Building on solid foundations
BACP Spirituality blog

I'd like thank Maureen Slattery-Marsh, who is the outgoing Chair of the Spirituality division, for all her hard work. Maureen has been a constant source of support and encouragement during my time within the Executive Committee. Her kindness and compassion has offered stability to the division over the last six years making a significant contribution to our professional community. 

Maureen has provided steadfast leadership, wisdom and representation within BACP on a variety of topics close to my heart. I’m very grateful to Maureen, and pleased to say that she will be remaining on the Executive Committee for the time being.  

Concurrently, Kathy Kinmond, the Deputy Chair is also standing down. Kathy has worked alongside Maureen since 2019, again, her dedication and expertise will be missed. At present, there is no Deputy Chair to replace Kathy.

I’ve been part of the Executive Committee for a number of years and over this period of time I’ve worked on developing the role of social media and communication online. I’ve enjoyed connecting with people interested in spirituality and counselling across the UK and further afield. My background is rooted in university and school-based counselling along with some NHS experience.

As Chair, I’m hoping to continue building on the solid foundations laid by Maureen and others before developing the strategy and strengths of the division even further. I see this as growing the membership of the division, nurturing and increasing an interest in spirituality generally. The division is aiming to provide information and signposts to resources designed to provide knowledge for professionals with an interest in spirituality.

Over the course of the last 12 months, I’ve been working with BACP on the Communities of Practice platform, which will soon be launching on the BACP website. The Spirituality division will be represented within the platform for practitioners to come together to share professional interests. I hope this will provide a generative space for further connection, sharing of knowledge and good practice.

The platform is for therapists and students working with clients with spiritual and existential beliefs. Discussions may intersect with other counselling themes. Training and supervision topics would be welcome.

It’s anticipated that the division will expand with the recruitment of further Executive members over the next few months. This is a very exciting prospect, which will bring further perspectives and experiences to the division. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more.