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Listen in to conversations with a diverse community of people, all of whom have a shared goal; to improve the mental health landscape for all. Come and join us as we explore the world of wellbeing with our community - members and friends.

  1. FEB 9

    Meera Vohora: Humanity First; Working with Refugees

    Meera Vohora is a pluralistic counsellor, grief and loss specialist  and refugee support volunteer with Care4Calais. She holds a Master’s in Refugee Care from the University of Essex, where her training was rooted in a psychosocial approach — one that views psychological wellbeing as inseparable from social, cultural, political, and relational contexts. Born in Kenya of Indian heritage and later moving to the UK, Meera’s own experiences of identity, belonging, and cultural dislocation inform her professional work. Her practice today centres on trauma-informed, relational approaches that recognise grief, resilience, and the full humanity of her clients.   To register for Meera’s NCPS Lunchtime Learning webinar: Events | NCPS   Further Reading / Influences: Boss, P (2010) Bereavement Care: Ambiguous Loss: Learning how to live with Unresolved Grief. https://www.bereavementjournal.org/index.php/berc/article/view/778   Doka, K. J. (1999). Disenfranchised grief. Bereavement care, 18(3), 37-39.   Papadopoulos, R. K. (2002). Refugees, home and trauma. In R. K. Papadopoulos (Ed.), Therapeutic Care for Refugees: No Place Like Home. London: Karnac. Tavistock Clinic Series.   Zephaniah, B (2011) Refugee boy. Bloomsbury Publishing   UNHCR: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support. Unhcr.org   Care4Calais: care4calais.org   Refugee Action: refugee-action.org.uk

    58 min

  2. 11/10/2025

    Meg Moss on AI: Relational Safeguards and Protecting Human Connection

    Please be aware, the topic of suicide is briefly mentioned in this conversation. Meg Moss is Head of Public Affairs and Advocacy with the NCPS.  An increasingly important part of Megs work involves researching and exploring the use of AI in mental health provision - to better understand its potential impact on the work of the counselling profession, the future provision of services, and how it might shape the human emotional experience more broadly. In a wide-ranging conversation, we cover everything from the commodification of data to the risks of turning AI to combat loneliness and isolation. We discuss the importance of relational connection and empathy, as well as disagreements and friction, all as vital ingredients to personal growth and understanding. But perhaps most importantly are the UK’s first relational safeguards for AI mental health tools that Meg has developed, warning us that, without clear boundaries, chatbots and apps risk causing serious harm, particularly to children and young people. Without such safeguards and careful considerations in place, Meg worries that AI devalues relationship, connection and humanity.   For more information about the Six Principles for Relational Safeguards in AI Mental Health Tools NCPS | Press release: First blueprint to make AI mental health tools…   Here is the NCPS response to the recent Ipsos study exploring how people in Great Britain are using, and feeling about, AI in their daily lives  NCPS | NCPS Responds: New Ipsos research shows why so many Britons…   For a longer read, here is Meg’s update about AI in therapy NCPS | AI in Therapy - September 2025 Update   Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation.   This episode was recorded on Teams   Produced by Leto Blackwell   Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society   Website: www.ncps.com   Subtitles are auto generated

    1h 5m

  3. 10/13/2025

    Pamela Kirkpatrick: Flipping Burgers for Community

    Pamela Kirkpatrick is a practitioner, trainer and co-founder of NCPS Recognised Counselling Service, uHub. But Pam, along with her colleague Cara, also invest considerable time and energy into their community; a community that continues to bear the bruises from its history.   Communities in Transition, was designed by the NI Executive in 2015 to support projects that would empower individuals and groups to affect positive change for themselves and their communities To this end, Pam and Cara have given up their own time to connect with an understandably cautious community. So, they developed creative ways to become accepted and from small, tentative steps, meaningful trust was built. Only then were they were able to support people that previously might never have contemplated change, never mind counselling.   This story is testament not only to our capacity and potential for change, but also to the gentle patience of the practitioner. It’s a reminder that the work we do, is as much art and creativity, relational and empathy, as it is study and theory.   For more information about Pam and the uHub team uHub – Counselling Service and Therapy Centre. Bangor, North Down.   To learn about Communities in Transition Communities in Transition – Background | The Executive Office   Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation.   This episode was recorded on Teams   Produced by Leto Blackwell   Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society   Website: www.ncps.com   Subtitles are auto generated

    51 min

  4. 09/08/2025

    Lynda Graham: Treat us as Individuals, Not a Big Group

    Lynda Graham is the NCPS Regional Representative for Northern Ireland and a prominent and experienced voice across the counselling profession, particularly on the subject of adoption.  Originally a social worker, her work with children and families, took her along what felt like a natural path, to counselling.   Lynda is a passionate advocate for counsellors and the profession as a whole, especially keen to advocate for those living and working in Northern Ireland. And while there is an important need to recognise the specific challenges encountered there, Lynda is clear, that just as we see the individual in our daily practice, we also need to see Northern Ireland as any other place, with its own regional diversity and differences. We need to be mindful, it is a tapestry woven together with many different threads and should not be defined by one story alone.   For more information about the NCPS Regional Representatives NCPS | Regional Representatives   Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation.   This episode was recorded on Teams   Produced by Leto Blackwell   Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society   Website: www.ncps.com   Subtitles are auto generated

    47 min

  5. 08/18/2025

    Cherelle Mead: Identity Has Always Been Complex

    Cherelle Mead, is many things, both professionally and personally.  A counsellor, supervisor, charity trustee, and now the NCPS Regional Representative for Wales, Cherelle is also a proud and devoted Mum, neurodivergent, gender fluid, and biracial. Coming from social disadvantage and a chaotic upbringing, she searched for safety and security which she found in community, rather than family.  It’s no surprise then, in her heart she holds a passion for equality and advocacy for marginalised identities, as well as the counselling profession as a whole.   For more information about the NCPS Regional Representatives NCPS | Regional Representatives   Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation.   This episode was recorded on Teams   Produced by Leto Blackwell   Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society   Website: www.ncps.com   Subtitles are auto generated

    57 min

  6. 07/21/2025

    Gemma Khairi: Helplines Partnership

    Content: Please be aware there is a brief mention of suicide in this episode.   Gemma Khairi is Director of Operations for Helplines Partnership, the membership body for organisations that provide information, support or advice via phone, email, text or online. Gemma and her colleagues work to maintain standards, offer training, advice and support across the helplines sector.   Having a kind and generous father, Gemma witnessed the art of compassion from an early age, as her Dad worked to support people in the community, as well as caring for his children as a single parent – including Gemma's disabled brother.   Maybe as natural extension of those formative years, Gemma went on to study human rights and social justice, which took her into various roles working alongside some of the most vulnerable people in society; young care leavers, young offenders, sex workers and people living with HIV.   There are stark differences between relationships created in a therapeutic setting, and the one-off, sometimes distressing, sometimes anonymous, crisis calls that helpline staff may deal with, and Gemma helps us understand what that can be like.   We discuss the pitfalls of burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, as well as those things we can do personally and professionally, to mitigate the inevitable hazards of this work.   It is estimated there will be well in excess of over 60 million calls to helplines annually, and thanks to Gemma, the team at Helplines Partnership, and all those they support –  we can feel confident in referring loved ones and clients for help.   For more information about Helplines Partnership Home - Helplines Partnership Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation. This episode was recorded on Teams Produced by Leto Blackwell Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Website: www.ncps.com Subtitles are auto generated

    1h 5m

  7. 06/18/2025

    Jocelyn Anderson: Sexual Violence is Still in the 'Too Difficult' Box

    Content: Please be aware that this episode contains graphic content around sexual violence, sex, misogyny and pornography, that some people may find upsetting. Jocelyn Anderson is CEO of West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, and the NCPS Ambassador for survivors of rape and sexual violence.  Moving from an unfulfilling job in finance to a career in counselling, Jocelyn has become a fierce advocate for victim/survivors, as well as for smaller community-based services that offer them vital support.  In our conversation together, we explore the many barriers that are faced by those who work in this area, and those they support. From stigma and ignorance, to lengthy fights for justice and funding, Jocelyn doesn’t hold back from describing the reality of the situation - because speaking truth openly, can contribute to action, change, and the reduction of shame. For more information about the work of  Jocelyn's team at WMRSASC Home - WMRSASC To learn more about 'Hackett's continuum' Understanding sexualised behaviour in children | NSPCC Learning   Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation. This episode was recorded on Teams Produced by Leto Blackwell Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Website: www.ncps.com Subtitles are auto generated

    1h 2m

  8. 05/12/2025

    Caroline Roodhouse: Surviving and Thriving After Loss by Suicide

    Please be aware that suicide and bereavement by suicide is the main focus of this episode. Steve Roodhouse left for work one day, and never came home. Caroline, his wife was faced with the awful reality that Steve had taken his own life, and found herself in the unimaginable position of having to tell their two young daughters; Evie who was 9, and Ada, who was 2. Since then Caroline has help others understand about the reality of life after a suicide by writing and speaking about her experience and she gives a voice to others impacted by this particular type of grief. In her own sensitive, yet frank and unflinching way,  Caroline describes how anger helped her cope, and protected her from sadness , and how finding the right therapist at the right time helped her through the complex emotions that a grief by suicide evokes. She describes the unique responsibility of being a double parent, living minute by minute, day by day, navigating her own grief, while supporting Evie and Ada with theirs. Now, Caroline feels she is at last able to carry hope. Along with memories of Steve, hope has become part of the story that she and the  girls, are now writing together. Because this conversation is not just Caroline's story, but Steve’s Evie's and Ada's also.   You can learn more about Caroline's experience, work and her book, 'Daddy Blackbird', here: Daddy Blackbird - Surviving and thriving after loss by suicide For more information about child bereavement charity Winston's Wish: Winston's Wish - Bereavement Support for Children Please remember to like and subscribe, so you can always be part of the conversation. This episode was recorded on Teams Produced by Leto Blackwell Created by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Website: www.ncps.com Subtitles are auto generated

    48 min
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About

Listen in to conversations with a diverse community of people, all of whom have a shared goal; to improve the mental health landscape for all. Come and join us as we explore the world of wellbeing with our community - members and friends.

Information

  • Creator
    NCPS
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Listening In