.

The presentation will engage participants in a greater awareness and understanding pertaining to sensory factors and young people with autism. Offering guidance on the need for holistic sensory assessments, alongside offering practical examples of areas for positive actions and interventions pertaining to individuals with an autism diagnosis and greater understanding towards an improved, quality of daily life.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

Mark Wallis

Mark is a freelance autism expert, consultant, author and trainer with a background of 40 years’ experience managing services within the health and social sector.

In the 1980’s, Mark was employed at a large, long stay learning disability institution where he became one of the country’s first whistle blowers, concerning disability abuse, resulting in his first publication entitled ‘Prisoners, Patients or People’.

Marks passion has been continually focused towards the empowerment of people across the autism spectrum, successfully supporting a range of individuals with complex needs, functioning autism and ADHD. Alongside the proactive support of autistic young people, who are at risk of offending, requiring specialist forensic services.

Marks specialism developed when employed to establish autism bespoke residential provisions within the London boroughs. He has recently worked on a research project resulting a publication entitled ‘A for Autism’, a guide for counsellors and psychotherapists, optimising their support of autistic clients.

Doing life in hard mode

This presentation will identify the world of neurodiversity through young people’s eyes, exploring the challenges and difficulties faced in fitting in with the world, and the social norms that can be forced upon them. While exploring emotional frustrations, feelings of overwhelming anxiety, and factors that can influence behaviour. Alongside shining a light on the unique world of neurodiversity and the strengths that are within, giving the session a rounded balance. The aim is to build counsellor’s awareness of the neurodivergent world and give confidence to walk their young clients path with empathy and understanding in therapeutic sessions. Incorporating popular culture to connect and interpret the world around them, making use of metaphors such as Minecraft and Pokémon. The session with give lived experience and case studies of clients, equipping practitioners with creative integrated strategies to take back to their counselling practise.

The session aims to:

Explore the world of Neurodivergence through young people’s perspective.
Identify Challenges faced for young people.
Explore strengths from their unique point of view
Build counsellors confidence in working with neuro diveregent children
Relating neuro diversity to popular culture

This session is available in person and online as part of strand two.

Linda-Jayne Elliott has 15 years experience of working with young people with Special Educational needs, both in the voluntary sector and private sector. Linda-Jayne currently works in a school based counselling service across primary, post primary and special school settings; with severe and moderate learning difficulties. The clients range from 3-19 years and are diverse in their ability and background. Linda-Jayne has worked in one of NI specialised primary schools for ASD and schools for the deaf and children with complex medical needs.

Their practise is informed by clinical experience in the field of neurodivergence, alongside evidence-based practise. Their work is underpinned by a Psychology degree, giving understanding of child development and the delays in development and the foundation of CBT as a core counselling post grad. Moving to an integrative approach developing techniques from other modalities, including person centered, play etc. Combined with the core conditions of counselling and the BACP ethical framework inform my practise.

Embracing Inclusivity- going beyond the therapeutic encounter

This session will be an interactive workshop style presentation, available to those attending in-person, using case study examples which focus on supporting neurodiverse children and young people from the perspective of a school counsellor and private practitioner.

There will be an opportunity to explore tools, tips and approaches to help provide confidence in adaptations and possible partnership working. There'll be a focus on current research from different disciplines to assist our understanding about co morbid diagnosis and intersectionality issues.

This session aims to develop confidence in supporting children and young people who exhibit neurodiverse traits, with or without diagnoses. Potential fears, challenges and barriers around capabilities will be discussed.

This session is available in person only as part of strand three.

Veronica Rosello's first introduction to neurodiverse profiles was part-way through ‘change of career’ counselling training; leading a service for pupils with ‘severe EBD’ (emotional behavioural difficulties) excluded for violent behaviour, Veronica devised and delivered an adapted curriculum to support pupils’ re-entry to school. It was apparent that many students had undetected difficulties in a range of learning areas which, to some extent, contributed to their emotional distress. Some had diagnoses (ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism etc).

20 years ago these diaganose's weren’t often adequately understood, which is when Veronica began the spinning of a curiosity thread: research on learning environments, inclusion and person-centred approaches to education and help develop adaptations.

Neurotransception: a new conceptual framework exploring a relational understanding of neurodivergent experiences across power dynamics and social hierarchies

Research on neurodivergent experience has often been misrepresented from a pathological deficit medical model, focusing on fixing rather than understanding neurodivergent experience relationally. Neurodivergent advocates report a culture of imposing power dynamics resulting in exacerbated mental health difficulties (Adams, 2016), which is relevant in today’s strive for social justice. Despite chronic misrepresentation, there is little research exploring underlying relational dynamics between neurodivergent individuals as client and therapist.

A doctoral project named ‘bridging the gap between the autistic, the therapist and the theoretical perspective’, led to several categories and a conceptual framework being theoretically co-constructed named Neurotransception.

Neurotransception is conceptualised on the principle of transmission and receiving of each other at an embodied neurobiological level, seeking safety (Porges, 2004). When divergent intersubjectivities from different neurotypes meet, imposed power dynamics from conscious/unconscious levels may evolve based on the non-autistic other’s intrasubjective misinterpretations to reconfigure their prediction error in predictive coding theory (Friston, 2010). This may manifest as an attempt to ‘fix’ rather than relate to an autistic individual, resulting in exacerbated experiences of masking, shaming, as well as trauma and attachment-based reactive responses.

Neurotransception provides new insight into the double empathy problem (Milton, 2012), context blindness (Vermeulen, 2012), and interoception (Mahler, 2016).

This session is available in person only as part of strand three.

Dr Raymi Doyle is a psychotherapist who has been providing trauma-informed therapy to neurodivergent individuals since 2005. He was lead clinician for autistic children/adolescents across a wide range of communities/cultures in the USA. Returning to Ireland, he managed a school for autistic children, where he noticed a lack of accessible therapeutic support for autistic individuals.

Raymi went on to open a private practice, alongside with charitable work specialising in providing therapy for neurodivergent individuals, clinical supervision and developing a bespoke training programme that was distributed through multiple educational and therapeutic services. Raymi has recently become Research and Development Lead/Senior Psychotherapist at Studio 3, an international organisation that supports neurodivergent individuals.

Raymi has presented at various National and International conferences, and guest reviewed for the BACP BJGC for articles on Autism. He recently was awarded his Doctorate, on Bridging the Gap between the Autistic, the Therapist and the Theoretical Perspective.

Experiences of therapy – Neurodivergent CYP and families experience of accessing, engagement and non-engagement with therapy

Children, young people and their families face a significant journey before they get to the therapy. Recent studies show that across the UK between 15-25% of neurodivergent CYP with significant mental health difficulties were referred to psychological support/counselling. However, rejection rates are high; and when accessed, there are high levels of non-engagement and dropout due to lack of understanding of neurodiversity and adaptation to neurodiverse clients (Worth, 2022, Crenna-Jennings & Hutchinson, 2020; SAMHS, 2017).

This session draws on research and case studies to give a lived experience of what Neurodivergent CYP and their families can go through in their journey of seeking therapy. The type of barriers they face from educational and mental health systems and what it is like therapy, when reached. The aim to inform therapists of the challenges this marginalised group face to facilitate greater empathy and understanding.

A further aim is to provide an understanding of what it can be like working with CYP. Drawing from clinical experience, to illustrate the experience by a therapist in the room. It will also give examples from an integrative therapeutic orientation, the modalities and techniques that have been used and their success in engaging ND CYP.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand two.

Maggie Worth is an integrative child, adolescent and family pyschotherapist currently employed in a London state grammar secondary school. A significant population of her client base is either diagnosed or undiagnosed neurodiverse girls from ethnic and low socio-economic backgrounds.

Maggie retrained in counselling and psychology in 2012 after a commercial career in HR and Marketing and a brief period of working in a primary school with special educational needs children. Initially training in adult psychotherapy and working in community and addiction support services, Maggie furthered her studies by completing her Masters in CYP counselling at Roehampton University. Her thesis during this time was 'Parents experience of accessing therapy for children with special educational needs and school refusal'.

Maggie is also a single mother to three neurodiverse children ranging in ages from 10 to 20 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Pathalogical Demand Traits; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; sensory processing disorder and dyslexia.

Working within diversity: How to develop an anti-oppressive and inclusive approach in therapy to work within neurodiversity.

The aim of this session is to explore the importance of working within diversity, identity & neurodiversity, to be able to offer an inclusive approach to work within neurodiversity in our therapeutic, coaching and supervisory relationships and processes.

This session is available in person and online as part of strand one.

Myira Khan is a multi-award-winning Accredited Counsellor, Supervisor, Coach, Counselling Tutor and Founder of the Muslim Counsellor and Psychotherapist Network (MCAPN), and now published author with Working Within diversity.

Myira has over 13 years of clinical experience, alongside delivering workshops, trainings and events, including on Working Within Diversity and anti-oppressive practice.

Working within diversity, both the book and accompanying workshop series, is a culmination of her clinical experience alongside an extensive teaching and training experience delivering workshops on identity, culture and diversity, to create a robust foundation and framework for anti-oppressive practice in therapy, supervision, coaching and all practitioner-led practices.

A visibly Muslim, neurodivergent, ethnically-minoritised practitioner, Myira represents a diversity within the therapeutic and coaching professions, promoting counselling and coaching to ethnically-minoritised, Muslim and under-represented marginalised communities and clients.

For a full list of publications and media contributions, conference and event appearances, social media and podcast appearances, and awards, please see Myira’s website: www.myirakhancounselling.co.uk

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Book your place

Programme

Time

Strand 1

Strand 2

Strand 3

Sponsors and exhibitors

Keynote session information

The Prism of Neurodiversity – the place where the light shines through

Harnessing ADHD, Bipolar, Tics, and Anxiety: My Unique Superpowers

Workshop session information

How do I feel as a young autistic person?

Doing life in hard mode

Experiences of therapy – Neurodivergent CYP and families experience of accessing, engagement and non-engagement with therapy

Working within diversity: How to develop an anti-oppressive and inclusive approach in therapy to work within neurodiversity.

Sponsors and exhibitors