Being Person-Centred in a Medicalised World

This is the next in the series of all day face to face experiential CPDs offered by the Brighton Person-Centred community. We are excited to welcome Rachel Freeth to Brighton to explore this topic, drawing on her experience as a person-centred counsellor and working as a psychiatrist in the NHS for 25 years. Like our other events, this will be an opportunity to connect, share, explore and learn in an environment where we can be.

When something or someone is being medicalised what does this mean to you?

We live in a culture where the so-called ‘medical model’ has a powerful influence on narratives around health/illness and helping activities of many kinds, including in the arena of emotional and psychological functioning (or mental health). It is now also increasingly present within the counselling and psychotherapy world. As person-centred practitioners this can be challenging.

Through a mixture of presentation, personal reflection, small groups and large group discussion this workshop invites us to consider:

• How we might understand the medical model both conceptually and in practice
• What the medicalisation of distress means to us personally and the range of reactions and responses it might evoke in us as person-centred practitioners
• Some of the challenges and tensions we face living in a medicalised world and/or working in organisational settings dominated by the medical model
• The ways in which the person-centred approach offers a radical alternative
• What might help us to hold on to different narratives and ways of being

This workshop aims to inform, encourage and, hopefully, to inspire.

About Rachel Freeth

I worked for over 25 years as an NHS psychiatrist mostly within Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Throughout much of this time I have also been a person-centred counsellor, having trained in the late 1990s. No longer working as a psychiatrist, I now work as a therapist and supervisor in private practice. Through workshops and writing over many years I have been keen to build bridges of understanding between these two very different worlds. See www.rachelfreeth.com for more about me and my various publications, including my latest book Psychiatry and Mental Health. A guide for counsellors and psychotherapists (PCCS Books; 2020).

Tickets
£85 / £65 for students or unemployed and are sold on a first come first served basis. You will receive an e-Ticket from TicketTailor - the name on the booking will be added to the participant list on the door. We do not offer refunds unless the workshop is cancelled by us. However, please let Jenn Payne-Gregory know if you are unable to attend (email: jennpaynegregory@gmail.com) as we may be able to re-sell your ticket if the event is full and then we can provide you with a refund.

Parking
We would suggest that you travel to the workshop on public transport where possible. There is an NCP carpark on Church Road, a few minutes’ walk from Community Base, but parking can be expensive for a whole day.

CPD
CPD certificates (6.5 hours) will be distributed to participants at the end of the workshop or via email afterwards.

Brighton Person Centred Community
This workshop is organised by volunteers through the Brighton Person Centred Community. Please go to our website for more information and details of other events www.brightonbapca.co.uk

On the day
The workshop is in the 5th floor conference room at Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG. Go to the South Wing entrance, buzz for the conference room and ask to be let in, there is a lift available. Doors open at 9.30am for a 10am start. We aim to finish at 4pm.

Accessibility 

There is a lift to access the room. Also based on feedback from other events, we have a small breakout room available for people who may prefer a quieter space during the breaks. We are open to questions or suggestions for how to make the events more accessible, so if you have any particular needs that aren't covered please email jennpaynegregory@gmail.com so we can consider these.