STAA 2025 Conference - Glasgow

We will be gathering from 9 a.m.

Conference starts at 9.30.

Lunch will be served at 12:45.

Conference closes at 5:00

If you have specific dietry needs please contact STAA by emailing [email protected]

The Studio is located in Glasgow City Centre.

Queen Street Train Station - 2 minute walk.

Glasgow Central Station - 9 minute walk.

Glasgows Buchanan Bus station - 15 minute walk.

Embodying Sanctuary: Navigating the complexity of working with people seeking sanctuary in the UK

People seeking asylum experience multiple complex transitions as they seek sanctuary and navigate life in the UK. The social and political discourse in response to people in exile seeking sanctuary in the UK is shifting. How does this influence our response to supporting people to rebuild their lives? This workshop aims to explore the nature of working therapeutically with refugees and people seeking asylum, and the discourse that impacts on this important work through the lens of transactional analysis theory.

Norma Mckinnon Fathi, PTSTA (P) (she/her) is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, trainer and Eco Therapist who works both outdoors and online from an ecological and systemic perspective.

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Across the Threshold - exploring Rituals for Transition and Change

This workshop will explore our relationship with transition and change through experiential learning and community discussion. Using indigenous rites of passage as a structure for understanding transition cycles, we will consider how ritual may already support our encounters with change. Gentle ecological exercises will then help us explore ritual for working with transition, including how we move into and out of periods of change safely. Such rituals can assist in supporting those moving through change, as well as helping us embed learning and growth, bringing new depths of connection with self, other and the more-than-human world.

Bill Pererra-Wood

Raised in the Republic of Ireland, Bill’s training in TA Psychotherapy follows his career in secondary Geography education. In his psychotherapy work he blends creativity, nature, and relational insight to support clients in gently navigating identity, change, and growth.

UKCP Trainee TA Psychotherapist - 3rd Year Trainee with a background in Earth and Ocean Sciences, Teaching with qualifications in ecological integrative psychotherapy and co-creative group work.

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Humiliation - the Nuclear bomb of Emotions - what is it, why do we need to know about it and what is its link to radicalisation and neurodiversity

This workshop will explore Humiliation and why it’s so relevant to what’s happening in the world today. Using the work of Klein, Lindner and Hartling we will explore its unusual history and the reasons therapists and educators need to be aware of humiliation’s power, its characteristics and why it’s easily mistaken for shame.

Bob Hunter

Bob works online in Private Practice and specialises in ND and exBoarding School Clients. He is diagnosed ADHD and has had a varied career path before becoming a TA therapist. You can find out more about Bob and how he works on his website - www.bobhunter.co.uk

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Quo Vadis – Where are you going? Understand the therapist you are becoming by exploring your professional identity through a TA lens.

Your answer to “Who am I as a therapist?” shapes how you practice, connect, and present yourself to the world. This workshop invites you to explore that question through the creative lens of Transactional Analysis. For trainees, new practitioners, or anyone refining their professional narrative, we will combine TA theory, hands-on exercises, and guided discussion to help you define and express your therapeutic identity.

All fields/All levels. Suited for those prior to setting up or in the early stages of private practice or developing identity for sections A & B of CTA.

Ashley Jack is a TA CTA – (P) and business owner running both a psychotherapy practice and a psychotherapeutic space in Dundee’s city centre. She is passionate about our relationships and relationship with self and explores this using curiosity and creativity.

Agnieszka Carruthers, MA, MBACP, is a counsellor in private practice in Cumbria

and an Assistant Tutor at Physis Scotland. She focuses on transgenerational trauma

and working with neurodivergence, particularly ADHD. Aggie is passionate about art

and enjoys outdoor activities.

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Exploring The Toybox - discovering who we are through play.

In this workshop we will be exploring how we can use play therapy techniques with adult clients to work with identity and access material and feelings that are often difficult to find through talking alone. We will focus on the Child ego state, somatic approaches and the creative ways toys can be used for deeply relational work. We will also develop Lee's Mirror Exercise, using play to engage directly with the visualised child in the work.

Sally Holloway -contractual trainee- has a private practice in North Wales and has trained in TA with children and young people and also been a teacher and foster carer. Sally has developed an interest in adapting play techniques for adult clients in therapy.

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Unbending the Penny: How Childhood Trauma Shapes Adult Identity and Transitions to Healing

This workshop will explore 'healthy' developmental ego state process and how this can be undermined by trauma. We will then explore some key, practical steps for working with developmental trauma in the therapy space.

Andy Williams is a seasoned psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer based in Leeds, UK, with over two decades of experience in the field of psychotherapy. Andy is actively involved in supervision and consultancy, offering guidance to practitioners across various sectors, including universities, the NHS, and corporate organisations.

Ben Groves is a psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer based in York. With over a decade of experience in mental health and social care, he specialises in trauma within his private practice.

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Soil and Soul: how does our relationship with transitional ecological landscapes shape our emotional geography

Land is a keeper of stories; how do transitions in its usage, and how we relate to this, shape our emotional geography? This workshop aims to explore how our inner landscapes are shaped by our changing ecological landscapes and how this impacts on our relationship with, and stewardship of, the land. By exploring our relationship to place can we expand our understanding of self, who we are in a more than human world. The workshop will draw upon TA theory and Ecotherapy practices to support an exploration of how we relate to challenged or wounded places in the more than human world.

Norma Mckinnon Fathi, PTSTA (P) (she/her) is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, trainer and Eco therapist who works both outdoors and online from an ecological and systemic perspective.

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TBC

Fiona Firman and Fiona Cook

Info: Welcome refreshments and registration in the Mezzanine Library

Info: Nea Clark will open the conference with her keynote exploring Transitions & Identity. Nea is an experienced PTSTA psychotherapist, author, supervisor, NLP practitioner, and ADHD coach with a passion for supporting Neurodivergent individuals. She works with trainees across multiple institutes, offering dedicated guidance to help them navigate their professional development. Nea provides a wide range of services, including face-to-face and online supervision, group supervision sessions, and regularly hosts webinars and seminars to share her expertise.
Specialising in Neurodiversity, Nea primarily focuses on working with clients and supervisees with ADHD and Dyslexia. She has built a reputation for her thoughtful, client-centred approach that empowers individuals to embrace their unique strengths while addressing challenges. Her commitment to this field led her to develop a comprehensive therapeutic treatment plan and training program specifically designed for working with ADHD clients.

Event Venue

thestudio..., 67 Hope Street, Glasgow, United Kingdom