Student conference 2027
Programme

Pathways to Practice: Transitioning from Training to Career

View the programme and click through to read presentation information.

This event is designed to support student members as they transition from training to professional practice, helping to build confidence through shared learning, lived experience, and practical insight.

As well as a keynote presentation, there will be presentations and workshops on a range of themes including personal development, career pathways, practitioner experience and feeling out of your depth. These themes are designed to highlight potential career options as well as explore the current challenges impacting the profession today.

The programme will explore current challenges facing the profession and provide tools and perspectives to help you navigate them with confidence.

You’ll hear taster talks from BACP staff, exhibitors and experienced practitioners who can provide insights into the steps they’ve taken to get where they are today.

Book your place

The Student conference 2027 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 and the chance to engage with BACP staff. Online access includes interactive Q&A's, a chatroom to network with peers, and interactive polls.

Programme

	Time	Vox 1 Strand 1: Online and in person	Vox 2 & 3 Strand 2: Online and in person	Vox 4 Strand 3: In person only	Vox 5 Strand 4: In person only
	8.45am - 9.45am	Registration and taster talks (in person only)
	9.45am - 9.55am	Event welcome by Jack Jackson and Jessie Emilion
	9.55am - 10.55am	The Counsellor and Psychotherapist you are becoming: confidence, authenticity and growth in an uncertain world, presented by David Weaver
	10.55am - 11.15am	Break
Out of your depth	11.15am - 12.00pm	The new Ethical Framework and resources, presented by Patrick Cawley	Safeguarding for your future profession, presented by Jo Holmes	Anti- Oppressive practice: moving from theory to action, presented by Aseia Rafique and Nicola Blunden	Workshop to be confirmed
Career pathways	12.10pm - 12.55pm	Counselling and Psychotherapy in the NHS, presented by Matthew Smith-Lilley	Finding your specialism: my journey into higher and further education, presented by Emma Wingate	Workshop to be confirmed	Workshop to be confirmed
	12.55pm - 1.55pm	Lunch
Personal development	1.55pm - 2.40pm	Neuro-Inclusive Counselling: from system thinking to relational practice, presented by Leah Booker	Transitioning and belonging: from isolation to finding my place, presented Joanne Lockwood	Your ticket to the research conversation: BACP Research conference bursaries, presented by Dr Clare Symons	Workshop to be confirmed
	2.40pm - 3pm	Break
Practitioner experience	3pm - 3.45pm	Making Private Practice work for you in today's changing professional landscape , presented by Sally Brown	Workshop to be confirmed	Workshop to be confirmed	Workshop to be confirmed
	3.50pm - 4.50pm	Ticking all the boxes: race, neurodivergence and finding your place in a profession that wasn't built for you, presented by Josephine Bey
	4.50pm - 5pm	Event Close

This programme is subject to change

The Counsellor and Psychotherapist you are becoming: confidence, authenticity and growth in an uncertain world

This keynote explores the transition from student to practising counsellor or psychotherapist and the ongoing development of professional identity throughout a career. Drawing on experience in counselling, psychotherapy, leadership, education and social justice, the session will encourage delegates to reflect on what it means to become an effective practitioner in a complex and changing world.

The keynote will consider how confidence develops through experience, reflection and lifelong learning; how practitioners find and sustain their authentic professional voice; and why curiosity, self-awareness and the ability to tolerate uncertainty are essential qualities in therapeutic work. It will also explore the wider social, economic and cultural factors that influence clients' lives and increasingly shape contemporary practice.

The session aims to inspire students to approach their future careers with confidence, compassion, authenticity and a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development.

David Weaver is a highly experienced and sought-after leadership consultant, facilitator and social justice advocate whose career spans counselling and psychotherapy, political and organisational leadership, education and community development.

David served as President of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) from 2016 to 2022 having previously served as a Trustee and Vice President. During his presidency, he championed the importance of social justice, equality and inclusion within the profession, advocating for counselling and psychotherapy to be more accessible, relevant and responsive to the needs of diverse individuals and communities.

A former university lecturer, social worker and senior local government manager, David brings a distinctive combination of academic, professional and lived experience to his work. As Senior Partner of DWC Consulting, David advises and works with senior political leaders, executives and organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors. His work focuses on leadership development, organisational transformation, conflict resolution and creating the conditions for meaningful and sustainable change.

David is also a former political adviser to senior Home Office ministers, having contributed to national policy on race equality, community cohesion and the establishment of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. He is a longstanding facilitator of the Local Government Association's Leadership Academy and currently chairs Operation Black Vote, an organisation dedicated to strengthening political representation, equality and democratic participation.

Throughout his career, David has been driven by a belief in the power of ethical leadership, human connection and social justice to transform lives, organisations and society. He brings this perspective to his work with future counsellors and psychotherapists, encouraging them to recognise not only their professional responsibilities but also their potential to make a profound difference in an increasingly complex world.

Ticking all the boxes: race, neurodivergence and finding your place in a profession that wasn't built for you

This keynote tells the story of one Black, neurodivergent woman's journey from student to practitioner. Not as a rags-to-riches narrative, but as an honest, textured account of what it actually takes to enter and survive in a profession that remains predominantly white and middle-class.

Through lived experience, the talk will trace the path from anthropology graduate, through redundancy, to the moment of deciding "it's now or never" and everything that came after: late dyslexia and ADHD diagnoses, supervisors who didn't understand, employers who took advantage, the exhaustion of masking, and the quiet question of whether being "well-spoken" makes you more credible or just more palatable.

The session aims to challenge students to think critically about representation, access, and belonging in counselling and psychotherapy and to inspire them to become practitioners who don't just enter the profession, but change it.

Josephine Bey is a Counsellor, supervisor, counselling manager, and clinical director based in London. Born to Nigerian parents and raised in the city, she entered counselling after redundancy and a lifelong instinct for listening, what she describes as; "I’ve always being a counsellor, I just needed the paperwork to prove it." Her career spans private practice, NHS services, HMP Brixton, and clinical leadership across a network of over 2,000 mental health professionals. She has led critical incident responses for national crises including Grenfell Tower and the Manchester Arena bombing, and currently manages the low-cost counselling service at the Psychosynthesis Trust, runs her own private practice and is Clinical Director of her own mental wellness consultancy. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD later in life, Josephine is passionate about decolonising counselling education and creating space for people of colour and marginalised groups to access and practise therapy. She is BACP accredited and a member of BAATN and BPS.

Book your place

Programme

Time

Vox 1

Vox 2 & 3

Vox 4

Vox 5

Out of your depth

Career pathways

Personal development

Practitioner experience

Ticking all the boxes: race, neurodivergence and finding your place in a profession that wasn't built for you

Taster talk sessions