We’re delighted to welcome back our free in-person Making Connections events.
These regular face to face conferences take place throughout the year and give you the chance to network with other members and our divisional executive members.
Programme
Click on the sessions to find out more. If you are viewing this page on a mobile, rotate your screen to view the programme.
| 10.00am – 10.30am | Registration |
| 10.30am - 10.50am | Welcome from BACP |
| 10.50am – 11.35am | The changing landscape of Eating Disorders and Therapy, presented by Kel O'Neill |
| 11.35am - 11.45am | Comfort break |
| 11.45am – 12.30pm |
Looking forward: social justice for better Mental Health, presented by Dr Jen Daffin and Dr Kath Potter |
| 12.30pm – 1.30pm | Light lunch |
| 1.30pm – 1.50 pm | Local member two-minute platforms |
| 1.50pm – 2.40pm | Connecting together The room will be divided into different areas of interest, for more focused and structured networking. You’ll be encouraged to move around the room and engage with colleagues, volunteers and BACP staff to network, share ideas and meet new people with similar interests. You’ll be able to add a new area of interest if yours isn’t represented. |
| 2.40pm – 3.10pm | Refreshments |
| 3.10pm – 3.55pm | Make room for rage: working honestly with differences, presented by Sara Sirati |
| 3.55pm - 4.00pm | Event close |
This programme is subject to change.
10.50am – 11.35am
This session offers a reflective overview of how eating disorders and disordered eating are increasingly showing up in therapy, often in ways that go unrecognised, unsupported, or fall outside specialist service referral criteria.
From the rise in GLP-1 weight loss medications and wellness culture, to chronic presentations and clients excluded from specialist services due to BMI or diagnostic thresholds, many people are left without access to care. Therapists are frequently left holding these issues without clear guidance and, in some cases, may unintentionally reinforce harm by encouraging weight loss or overlooking the signs of an eating disorder.
The session aims to raise awareness of how eating disorders and disordered eating may present in therapy today, why they’re often overlooked, and what it means to practise ethically in a system where clients may have nowhere else to go.
11.45am - 12.30pm
This session will introduce the work of Platfform Wellbeing and explore their approach to mental health through a social justice lens. Drawing on the Wales Alliance for Mental Health (WAMH) Manifesto and the Platfform Manifesto for Change, Dr Jen Daffin and Dr Kath Potter will reflect on how wider political priorities in Wales are shaping the design and delivery of services.
Using examples from practice, the session will consider what a social justice–informed approach means for counselling and psychotherapy practitioners working within a changing political landscape.
3.10am - 3.55pm
This session will share Sara's experience of working with diverse and under-served communities across Wales, including Deaf and/or hard of hearing communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and Global Majority communities. Their centres on therapeutically informed, community-led creative practices. Sara critically examines the concepts of “participation” and “integration,” and instead advocates for offering leadership roles to these communities in order to cultivate meaningful intersectionality and embrace difference beyond notions of inclusion alone. The presentation will contain examples of successful, community-led projects supported by funding from the National Lottery and the Arts Council of Wales.
The session is explicitly grounded in the BACP Ethical Framework, particularly its commitments to social justice and the ethical management of power within professional relationships. It aligns with the Framework’s emphasis on respecting client and community autonomy, challenging systemic inequality, and practising in ways that actively promote equity, dignity, and relational accountability.