Dear Colleagues and Friends of Therapists Café,
Thank you for signing up to our newsletter and for all the messages and emails I have received. I am delighted that our initiative meets with such positive resonance. Apologies also if I have not managed to respond to everyone – if you have not heard back, please do email again!
Our first newsletter will give some background story to our project and focus on the next steps.
Open Meeting: What would you like? ONLINE open meeting for anyone interested in this project, on Sunday, 23rd of November, 1pm. Zoom link open meeting
Cafes and Salons – The Heart of our Project
What? The Cafés will be at the heart of our project – small, in-person gatherings for therapists to meet at relational depth, support each other and network for new projects.
Why? Because, usually, when we meet, the primary task is about supporting someone else – the client in peer supervision or an organisation in roles and functions we inhabit – or about acquiring new skill at CPD events. This can make us feel lonely and drained.
Aim: the Cafés’ aim is to create a space that is just for us – for our feelings, our process, and our inspiration – with colleagues who share the same frame of reference, so they understand our process.
Inspiration: came from the monthly practitioner process meeting Stephen Gyllenhaal, Sigrid Stjernswaerd (On the TC Team), me, and a few others started during the pandemic and have kept going since. From intellectual Salon meetings I’ve enjoyed where people from all walks of life meet for interesting discussions (e.g. Spiral Dynamics Integral Live ). And from Death Café (www.deathcafe.com) – a truly inspired project facilitating meetings for strangers to discuss the subject of death (Moment that changed me ). All of these are set up not for profit, and without agenda, or trying to sell anything to people – creating a container that witnesses but does not want, which is rare and precious in our capitalist society. Subversive, even.
Vision: My vision is a lively little Salon-culture of closed meetings for therapists only, creative, authentic, light-hearted but not pretentious, in many different permutations, in flux- with different people attending every time.
So far, the resonance has been astounding – we had 180 people sign up to this newsletter in less than a month, I received over 50 emails with inquiries, and the Café on the 28th is nearly booked out (20 spaces).
Action: please join us on the upcoming Cafes, to help the vision take shape.
Next meeting: 28th of November, 6-9pm, near Bond St tube – if you’ve received a booking email, please confirm your space, as there is currently a waiting list.
Further proposed dates: Sunday, 14th of December, TBC
Sunday, 12th of January TBC
Friday, 17th of January TBC
Business Skills Course – ONLINE Salon Project for bigger group
What? The business skills course is an online, UK-wide/international Salon with teaching elements. The concept is solid practical skill + creativity + critical thinking + mutual support/collaboration.
Why? Because our training focused solely on clinical skill, and not at all about thinking of what we do as a ‘product’. No market analysis, product development, targeted placement, managerial skills for service management, or the know-how to set up and run a charity or non-profit organisation. Yet, what we do is unique – it cannot be approached with the same neoliberal, capitalist principles as conventional marketing or business training – as our product is deeply personal, philosophical and ethical.
Aim: To set up a dedicated, open-source, recurring series of events equipping us with the above skills, specific to our profession – and creating a community for ongoing growth.
Inspiration: came from the government-funded Barclays/Eagle labs funding readiness program which I attended for another idea a few years ago (Barclays Eagle Labs ). My idea turned out to be rubbish, but apparently that doesn’t matter – as I learned on the course, most ideas are rubbish initially! It’s about allowing yourself to think in that direction and then learning how to develop the thought – as a process on its own.
Another inspiration is Phoenix-Rises (On the TC Team), who has been running her own charity, Voide of the Child, for 17 years, and will speak on the course.
Vision: a collaborative series of workshops that grows into a bigger community where we can find partners to do bolder projects – collaboration beats competition.
1st Session Marketing for Therapists , 5th of December, 9.30am – 11am ONLINE , with a brilliant presenter, Silvia Del Corso, who runs her own successful marketing agency specialising in marketing for health professionals.
Action: please join us if this subject is of interest – we need colleagues’ input to shape the course. Price contributes to running of this project – IT, legal, accounting, ca 500 subscriptions.
Next Newsletter: in the next newsletter, I will talk about the political elements of our vision – Stephen Gyllenhaal’s documentary, Uncharitable– The Berlin Hub for Regenerative Business – BHRB Linkedin and how to find ethical investors Karma Capital.
I will also explain Therapists Café’s business structure and the reasons behind it.
Inspiration from Colleagues Responding to this Project:
Many people have emailed me with comments and ideas. Here a few:
Union for Counsellors and Psychotherapists – Union for Counsellors and Psychotherapists – we do have a Union, who knew! Already signed up with the London Branch.
Josephine Speyer, UKCP psychotherapist and supervisor, organises monthly walks for therapists on Hampstead Heath, regular Salons and a writing group – contact Josefine for more information josefine@
Jenny Nemko – not a therapist but facilitating the brilliant initiative Talk Matters – Jews and Arabs talk together – umbrella initiative for Jewish/Arab collaboration, including business ventures like 50:50 Start-ups. https://talkmatters.info/ – please follow their socials to spread awareness of their campaign
Reading Therapies Group – where I am on the committee – has been organising monthly good-quality, low-cost CPD for therapists for 40 years