Severnside Education and Events
‘Insiders and Outsiders’: Encounters of a diverse kind
In the second half of the Autumn term Severnside is offering an opportunity to reflect on issues of difference, inclusivity, the painful experiences of being disenfranchised within society and how these impact on our personal lives and therapeutic practice.
Insiders and Outsiders is a five-session series which, through a combination of seminars, experiential work and process groups will enable participants to think together about these most difficult areas.
Throughout the course, there will be an emphasis on how these issues and questions affect our work as therapists and counsellors, and the group is intended for therapists and counsellors who are either in training or preparing to enter clinical training.
After the first seminar which will be concerned with setting expectations, sharing expectations and contracting to secure the group, the following weeks will each take a different area of focus:
- Gender and sexuality, homophobia
- Class, social status
- Race/Racism
- Disablism and physicality
Each seminar will begin with one of the above topics after which there will be a 60 minute process group. The topics presented are likely to evoke a range of responses – in many ways ‘diverse’ as everyone will come to these from different perspectives and experiences.
The seminars will include discussion of personal stories, clinical material and group activities. Throughout the course, there will be an emphasis on how these issues and questions affect our work as therapists and counsellors, and the group is intended for therapists and counsellors who are either in training or preparing to enter clinical training.
The Social GRACES framework developed by John Burnham will be used as a conceptual framework for the seminars and there will be a consistent psychoanalytic orientation.
The process group will have an experiential element encouraging focus on the ‘here and now’ experiencing of its members, as well as broader reflection, a space to explore underlying dynamics present within the group.
Delivery: The seminars will be held by Ounkar Kaur, a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, and a process group facilitator. There will be a closed group with a maximum of 12 members.
Where: Sessions will be in-person at the Severnside offices, 11 Orchard St, Bristol BS1 5EH.
When: The course runs from 18:00 – 21:00, beginning on Tuesday 4th November 2025 and ending on Tuesday 2nd December 2025.
Cost: £400.
Application: Applicants are asked to complete this form and attend a short interview.