Listening In

Please be aware this episode mentions sexual harm.   What takes someone from leaving school in their mid-teens with no qualifications to becoming a social worker, probation officer, lecturer and psychotherapist?   Our latest podcast explores the career journey of Diane Wills, someone whose work sits at the intersection of criminal justice, psychology and human behaviour.   With a particular interest in the extremes of human behaviour, Diane specialises in working with those who have committed sexual harm - bringing her experience, training and insight to understand and support the person behind the behaviour.   Diane's path is about second chances, curiosity, and the search to understand what drives people to exhibit behaviour that is difficult for many of us to comprehend.   If you’d like to learn more about Diane’s work, she will be presenting ones the NCPS free Lunchtime Learning webinars on 27th April 2027. To book your place NCPS Lunchtime Learning - Diane Wills Tickets, Wednesday, April 21, 2027  •  12 PM - 1 PM GMT+1 | Eventbrite

Please be aware this episode explores the topic of suicide and being bereaved by suicide.   Helen McMenamin, founder of The Flying Fish Company lost her husband to suicide when she was in her early 20’s. After years of trauma and grief, discovering EMDR helped her find a way back to herself.   Helen and I talk a little about her grief experience, but we talk more about what that led to, her work in postvention; that is, spreading the message, through the Flying Fish Company, that supporting people in grief, can help prevent more losses.   For more information about Helen and her work - The Flying Fish Company® Navigating Life After Loss | Grief Awareness Training & Support   BS 30480 Suicide and the Workplace - https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/insights-and-media/insights/brochures/bs-30480-suicide-and-the-workplace/   NCPS Events page - Events | NCPS

Please be aware this episode explores the topic of childhood violence and sexual abuse.   Today it’s our pleasure and honour to be joined by Iain Peters, a powerful and emotional voice on the subject of childhood abuse, which comes from his own lived experience.   Any therapist understands the quiet sense of privilege and humility we feel when sat in the presence of someone sharing such painful traumas and distressing stories. And sitting with Iain, albeit in a non-therapeutic environment, felt no different. His ability to convey what happened to him as a young child and how it impacted his life , is deeply moving, while also ultimately inspiring and hopeful.   An experienced climber, Iain eventually reported what happened and sought support in his early 60s. And after the life changing counselling he received, Iain is now able to reflect on the abuse, and separate the person he became, from the person he was born to be – full of curiosity, freedom, and a sense of adventure.   To learn more about Iain and his story please visit Iain Peters - The Corridor

Please be aware the focus of this episode is suicide.   Today we are delighted to welcome Alice Hendy MBE, the founder of R;pple Alice’s brother Josh took his own life 5 years ago when he was just 21, and mere weeks later, Alice was already thinking of ways in which she could help prevent others from doing the same. And so, R;pple was born; a browser extension created with the sole intention of saving lives.   R;pple now has over 2 million users worldwide and Alice has been personally contacted by over 30 individuals telling her they wouldn’t be here were it not for R;pple. And by her own admission, honouring her own grief and loss, Alice would add herself to that group. She says,  “I'd go as far to say that R;pple’s probably saved my life as well.”   For more information, and to download Ripple on your own devices, visit Ripple | Crisis Intervention, Suicide Prevention & Mental Health   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

In this episode we are delighted to welcome a man whose interest in human behaviour began with the story of someone he never met. The grandfather of Simon Coombs was a dispatch rider who served at Dunkirk and the D-Day landings, and he returned deeply changed by war. That family legacy sparked a lifelong curiosity in Simon about how experiences shape people. After going through multiple redundancies (each bringing its own challenges to his mental health) Simon turned these experiences into purpose. Determined to make support for the jobless more accessible, he launched an initiative offering talking therapies to long-term unemployed individuals. Today, through his organisation, Working Minds, his work is deeply rooted in lived experience,  professional insight, and can be traced all the way back to the beaches of Dunkirk.   For more information Working Minds - Mental Health and Wellbeing Professionals   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

NAPAC: Belief, the Most Valuable Currency We Possess   Please be aware this episode explores the topic of childhood abuse.   At a time when the media landscape once more forces us to confront the awful reality of childhood abuse, we are blessed to be joined by Olivia Peri, Head of Learning with the National Association of People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC). We look at what happens for victim survivors, when high profile people, and high-profile cases dominate the national conversation. What impact does that have on them, on their loved ones and on those who support them? And what happens when those accused do not appear to be held to account? Olivia, has the ability to speak about this sensitive and complex subject with a balance of compassion and sound clinical practice.   For more information about the work NAPAC does, please visit NAPAC - Supporting Recovery From Childhood Abuse

As the Brand & Integrity Manager at Happiful, Katherine (Kat) Nicholls knows a great deal about how clients find therapists and how therapists find clients.  In this conversation, Kat shares tips and advice about how to promote your work online ethically and authentically – something we know practitioners can struggle with.  How can you build a practice that feels right, that feels aligned with both your approach and your personality?  Kat helps us understand the difference between selling and connecting.   For more information about all the work Kat and the Happiful family do, you can go to https://happiful.com 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

Claire Thompson is, amongst many other things, Neurodiversity Ambassador for the NCPS. In this role she has shared research-informed insights through her writing and conference work, all with the aim of creating a more accepting world for neurodivergence. There’s a reason why Claire is such a passionate advocate; and that is due to her own lived experience.  She tells us how being a Mum to 3 neurodivergent children, resulted in her own personal discovery of difference and identity when she herself was diagnosed AuDHD. In addition, Claire has recently completed a PhD at Ulster University, where through its famous murals, she researched the intergenerational impact of the conflict in Northern Ireland. By listening in, you can hear Claire describing an exploration of socioeconomics, identity, tourism trauma and PTSD. 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

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

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