Birkbeck Training Series 2026-2027
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Online
The Student Counselling Service at Birkbeck, University of London launched The Birkbeck Training Series in September 2018. These workshops are designed by and for HE counsellors and are tailored specifically to practitioners working within short-term therapeutic models. Over the years, the series has become a dedicated space for valued professional development, reflective practice, and dialogue among practitioners across the sector
Now in its ninth year, the series turns its attention to ‘Where Therapy Begins: Depth, Formulation and Impact in Brief Therapy’.
This three-part CPD series explores how practitioners can work at depth within the realities of short-term counselling services. Bringing together theory, clinical reflection and practical application, the series will examine the possibilities and challenges of brief therapeutic work, from making the most of first sessions through to developing formulations that support purposeful and effective interventions.
Suitable for counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health practitioners working across a range of therapeutic modalities within higher education and other short-term services.
TRAINING 1: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: WORKING AT DEPTH WITHIN THE LIMITS OF TIME BY CATE LYON
WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2027, 13.00-17.00
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The need for clinical excellence in delivering brief therapies has never been more pressing. Brief psychotherapy and counselling are established, NICE-approved treatment options within NHS Talking Therapies, the national framework for delivering community-based mental health treatments. High demand and funding pressures across sectors mean that, in many organisational settings today, therapeutic work is very likely to be time-limited. As a profession, we need to develop expertise in adapting our core training, thinking and clinical practice to brief therapeutic models.
This workshop will consider the clinical challenges and the extraordinary rewards for both clinicians and patients that such brief therapeutic encounters can produce. It is widely recognised that the therapist’s faith in the model is one of the most important contributors to effective therapy, so we will begin by examining our own attitudes towards brevity. We will then discuss some of the key adaptations to technique that effective brief therapy demands of us, including considerations around assessment, formulation, transference interpretation, frame management and endings. There will be opportunities to reflect on aspects of your own clinical practice.
The intention is to ignite new thinking and ideas that can be developed within your own clinical practice and style of brief work. As with brief therapy, much of the working-through will lie in your own experimentation and reflection on attitudes and practices that develop beyond the training itself.
While the workshop is grounded in a psychodynamic approach, aspects will be applicable to all mainstream brief models. The session will include a brief introductory presentation, followed by focused informal talks and discussions, breakout rooms, and plenary reflection.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
CATE LYON is a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, trained at WPF Therapy, London. She is part of the senior management team leading a large London NHS Talking Therapies Service (formerly IAPT). As Counselling Lead, she promotes standards of clinical excellence and performance within the Service. She manages and supervises the provision of brief counselling interventions across a broad demographic and a wide range of presenting issues, levels of complexity, and risk.
She has a private practice, teaches and trains in all aspects of open-ended and brief individual psychodynamic psychotherapy. She is a trainer and supervisor in Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) and also practises as a Couples Therapist (CTfD). In addition, she offers a range of CPD courses and workshops.
Cate has a specialist interest in the theory and practice of working at pace and at depth. She is a strong advocate for the merits and potential of brief psychodynamic therapy as a highly effective treatment of choice. Her extensive clinical and supervisory experience confirm that short-term psychotherapy, provided well, can reach emotional depths, bring profound insight, and promote genuine psychic change. In short, brief can very often be ‘enough’.
TRAINING 2: WHEN YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH A CLIENT MAY BE YOUR LAST BY WINDY DRYDEN
WEDNESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2027, 09:30-13:30
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
It is not uncommon for clients to attend only one therapy session, whether by intention or circumstance. This workshop explores the phenomenon of single-session therapy (SST), distinguishing between one-at-a-time therapy, planned and unplanned single-session encounters, with a particular focus on the theory and practice of planned SST.
The training will situate SST within its historical and clinical context, tracing its roots from Freud’s published single-session consultations with Aurelia Kronich, Gustav Mahler, and Margarethe Lutz, through to the pioneering contributions of Bernard Bloom and Moshe Talmon, whose work helped establish SST as a distinct therapeutic approach.
Central to the workshop is the proposition that clients should be informed of the different modes of therapeutic delivery available to them and supported to choose the format that best aligns with their needs and circumstances. Consideration will be given to the role of informed consent, client preparation, and the wider higher education service context in which single-session work takes place.
Participants will be introduced to the distinctive mindset required for effective single-session practice, alongside key principles and elements of good practice. The workshop will explore how therapists can work purposefully and collaboratively from the outset, maximising the therapeutic potential of a single encounter without assuming future sessions.
This workshop will be of interest to counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals seeking to enhance their ability to work effectively when every session may need to count.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
WINDY DRYDEN is one of the leading practitioners and trainers in the UK and was one of the first people in Britain to be trained in CBT. He is best known for his work in Rational-Emotive Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (RECBT), a leading CBT approach.
He is Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths University of London.
He has published over 200 books and has trained therapists all over the world. He aims to disseminate Single-Session Therapy, or what he calls ONEplus Therapy, and his most influential book on the subject is entitled The Single-Session Therapy Mindset: What to Keep in Mind and Implications for Practice (Routledge, 2026).
TRAINING 3: CLINICAL FORMULATION IN THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE BY BRIDGET TOWNSEND
WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH 2027, 9:30-13:30
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Formulation is a central component of therapeutic practice, providing a dynamic and evolving understanding of a client's difficulties that guides assessment, intervention, and therapeutic decision-making. Unlike diagnostic approaches, which focus on categorisation, formulation seeks to make sense of a person's experiences within the context of their unique history, and to relate this to psychodynamic models.
This workshop is designed for trained therapists and counsellors who wish to deepen their confidence and skill in developing and working with formulations across a range of therapeutic settings. Participants will explore different approaches to formulation, consider how formulation varies within short- and long-term work, and examine the relationship between assessment, hypothesis-building, and the therapeutic process.
The workshop will begin with an overview of formulation, including its purpose, key principles, and distinctions from diagnosis. We will then discuss different assessment protocols and models of understanding client presentations, while paying attention to working with uncertainty and the importance of maintaining a stance of curiosity and not-knowing.
Using clinical examples and small-group discussion, participants will have opportunities to consider how formulations are constructed, communicated, and used in practice. The workshop will explore how formulations can support therapeutic focus in brief interventions, and in longer-term work provide a framework for understanding complexity. Participants will consider how formulations evolve, and the challenges that can emerge when initial understandings prove insufficient. The workshop will suggest how therapists can revise hypotheses in response to new information, to therapeutic enactments, and to shifts within the therapeutic relationship.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
BRIDGET TOWNSEND has worked as a psychodynamic psychotherapist for more than 20 years across the NHS, third-sector organisations, and private practice. She now divides her time primarily between private clinical work and teaching at Birkbeck.
Her experience of teaching alongside clinical practice has shaped and enriched both areas of her professional life, with each continually informing the other.
She particularly values the opportunity teaching offers to revisit theory, challenge assumptions, and reflect on how theoretical ideas translate into contemporary clinical work.
Through her work on the Birkbeck MSc programme and introductory counselling courses, Bridget has developed a particular interest in psychotherapy training and education, including how neurodiversity can be meaningfully engaged with in both learning environments and clinical practice.
Contact name: Aditi Dhar
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