Making Connections Norwich 15.04.26 - BACP - British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

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	Working with High-Functioning Anxiety, Perfectionism and People Pleasing: A Detailed Guide, presented by Becca Upton
11.35am - 11.45am	Comfort break
11.45am – 12.30pm	More than a diagnosis: depression and young people from a person-centred perspective, presented by Richard Doyle
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	Genetics in the Therapy Room, presented by Uruj Anjum
3.55pm - 4.00pm	Event close

This programme is subject to change.

Working with High-Functioning Anxiety, Perfectionism and People Pleasing: A Detailed Guide

10.50am – 11.35am

This training aims to provide a deeper understanding of how high-functioning anxiety shows in clients through perfectionism and people pleasing, and the evolutionary basis for these symptoms. This session will look at the interaction and self-reflection to gain awareness of your own perfectionism and people pleasing tendencies, wherever you may sit on these scales.

This session will give an introductions to these concepts in a therapeautic context, as well as providing more clear, layman's terms which can be used with clients. This session will also offer guidance on how to confidently use specific techniques with clients with high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism and people pleasing from a range of approaches including CBT, CFT, Attachment, TA and PCT.

Becca Upton, known as The No BS Therapist, specialises in working with young women with high-functioning anxiety and depression, perfectionism and people pleasing. She wants wellbeing to be realistic and achievable, focussing on the small everyday things that can build up over time, with plenty of swearing and avoiding the fluff. 

Becca is trained integratively using CBT, PCT, Attachment and CFT and other approaches in her online and in-person practice, based in Nottingham. She also has a wellbeing membership filled with research-backed, straight talking breathwork, grounding, visualisations and more, as well as weekly wellbeing check-ins and self-care plan guides. Becca loves to share her knowledge and experiences, regularly collaborating, guesting on and running her own trainings, talks and guided relaxation evenings.

More than a diagnosis: depression and young people from a person-centred perspective

11.45am - 12.30pm

This session will explore how depression can be understood within contemporary contexts, with a focus on young people and factors such as the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic and changing digital environments. It will consider how different ways of conceptualising depression shape how we, as therapists, understand and respond to clients.

Drawing on medical and alternative perspectives, the session will examine depression not only as a diagnostic category but as a phenomenon embedded in personal, relational, and social contexts. The person-centered approach will be used to explore these issues, including in relation to three fictional but representative case studies that illustrate a range of experiences of distress in young people.

The session will also consider implications for practice, including the role of person-centred therapy and Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD), an approach widely practiced within NHS Talking Therapies services.

Richard Doyle is a person-centred counsellor with experience across the voluntary sector, student counselling services, and private practice. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, where he tutors and supervises on the MA in Person-Centred Experiential Counselling & Psychotherapy, and delivers training in Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD), including practice and supervision.

Richard has a particular interest in how depression is understood within person-centred theory and practice. He has published on counselling theory, education, and research, including a chapter on PCE-CfD in the third edition of The Tribes of the Person-Centred Nation (Cooper, 2024, PCCS). His most recent work, The Psychopathology of Depression and the Person-Centred Approach, is forthcoming in the third edition of The Handbook of Person-Centred Therapy and Mental Health (Joseph, in prep, PCCS).

Genetics in the Therapy Room

3.10am - 3.55pm

Genetic information is increasingly present in the therapy room, whether through family illness, reproductive decision-making, disability, loss or identity. Many counsellors and supervisors feel unsure about how to hold these conversations ethically and relationally, particularly when genetics intersects with attachment, culture, and identity.

This session aims to support counsellors and supervisors to feel more confident, grounded, and attuned when genetics appears in their clinical work. Drawing on attachment theory and my background as a former NHS genetic counsellor and psychotherapist, the session bridges essential genetic understanding with emotional and relational meaning.

Participants will be introduced to core genetics concepts without requiring prior knowledge, explore how genetic testing and diagnosis impact individuals and families emotionally, and learn how tools such as genograms can deepen therapeutic understanding. The session emphasises how we sit with uncertainty, risk, grief, guilt, and values.

The overall aim is to help counsellors and supervisors stay within scope, uphold ethical boundaries, and offer psychologically safe, culturally attuned support to clients navigating genetic narratives.

Ms Uruj Anjum is a BACP-Accredited Psychotherapist, Supervisor, CPCAB Level 5 Lecturer, and the founder of Saiyna Therapy. She brings a unique dual background, having worked for nine years as an NHS research genetic counsellor before retraining in psychotherapy.

Uruj specialises in working with individuals and couples impacted by genetic diagnosis, uncertainty, loss, and perinatal challenges, integrating an attachment-based approach into her clinical and teaching work. She is passionate about supporting counsellors and supervisors to feel more confident and ethically grounded when genetics enter the therapy room.

Alongside her clinical practice, Uruj delivers CPD training and lectures across the UK, bridging genetics, identity, attachment, and relational wellbeing in a way that is accessible, reflective, and culturally attuned.