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.
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.
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.
Tree Staunton is a UKCP Honorary Fellow, and has been a Registered Body Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer for over 30 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 membership after stepping down as Director and continues to teach and supervise psychotherapists-in-training.
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.
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.