Drawing upon the work of Jean Illsley Clarke (TA), Dan Hughes (DDP) and Debs Dana (Neuroscience). This workshop will explore TA’s continued relevance in the field of working with relational trauma within family relationships and how integrating different therapy and research modalities can provide a richer and more meaningful therapeutic experience for everyone involved in the therapeutic process.

The American poet Robert Frost famously wrote :

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We’re at this conference because TA came into our lives. What difference has it made to us? In this creative writing workshop we’ll explore this question. We’ll discuss Frost’s poem, and others in which poets consider significant experiences and influences. We’ll stimulate creativity with some writing for wellbeing journalling. Hopefully this will lead us into more writing – poems and prose – that may reflect some of the impact that TA has had on our lives.

This is an experiential workshop, based on my own learnings as a client and now how I use these learnings with my clients today.
When we are in the therapy room, the therapist and client each hold their space in the room. There is a third space, the space in which the client and therapist leave the things they either do not want in the room, or as it was in my case, could not bring into the room.

My therapy began by working with my therapist to discover what was being held in the ‘Third Space’, the space where there was no audible voice but there were some clues. This is how my therapeutic journey in silence led to my Child’s story unfolding and how the therapist used my written history to find my voice.

Within our philosophy, we believe that each person has worth, value, dignity, and deserves to be treated accordingly. However, within our society this isn’t always the case, particularly for people who are Neurodivergent. Research shows that Acceptance is the foundation stone for working effectively with Neurodivergent Clients (Bowers and Widdowson 2023).

Building on ideas from last year’s workshop and research outcomes, we will consider how Neurodivergent people may risk oppression by our society (whether consciously or unconsciously), what beliefs we may hold as practitioners that risk further oppression or alienation and how we can build a foundation stone of acceptance of neurodivergence in and outside our treatment rooms.

We will explore how Neurodivergent ‘Super Powers’ can be celebrated in the therapy room, looking at how clients’ ‘special interests’ can be used. We will use Bowers and Widdowson’s Relational Affirmations to explore how a ‘heart to heart’ connection can be formed between therapist and client, giving Permission for Neurodivergent clients’ core selves to emerge safely and be treated with full acceptance.

Giovanni and Gun would like to invite you to a workshop titled ‘Rites of Passage’.
We are both interested in the topic, and we have in mind for this to be a didactic and experiential workshop/ meeting space.
We will consider the ‘birth’ of the psychotherapist, moving on to reflect on the experiences that have shaped our personal/ professional selves. How do we earn our professional stripes? How do we get to tolerate difficulties and be enough?

How do we, as professionals, reflect on the foundations of our practice? What does it hold or mean in our current political and philosophical climate to identify (or not ) as being a Transactional Analyst?

Giovanni and Gun aim to invite the group to explore and reflect on the existential steps a psychotherapist might need to take to feel grounded and potent enough in their practice. What does being a Transactional Analyst mean/hold in the here and now?

Art and science come together when we work with the head and with the heart. In non-emergency situations most people value the kindness of professional helpers more than their scientific knowledge. So it seems that care and compassion – the professional manifestations of a loving heart – are often more important than technical know-how. The science tells us that anxiety and depression are on the increase whilst therapy and counselling have never been more available. What does this tell us? What can we in the TA world do in response? These are vital questions for our times. This workshop will be about opening our hearts to the troubles around us, whilst keeping a clear head. I’ll talk about my own understanding of how and why to do this and I’ll be very interested to hear yours.

I’m interested in offering an experiential workshop space for people to explore how ‘physis’ is an energy that goes not just ‘up and out’ (green shoots), but also ‘down and in’ (messy roots?). Participants will be invited to engage with questions and enquiries from their field of practice. In line with the conference themes I aim to develop thinking that looks both backwards and forwards in time as it also grounds its roots (and produces new shoots) in present context and considerations.

(The especial relevance of Fanita English 3 Drives (Existential Pattern) theory today.) Combining presentation, self reflection, pair and group discussion we will explore these three Drives, and how we include them in our personal and professional lives. Although Fanita English first proposed this theory in 1992, I believe it is deeply significant today, with the rise in damaging humancentric behaviours such as social media addiction. We will explore how this understanding can support clients, students, colleagues. How balancing these Drives can help heal trauma, re-attach with a sense of belonging in the world, and how they align with a more embodied, neurologically aware and ecological approach. Suitable for all.

The 21st century is seeing more elder/older Transactional Analysts than there have ever been as more people work longer into old age.

In this workshop we will explore the variety of influences and experiences which shape who we are and who we might become. We will open the space for sharing and discovering what we do and don’t know yet about this process.

We welcome practitioners from all fields of TA to share this journey of self discovery.