PROGRAMME Mental Health in Schools: A Young Person’s Right
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Therapy and Social Change Network
The Therapy and Social Change (TaSC) Network is a broad affiliation of people interested in exploring the interface between therapeutic ideas and practices and social justice perspectives and actions.
We are interested both in the ways that counselling and psychotherapy can be practiced with social justice concerns in mind (for instance, tackling unconscious biases in the consulting room), and also in the ways that therapeutic principles and practices can be extended out to the wider social realm (for instance, developing social and emotional literacy in schools).
Conference OVERVIEW
Schools should be a place to nurture young people’s mental wellbeing and health—not a place of exclusion, shaming, and psychological distress.
By the time young people leave secondary schools, they should be able to enter the adult world with pride, confidence, and self-belief.
This half-day conference is hosted by Onlinevents and the Therapy and Social Change (TaSC) Network, and chaired by Councillor Claudia Turbet-Delof (Hackney Council). The event will explore the growing campaign against rigid behaviour policies, and the wider implementation of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs in schools. The event aims to build capacity and campaigning for an emotionally and interpersonally healthy school environment for all.
We will examine how exclusion policies can undermine students’ autonomy, disproportionately impact marginalised groups, and contribute to a punitive culture in education.
Together, we will discuss alternative approaches that prioritize compassion, inclusivity, and the unique needs of every young person.
This event is for professionals and lay people, across all ages, who want to work towards more inclusive and psychological healthy school environments.
Click the links below to navigate the conference programme A Call for Emotionally Healthy and Nurturing Schools in the UK
Keynote Speakers
Panel Speakers
Conference Organising Team
Conference AGENDA
10:00 - 10:15 (GMT)
10:15 - 11:00
11:00 - 11:45
Housekeeping & Introductions
11:45 - 12:00
Keynote 1 Diane Abbott MP Schools Exclusions
Panel 1 Community Reflections on Exclusion Systems
BREAK
Keynote 2 Michael Wigelsworth
12:00 - 12:30 Panel 2 Young People's Voices
Social & Emotional Learning
12:30 - 13:00 13:00 Closing
Diane Abbott MP
Schools Exclusions Conference KEYNOTESPEAKER
Diane Abbott will explore the critical issue of school exclusions, reflecting on systemic challenges and their impact on marginalised communities. Drawing from her extensive career in public service and advocacy, she will outline pathways towards a more inclusive education system.
In 1987 Diane Abbott made history by becoming the first black woman ever elected to the British Parliament. She has since built a distinguished career as a parliamentarian, broadcaster and commentator. As of 4th July 2024 Diane Abbott as the longest serving woman MP is now the Mother Of The House.
From the outset of her career, Diane has championed global justice, human rights, peace and security issues at home and abroad.
From 2015 to 2019 Diane Abbott was a prominent member of the Labour Party’s front bench, serving as the Shadow International Development Secretary, then Shadow Secretary of State for Health, and finally Shadow Home Secretary from 2016. In the last general election Diane was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a landslide majority.
Michael Wigelsworth
Social & Emotional Learning Conference
Michael introduces the key evidence for Social & Emotional Learning and discusses its relevance and role within our education system. We look briefly at some of the history, challenges, and opportunities within it’s implementation.
Michael is a a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Manchester. His work explores the feasibility and impact of early intervention and prevention approaches in child mental health, with a particular focus on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).
Michael is a Chartered Psychologist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has advised and collaborated with number of stakeholders including the Early Intervention Foundation, Department for Education, Education Endowment Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Addressing profound difficulties and challenges in Islamic and Somali communities
Sharing insights from her experience as a headteacher and what can work in schools
Councillor Penny Wrout
Providing a political overview, including progress made and remaining challenges
Conference PANELSPEAKER
Safia Jama, MBE
Safia Jama, MBE, is the CEO and Founder of the Women’s Inclusive Team (WIT), a grassroots charity in Tower Hamlets. With two decades of experience, she is dedicated to empowering women, particularly Black Muslim Somali women, and tackling racial injustice in her community
and schools. Under her leadership, WIT focuses on Education, Health, Advice, and Food, addressing the needs of underserved populations, including women, girls, the elderly, and children.
Safia's journey began in 2003, when she noticed a lack of support for young mothers during her school runs, prompting her to establish WIT. She champions community cohesion and ensures that women's issues are integrated across all projects. Her notable initiatives include the Haawa project, which raises awareness of the cultural challenges faced by Black Somali women in accessing support for domestic abuse.
In addition to her work with WIT, Safia serves as an Independent Police Advisor, Commissioner at the Women’s Commission, and Board member at the Carers Centre, among other roles. She holds a degree in Community Development and Public Policy from Birkbeck University and is a qualified Mental Health Trainer. Recognized with numerous awards, including an MBE for her contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic, Safia is a gifted public speaker, addressing critical issues such as crime, health, and community cohesion at high-profile events.
Conference PANELSPEAKER
Juliet Coley BCAe
Juliet Coley is an award-winning educator, author and publisher of Black books written by Black children aged 6 to 16 years.
She worked in a secondary school setting for over 20 years, retiring as a Senior Deputy Headteacher
and was awarded by Haringey Council for her Outstanding Achievement in Education. Her anti-knife crime campaign Value Life gained the school a ‘Queens Award’ (MBE) and Juliet the role of Chief Trustee for 11 years at The Kiyan Prince Foundation charity.
She is passionate about Legacy and has written 6 books. Two document the lives of Windrush Elders. Keen to address representation in books, Juliet has published over 60 young Black authors in 25 books. She is a Patron of a school in Accra, Ghana, a Director of a Youth Advocacy charity Perm Inc (Permanently Included), who work with schools and parents whose children are at risk of being permanently excluded and is the Chair of Hackney Council’s Improving Outcomes of Black Children and Young People’s Accountability Board. She is an Independent Custody Visitor for the Mayor of London and conducts unannounced visits to Police stations to check on the welfare of detainees in Police Custody.
In 2024, she founded and launched the Children’s Black Book Fair UK and was Managing Editor of Exodus Christian magazine’s 40 th Anniversary Special Edition. www.younglitstars.com/juliet
Councillor Penny Wrout Conference PANELSPEAKER
Penny Wrout is a local councillor in Hackney, where she has fought to get a child safeguarding review to look at the long-term impact of behavior policies in some local schools. In her professional life she is a writer and media producer who has also worked in educational contexts.
Conference OrganisingTeam
Claudia Turbet-Delof
Claudia emigrated from Bolivia to Britain in 2003 and has lived and raised her family in Hackney, London since then. She is passionate about socio economic independence and the impact hardship and exclusion have on mental health and personal development. Claudia has worked fighting for community cohesion through trade unionism demanding workers rights, women’s rights, migrants rights and wider communities rights to access education and health.
Claudia has passionately led campaigns for mental health to be our human right, most recently in her role as elected Councillor and Mental Health Champion for the London Borough of Hackney she achieved the adoption of the Mental Health a Human Right for All motion making it the very first local authority in the country and probably the world to adopt a UN High Commissioner’s recommendation on mental health and human rights.
Claudia is a longstanding trade unionist, former Treasurer and current member of UVW trade union, a migrant led union that has achieved great successes and insourcing victories for migrant workers across London. She started defending workers rights after realising that many workers, including herself, experience racism, exploitation and modern slavery.
The transformative social reforms that have lifted millions out of poverty in her native socialist Bolivia underpins the mission vision and values for her work as a community representative and advocate for universal care for all. In 2018, Claudia founded a free counselling project that has provided over hundreds of free therapy to families and young people across East London. She supports bereaved families of young people lost to youth violence. As part of the circular economy Claudia feels so passionate about, she believes exchanging knowledge is part what our circular economy is about, in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Claudia founded Comunidad Latin America UK in the hope of supporting Latin American communities in the UK at a time of the worst global health crisis to ensure those who did not speak English were not further socially disadvantaged.
Comunidad Latin America UK advocates for sharing of knowledge that can lift communities up and improve their socio economic opportunities and future prospects, from registering to vote, applying and securing housing, improving credit rating, learning about pensions, renters rights and access to health and education. To date there have been four events held gathering close to two thousand people in attendance (in person and online) and has joined forces with organisations from across the UK such as No Child Left Behind, Doctors of the World, Positive East, Migrant Democracy Project, Chagas Hub, LAWA, IWGB trade union, Unison, Money Hub Hackney, Hackney Council and more. Email: claudiaturbetdelof@gmail.com / claudia.turbet-delof@hackney.gov.uk Twitter: @madeinbolivia
Conference OrganisingTeam
Mick Cooper
Mick Cooper is an internationally recognised author, trainer, and consultant in the field of humanistic, existential, and pluralistic therapies. He is a Chartered Psychologist, and Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton.
Mick has facilitated workshops and lectures around the world, including New Zealand, Lithuania, and Florida.
Mick's books include Existential Therapies (Sage, 2017), Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2018), The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling(Palgrave, 2013), and Integrating Counselling and Psychotherapy: Directionality, Synergy, and Social Change (Sage, 2019).
Mick Cooper is also the editor of The Tribes of the Person-Centred Nation (PCCS, 2024) and coeditor of The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (3rd ed, 2024).
Mick’s principal areas of research have been in shared decision-making/personalising therapy, and counselling for young people in schools.
In 2014, Mick received the Carmi Harari Mid-Career Award from Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
His latest work is Psychology at the Heart of Social Change: Developing a Progressive Vision of Society (Policy Press, 2023)
The book looks at the interface between therapy and social justice. The blurb for the book reads: ‘Over the past century, psychotherapy – and its parent discipline, psychology – has built up a vibrant, nuanced and highly practical understanding of human wellbeing and distress. This book describes a progressive political approach that integrates insights from the psychotherapeutic and psychological domain, moving us from a politics of blame to a politics of understanding. In this vision of society – surrounded by a culture of radical acceptance – all individuals can live rich and fulfilling lives. We need those shaping our political landscape to understand psychological needs and processes more deeply to enhance our ability to work with others in a spirit of collaboration, dialogue and respect.’
Cassandra Geisel
Cassandra Geisel is an MBACP therapist working within a pluralistic approach. Passionate about fostering inclusive and culturally informed spaces in the mental health landscape, she works as the Mental Health Alliance Lead in Tower Hamlets, bringing together organisations to lift their collective voice and promote impactful change within the sector.
Alongside this, she is a member of the Therapy and Social Change Network and enjoys organising conversations and creating space to talk about issues around the intersection of social justice and mental health.
John Wilson
I am a co-founder and Director at Onlinevents, dedicated to democratising learning in the helping professions. We host the world’s first and largest video learning library akin to “Netflix” for these professions.
Additionally, I serve as a Director at Temenos Education and lead the Counselling & Psychotherapy Programme. Our focus is on nurturing students to become their most potent selves, both personally and professionally.
With over 20 years of experience, I currently manage a private practice as a Psychotherapist and Supervisor, offering services through video, text chat, and virtual environments.
I also facilitate groups and am involved in the Going Global and La Jolla programmes, rooted in Carl Rogers’ Encounter Group movement. I am a past Chair and now an Honorary Fellow at the Association for Counselling & Therapy Online (ACTO). I have served on the board of the World Association for Person Centered & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counselling for 6 years.
References
1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education. 2022; Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng223.
2. Durlak, J.A., R.P. Weissberg, A.B. Dymnicki, R.D. Taylor, and K.B. Schellinger, The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of schoolbased universal interventions. Child Development, 2011. 82(1): p. 405-432.
3. Children's Commissioner. The state of children's mental health services 2020/21. 2021; Available from: https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2021/01/ccothe-state-of-childrens-mental-health-services-2020-21.pdf
4. Gill, K., H. Quilter-Pinner, and D. Swift. Making the difference: Breaking the link between school exclusion and social exclusion. . 2017; Available from: https://www.ippr.org/articles/making-the-difference.
5. Laftah, O., 'Eco-Relaxing in the natural world is for me’, eco-psychotherapy processes in green and blue spaces for all cultures and ages with neurodiverse conditions. Journal of Ecopsychology, 2024. 4: p. 1-4.
