Join us for the second iteration of Missing/Omission: re-centering the voices of Black Therapists in discussions around the intersections between Culture, Identity, Mental-Health, Race and Racism. The symposium is an invitation to bring communities of professionals and people together to provide a rare opportunity for conversation and community.
The aim of our discussion is to how we move towards creating more inclusive Therapy spaces that go deeper than superficial and performative change.
Black people are over-represented in mental health institutions and the criminal justice system, but underrepresented in the mental health professions. This unique CPD event begins to partially redress this imbalance by foregrounding the voices of Black clinicians. It will bring together unique professional and public perspectives in thinking about creating more inclusive and safe spaces in therapy, moving discussion outside of institutions and conferences spaces and into the wider community. The discussion will explore its central themes systemically, thinking about how healthcare, education and social systems influence health access and outcomes. We will be confronting how narratives and dynamics of power, trauma, joy, and authenticity emerge in the Therapy room, on both sides of the couch.
Discussion covered will include:
The impacts of Racism and Racial discrimination on Mental Health and well-being,
Creating safer and inclusive Therapy practices,
Exploring power dynamics in the therapeutic relationships and creating safer spaces for Black and global majority communities,
International perspectives on Therapy practice - comparing approaches in communities where back communities are the majority community and where communities are representative of a minority community.
It will be an opportunity to further and revisit discussions from Missing/Omission part I (held in September 2024). Panels will again be host by Presented and BBC1xtra, Richie Brave - who has been invited back by popular demand!
The symposium will use the arts to move us through and accompany the symposium. Please note, workshops need to be booked in early October 2025 and information about booking will be sent during early October 2025. Lunch will be provided for full day ticket holders and the venue is accessible.
Who Should Attend:
Mental health professionals, Therapists, Social Workers, Educators, Researchers, Students, and anyone invested in building equitable and culturally attuned systems of care.