Welcome to the new BCPC website!

Our People

protrait photo of Rhianwen Gilson

Rhianwen Gilson

Director

Rhianwen Gilson

Director

Qualifications

Dip HIC, MBACP (Accred), UKCP Reg

About Rhianwen Gilson

Rhianwen is Director of BCPC and Middlesex University Link. She holds a BCPC Diploma in Counselling, a Post-Qualifying Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People and is a UKCP registered and BACP accredited psychotherapeutic counsellor. She is also a supervisor. Rhianwen has a small private practice working with teenagers and adults in Wiltshire. She has a background in business and management in the broadcasting industry.

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Clive Barker

Finance Manager

Clive Barker

Finance Manager

About Clive Barker

Clive is a qualified CIPFA accountant with over 25 years experience as a strategic leader at Wiltshire Police and in Local Government. During this period he led teams delivering Finance, Estates, ICT and Fleet Services.

He is a governor at Wiltshire College and University Centre where he holds the role of Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee. He is also a level 7 qualified coach with a focus on working with people to help them achieve their goals.

Clive joined BCPC in March 2025 and is responsible for the finance function.

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Juliette Garrard

Office Manager

Juliette Garrard

Office Manager

About Juliette Garrard

Juliette joined BCPC in 2019 after returning to the UK following a decade in Australia. She previously worked as Clinic Coordinator at a specialist practice, providing support to a team of physicians and psychologists, and earlier in her career worked in the property industry.

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Lydia Maskell

Administrator

Lydia Maskell

Administrator

About Lydia Maskell

Lydia joined BCPC as Administrator in January 2023. She previously worked in training and administrative roles at University of Bath.

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Gill Theodoreson

Course Leader for Foundation

Gill Theodoreson

Course Leader for Foundation

Qualifications

Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg

About Gill Theodoreson

Gill Theodoreson -  Gill is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist, Facilitator and Trainer. She qualified with a MA and Diploma in Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy from BCPC/Middlesex University in 2008. Since then she has worked in private practice working with individuals and couples, as a Staff Counsellor at Bristol University and as a Therapist and Course Facilitator at the cancer charity, Penny Brohn UK. Gill is experienced in working with people living with life threatening illness. 

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Caroline Yates

Course Leader for Counselling

Caroline Yates

Course Leader for Counselling

Qualifications

BA Hons, CQSW, Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies, Post graduate Diploma in Counselling, MSc in Counselling and Supervision, MBACP (Accred)

About Caroline Yates

Caroline is a BACP accredited counsellor with a Masters in Science in counselling and supervision as well as a trained social worker, qualified mediator and critical incident debriefer. She has worked in the voluntary/charity sector and the NHS, as a counsellor, supervisor and a manager of counselling services

She also has experience of working with BACP on the Professional Conduct Committee and currently as a reviewer of resources provided on the BACP learning centre. She is interested in maintaining professional standards and good practice as well as keeping the relationship at the heart of counselling. 

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Kate Bowman

Course Leader for Psychotherapy & Tutor | MA Module 5

Kate Bowman

Course Leader for Psychotherapy & Tutor | MA Module 5

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP, Dip HIC, Dip PCC, Cert. Ed., BA (hons), Cert. Supervision, UKCP Reg

About Kate Bowman

Kate is Course Leader for the BCPC Psychotherapy Diploma, a UKCP registered psychotherapist, BCPC qualified counsellor, and a CTSD certified supervisor working in private practice in Bath. She has a special interest in working with groups, and previously worked as Group Facilitator for Wessex Counselling Services Foundation and Diploma training in Frome. She is also particularly interested in long term therapeutic work and the co-created processes and narratives that emerge within relationship over time.

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Barbara Gonzalez

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Wednesday)

Barbara Gonzalez

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Wednesday)

Qualifications

BA Dip HIC, MBACP (Accred)

About Barbara Gonzalez

Barbara is a BACP registered counsellor, facilitator and trainer. She has worked with varying client groups including those affected by substance misuse, domestic abuse, cancer, grief and bereavement. A BCPC graduate, she holds an additional PG Dip in Counselling Children and Young people and has worked across the charity sector and education as well as in private practice in Somerset. Barbara passionately specialises in Applied Ecopsychology and is the Founder and Director of Better Nature Ecotherapy CIC.

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Andrew Jubb

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Wednesday)

Andrew Jubb

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Wednesday)

Qualifications

BSc MA Dip. HIP

About Andrew Jubb

Andrew is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist and CSTD certified Supervisor. A graduate of BCPC, he works in private practice and also in partnership with a Local Authority offering psychotherapy to people experiencing homelessness. He works relationally, integrating Intersubjectivity Theory and Dialogical Gestalt, and has a particular interest in Existentialism and the Psycho-Spiritual and how these themes are developmentally informed.

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Katherine Engel

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Thursday)

Katherine Engel

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Thursday)

Qualifications

MA Art Psychotherapy, HCPC Reg

About Katherine Engel

Katherine is a HCPC registered Art Psychotherapist and a Couples Therapist working with adults and couples in private practice in Frome. She has experience of counselling in agency and charity settings before moving into private practice. Previously she worked in NHS mental health in-patient services and has an ongoing interest in working with people who have mental health diagnoses and experiences of psychiatric care. More recently she has completed training in the Pesso-Boyden method of psychotherapy and integrates these ideas into her work.

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Mike Swift

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Thursday)

Mike Swift

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Thursday)

Qualifications

BA, DipHIC, DipPAT

About Mike Swift

Mike is a BCPC trained BACP registered integrative counsellor with a post-graduate diploma in psychedelic-assisted therapy and depth psychology. He works in private practice with individuals and couples in central Bristol, integrating IFS, EMDR, and somatic breathwork within an intersubjective biopsychosocial framework that honours the psyche’s innate capacity to heal. His philosophy and approach are grounded in the belief that personal and collective wounding limits our natural capacity to grow, both individually and collectively as a species.

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Jimmy Whiteaker

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Friday)

Jimmy Whiteaker

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Friday)

Qualifications

FDA, NCPS Accred

About Jimmy Whiteaker

Jimmy is a NCPS accredited therapist trained in person centred psychotherapy and counselling. Jimmy works for two charities, Focus Counselling in Bath and Trauma Foundation South West in Bristol, and has a Bristol-based private practice. Jimmy draws on trauma and attachment theory and is particularly attuned to aesthetic qualities of how we relate in therapy. His background is in mental health, childcare and theatre, continuing to direct theatre when he can.

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Jet Simawi

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Friday)

Jet Simawi

Tutor | Foundation Certificate (Friday)

Qualifications

 MA, Cert. Ed., Dip HIP, UKCP reg

About Jet Simawi

Jet is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, Couples Therapist and Children and Young People Therapist and has an established and diverse private practice in Bath. She is also in the process of completing her Diploma qualification as a CSTD Supervisor. Jet is fascinated by the nature of psychotherapeutic process and change within the Self and how within the relational space we can illuminate the most fundamental questions about our identity. She is committed to exploring issues of division and segregation ranging from marginalised communities to matrescence. Jet also holds over two decades of teaching experiences. 

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Caroline Hukins

Tutor | Counselling Year 1

Caroline Hukins

Tutor | Counselling Year 1

Qualifications

Dip HIC, MBACP (Accred)

About Caroline Hukins

Caroline is a BCPC-trained, BACP-accredited counsellor and couples counsellor.  She has a private practice in north Wiltshire and previously worked as a counsellor in agency settings: We Hear You and Cotswold Counselling. Caroline is studying for an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes; she runs therapeutic writing groups, retreats, and workshops.  She has previously tutored on the BCPC course ‘Listening Skills in a Diverse World’.

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Lisa Kimberley

Tutor | Counselling Year 1

Lisa Kimberley

Tutor | Counselling Year 1

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP, UKCP Reg

About Lisa Kimberley

Lisa is a graduate of BCPC and a UKCP registered psychotherapist with extensive experience in private practice and within the NHS in Perinatal Mental Health Services, Cancer, Palliative Care and Haematology Service, and in recent years High Intensity Mental Health Services within West Wales working with people suffering with complex trauma. Lisa has also trained with Babette Rothschild and engages in body work and somatic approaches to stabilise the nervous system in response to trauma. She currently works as an integrative psychotherapist with Gloucester Action for Refugees (GARAS) and is undertaking UKCP-accredited supervisor training.

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Amanda Hawking

Tutor | Counselling Year 2

Amanda Hawking

Tutor | Counselling Year 2

Qualifications

MA, BA (Hons), Dip HIC, MBACP (Accred), Post-graduate Diploma in Supervision (CSTD)

About Amanda Hawking

Amanda is a trainer and BACP accredited counsellor with a private practice in Bath. Prior to setting up her practice, she worked at Cotswold Counselling and as a befriender at the Lullaby Trust. She has a special interest in working with loss and pre/post-natal issues. She trained at BCPC and has run the BCPC Referral Service.

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Steven Mason

Tutor | Counselling Year 2

Steven Mason

Tutor | Counselling Year 2

Qualifications

UKCP, MBACP Snr. Accred, SNCPS Acc.

About Steven Mason

Steve is a UKCP-registered Psychotherapist with an MSc in Humanistic Psychotherapy from Middlesex University. He works relationally, integrating a range of therapeutic approaches in his work with individuals and couples in private practice, alongside his role as a supervisor. Passionate about equality, diversity, and inclusion, Steve has extensive experience working with diverse communities across the South East in both agency settings and private practice, before recently relocating his practice to Somerset.

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Katrina Sutcliffe

Tutor | P1 & MA Modules 2 & 3

Katrina Sutcliffe

Tutor | P1 & MA Modules 2 & 3

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP, PG Dip. Dramatherapy, UKCP Reg, HCPC Reg

About Katrina Sutcliffe

Katrina is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist and HCPC registered Dramatherapist working with adults, couples and family groups in private practice in Bath. She has worked in a variety of settings including: The Roehampton Priory, St George’s Hospital and Cotswold House Eating Disorder Units, and a Medium Secure Prison. Prior to her initial Dramatherapy training, Katrina worked as a professional actress.

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Freya Lampard

Tutor | P1

Freya Lampard

Tutor | P1

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP, UKCP Reg

About Freya Lampard

Freya is a BCPC trained, UKCP registered Psychotherapist and a CTSD certified Supervisor. She has an established private practice in Dursley, Gloucestershire working with individuals and has experience working as a therapist within a General Practitioners surgery. Freya works intersubjectively in her therapeutic work and has a particular interest in the effects of intergenerational trauma and early developmental trauma on our relational patterns as adults.

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Jen Owen

Tutor | MA Module 1

Jen Owen

Tutor | MA Module 1

Qualifications

BA, Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg

About Jen Owen

Jen is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and a graduate of BCPC. She has an established private practice working with individuals in Stroud, Gloucestershire as well as a small practice in Bristol. Jen’s work integrates transpersonal and body-centred approaches informed primarily by her research in the field of Pre and Perinatal Psychology.  Prior to her training her background was in Fine Art. 

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Hester Viney

Tutor | MA Module 1

Hester Viney

Tutor | MA Module 1

Qualifications

MSC HP, Dip HP, Dip HPC, UKCP Reg

About Hester Viney

Hester is a UKCP registered psychotherapist with an MSc in Humanistic Psychotherapy from Metanoia, London. She has a private practice in Dorset, having initially set up practice in Chamonix, France. She has a theoretical interest in intersubjectivity, not only in the therapeutic relationship, but also between modalities. She enjoys writing and editing, having worked on the book ‘Core Concepts’ (Jacobs, 2026), including a chapter discussing pluralism.

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Jayne Burrows

Tutor | MA Module 2

Jayne Burrows

Tutor | MA Module 2

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP

About Jayne Burrows

Jayne is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and supervisor working in private practice in Bristol. Her approach mainly developed out of an integration of intersubjective system theory, dialogical and body approaches. She has a broad interest in trauma, complex/ relational trauma, and the various impacts that these experiences have on us as human beings.

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John Seex

Tutor | MA Modules 2 & 5

John Seex

Tutor | MA Modules 2 & 5

Qualifications

Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg

About John Seex

John is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, counsellor, couple counsellor, trainer and supervisor working in private practice in Chalford, near Stroud.  His approach is based on an integration of Intersubjectivity Systems Theory, Gestalt and contemplative approaches.  He is also a member of the faculty of Karuna Training in Europe.

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Chloe Tahta

Tutor | MA Modules 2 & 3

Chloe Tahta

Tutor | MA Modules 2 & 3

Qualifications

Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg, Cert. Supervision

About Chloe Tahta

Chloe is a UKCP registered supervisor and psychotherapist working in Bradford-on-Avon. She worked as a psychotherapist with asylum seekers for 11 years, and has researched the impact of collective trauma on subsequent generations. She has an ongoing interest in the integration of humanistic theory with relational psychoanalysis. 


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Claire Hawcock

Tutor | MA Modules 3, 4 & 5

Claire Hawcock

Tutor | MA Modules 3, 4 & 5

Qualifications

MA HIP, Dip HIP, BA (hons.), UKCP Reg

About Claire Hawcock

Claire is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and trainer working in private practice in Bath with both individuals and couples. She also has experience of working with addictions in an agency setting. Claire works integratively, combining humanistic and intersubjective approaches. She has a particular interest in the impact of shame on the therapeutic process.

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Cheryl Keen

Tutor | MA Modules 4 & 5

Cheryl Keen

Tutor | MA Modules 4 & 5

Qualifications

Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg

About Cheryl Keen

Cheryl is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and supervisor working with individuals, couples and young people in private practice in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Her interest is in the integration of relational and existential approaches.

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Tree Staunton

External Tutor & Emeritus

Tree Staunton

External Tutor & Emeritus

About Tree Staunton

Tree Staunton is a UKCP Honorary Fellow, and has been a Registered Body Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer for 35 years. She was MA Program Leader and Director of Studies at BCPC from 2011 and overall Director of the charity from 2014 - 2023.

Tree represented BCPC in UKCP  in addition to serving as Chair of the Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College for 5 years. She is a published author of various academic papers, contributing articles and editorships including Body Psychotherapy (ed, Routledge, 2002) and Being a Therapist in a Time of Climate Breakdown (co-eds Anderson, Staunton, O’Gorman and Hickman, Routledge 2024). She was awarded Emeritus status after stepping down as Director and continues to teach and supervise psychotherapists-in-training.

Tree has been a tutor delivering training at BCPC since 2002 and currently teaches units on Modules 2 & 3 & 5 of the Psychotherapy MA and is a tutor and internal examiner for final submissions.

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Maria Fender

External Tutor

Maria Fender

External Tutor

Qualifications

Dip HIP, MA HIP, UKCP Reg

About Maria Fender

Maria is a BCPC trained, UKCP Registered Psychotherapist, Couples Therapist, Supervisor and Family Law Supervisor with a private practice in Bath. She’s interested in working dialogically within long term relationship. Her further interests lie in Jungian depth psychology and its intersection with animism which inform her understanding of disconnection from a sense of belonging in transgenerational shame and trauma. Maria is currently co-tutoring a unit on Module 2 of the Psychotherapy MA.

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Paul Venables

External Tutor

Paul Venables

External Tutor

About Paul Venables

Paul Venables is a Jungian Analyst with the Guild of Analytical Psychologists. He previously trained as an Integrative Psychotherapist at the Minster Centre in London, and then as a supervisor at the Metanoia Institute. He has practiced both privately and in the public sector for twenty years. Originally an actor he worked in Theatre, Film, Television and Radio. Paul currently tutors a unit on Module 3 of the Psychotherapy MA.

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Mark Ames

Trustee

Mark Ames

Trustee

About Mark Ames

Mark worked for 35 years in various student support practitioner and leadership roles in further and higher education. He completed a Diploma in Integrative Counselling in 2000 and practiced as a counsellor in higher education before taking responsibility for the teams supporting student mental health and wellbeing at the Universities of Bath and Bristol. Mark is now practicing as a part time Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and Coach. 

Mark has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Off The Record which supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people in B&NES, and has also worked as a part time Administrator for BCPC coordinating the Placement provision, Referral Service and Low Cost Counselling Service. He was drawn to the idea of becoming a Trustee at BCPC because of the transformational impact he knows such training programmes can have on the personal and professional development of trainees and the clients they will work with.

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John Barrett

Trustee

John Barrett

Trustee

About John Barrett

John is a retired secondary school leader and has lived with his family in Wiltshire since 1997. He has extensive management and leadership experience, with particular interests in data, logistics and strategic development. He has worked closely with school governors to ensure decision making reflects the vision of an organisation guided by the Nolan principles of public life. John has always been a passionate advocate for the most disadvantaged students working to ensure they access the best possible education and all other opportunities available. From his work in school and through conversations with his wife, who works as a school counsellor, John has seen the positive impact of counselling services on the mental health, well-being and personal development of young people.

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Martin Gledhill

Trustee

Martin Gledhill

Trustee

About Martin Gledhill

Martin is an architect and lecturer who for many years led the degree programme in architecture at the University of Bath having previously established his own practice.  In 2012 he undertook a Masters degree in Jungian and Post Jungian Studies at the University of Essex which began a long held hope of linking a sense of place (architecture) with a sense of self (psychology).

He is presently in the writing up phase of a PhD at the University of Bangor, entitled A Biography of the Tower - a study of Carl Jung’s Bollingen retreat on Lake Zurich. He hopes that this will become a book. Over the years he has taken an interest in BCPC as a training organisation, and holds a sense of the importance of the ‘therapeutic encounter’ in education, as well as a compassion for the student ‘voice’.

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Frankie McGibney

Trustee

Frankie McGibney

Trustee

About Frankie McGibney

Frankie is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and CTSD supervisor, with a background in teaching and training. Initially a secondary school teacher, she later worked for the Open University, training participants to organise and run various interest groups in the community, such as ageing, health and welfare, etc. and ran groups herself in Leyhill Open Prison. She went on to become a lecturer at the University of Wales, Caerleon alongside developing her private practice in Bristol which included further training in EMDR, and many years in a residential setting working with people with severe emotional difficulties.

Frankie’s long experience as a psychotherapist and involvement in the community with people from different backgrounds and with varying needs enables her to bring a useful and balanced perspective to the work of the Board.

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Sarah Shatwell

Trustee

Sarah Shatwell

Trustee

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Peter Hawkins

Emeritus

Peter Hawkins

Emeritus

Qualifications

Ph.D

About Peter Hawkins

Professor Peter Hawkins Ph.D. founded BCPC in 1984, recruiting Alix Pirani to co-lead the first courses with him. He led the organisation for the first eight years both as chairman of BCPC until it became a registered charity, and as a Director of studies. He continued as Chair of the Training Committee for several years after he finished teaching, and has supported the trustees and the future directors when needed. He was a founder member of UKCP and the first chair of the Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy section. He is the author of many best selling books on Psychotherapy, Supervision, Systemic Coaching and Team Coaching and Leadership and still teaches in many countries around the world, as well as chairing Renewal Associates.

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Judy Ryde

Emeritus

Judy Ryde

Emeritus

Qualifications

PhD

About Judy Ryde

Judy Ryde is a co-founder of BCPC and founder of Trauma Foundation South West, where she is on the board of trustees. She a Director of the Centre for Supervision Training and Development (CSTD Bath) and previously worked as a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer. She has completed doctoral research into ‘whiteness’ within psychotherapy and psychotherapy organisations at the University of Bath and her book Being White in the Helping Professions was published in 2009. Her book White Awareness Unmasked: How to be part of the solution was published in April 2019. She is now retired and devotes her time to writing fiction.

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Jane Purkiss

Emeritus

Jane Purkiss

Emeritus

About Jane Purkiss

Jane Purkiss graduated from BCPC in 1995 and completed her Post Qualifying MA in 2006.  She was a staff member for many years, teaching on all levels of the MA Psychotherapy programme and worked as a psychotherapist and supervisor alongside her teaching. She was Head of Training at BCPC from 2007 until 2011 and then joined the Centre for Supervision Training and Development (CSTD) as a supervisor and tutor. Jane was awarded Emeritus membership in 2012.

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Kelvin Hall

Emeritus

Kelvin Hall

Emeritus

About Kelvin Hall

Kelvin Hall graduated from BCPC in 1992 and completed his Post Qualifying MA in 2012. He retired in 2021 after 37 years of practice. He had a previous career in community arts and education and was a professional oral storyteller for many years, appearing in schools, festivals and arts venues, exploring the relevance of story to therapy in many courses and written pieces. He integrated equine-assisted and eco-therapy approaches into his practice and has written numerous articles exploring the implications of this. Kelvin designed and delivered The Ecological Self, for a module on the BCPC MA Psychotherapy programme and contributed to several other training/CPD programmes on this subject. He was a BCPC Trustee from 2006-2010, Chair of Trustees 2009-2010 and Chair of the Training Committee 2007-2013. He was awarded Emeritus status in 2013.

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Jon Hastings

Emeritus

Jon Hastings

Emeritus

About Jon Hastings

Jon Hastings graduated from BCPC as a psychotherapist in 1995, having previously worked as a counsellor. He was on the staff team for over 10 years tutoring and supervising students on the BCPC psychotherapy training. He served on the Training Committee and was Chair of the Standards & Ethics Committee for many years. He also ran counselling services for inner city GP practices in Bristol, and developed a series of therapeutic workshops for men. He retired as a psychotherapist in 2022 after 36 years in private practice, and began developing an Art Practice, having attended Access and HND courses in Fine Art. Jon was awarded BCPC Emeritus membership in 2016.