Whitestone Therapy

  On Silence... (27.10.25) 27 October 2025 | 2025 posts On 8th October I wrote:   “Therapy ought to be responsive to the needs of the individual in front of us, rather than been treated as a sort of moral ‘framework’ into which we squeeze our clients because we know best and are thoroughly enlightened.  This may well lead to poor therapeutic experiences for clients.”    Therapists may unintentionally assume that a client's background, culture, ethnicity, or sexuality inherently leads to difficult or unfair experiences, and the role of the therapist is more akin to an investigator - to identify systemic inequities and draw them out of the client.   I also wrote that...  "to attach any of this worldview to the individual before you in therapy (victim or villain) may be deeply unhelpful and, dare I say it, patronising and racist."   I warned of the risks of making assumptions about clients based on immutable traits like ethnicity, a practice rooted i...

  "Whiteness" and the BACP... (8.10.25) 8 October 2025 | 2025 posts On the BACP President's 'Whiteness' column, and what it tells us about ideological capture in therapy  Illness has been a constant feature of the last two months. I’ve finally accepted the doctor’s advice: total rest for a few weeks to recover. I am sorry about it and am deeply grateful to my wonderful family, and to many clients for their understanding.    I’d actually hoped for some peace and quiet. But then the latest THERAPY TODAY magazine flopped on to the doormat last week….  In recent blogs, I’ve criticised the BACP direction of travel - based on my own experiences, feedback from colleagues including BACP ‘insiders’, and from other sources. In August, I wrote about BACP President Lynne Gabriel’s odd update video to BACP members following the removal of the BACP chair. In a second blog , I wondered if I was being too harsh; maybe her strange metaphors signalled a real change (“turning t...

  BACP blues... (20.8.25) 24 August 2025 | 2025 posts My last post –  BACP drama... (7.8.25)  – seems to have hit the spot.  The number of views is a lot higher than normal and I know the article has been shared quite widely.  Although not all therapists have much interest in BACP politics (me included), it’s news we should pay attention to.   As I wrote, it’s worrying that both a 'removed' Chair and the BACP board agree there have been serious failures of oversight, governance and behaviours.  That each accuses the other of this creates a sense the whole thing is a bloody mess. I’ve received a number of supportive emails from other therapists, and thank them for the encouragement and kind words.  It’s led to some interesting exchanges, some anecdotal experiences of working with Natalie Bailey and, far more importantly, hearing a chorus of concerns about the BACP direction of travel.  Some that wrote asked that the conversation stay private, ...

  BACP drama...(7.8.25) 7 August 2025 | 2025 posts It has been a wild ride at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) this week. The BACP is the leading professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists in the UK, representing over 50,000 members. I am one such member.  It sets ethical and professional standards for therapeutic practice through its Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, which all members must follow.  Although there are other bodies (chief amongst them UKCP), the BACP is the largest and the most subscribed.  In a shocking development for us therapists, the BACP has ‘removed’ Natalie Bailey from her role as Chair, alongside her deputy Sekinat Admina. Here’s the text of the statement released yesterday: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We’re today announcing that Natalie Bailey has been removed as BACP’s Chair and as a member of the Boa...