OTSA Annual Counsellors’ Conference 2025

The Powerful Process: Working Inside the Adolescent Crisis

Collectively delving into the emotions running through young people. This year’s 18th Annual Conference for Counsellors will provide a day of enriching professional development and discussion.

The conference is suitable for all professionals working with young people, both inside and outside of school settings.

We invite you to join us!

Conference Programme

Keynote Address with Becca Bolam | The Unappointed Container: containing organisational anxieties in the midst of adolescent crises

Dr. Rebecca Bolam is a Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with extensive experience in the NHS. Since 2016, she has worked in generic CAMHS clinics, and more recently, in a specialised team supporting adoptive and care-experienced children (ACE). In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca teaches on a pre-clinical training course in psychoanalytic observational approaches to perinatal, child, adolescent, and family work at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic. She also provides guidance for doctoral research projects.

Morning Workshops

1. Approaching gender identity – improving understanding, confidence and opening up conversations with trans and gender diverse youth (Dr Jack Groom is a psychiatrist currently working in Oxfordshire CAMHS. They have a special interest in gender identity and the experiences of trans and gender diverse youth)
2. ‘Don’t fence me in!’ Are rules really rules? Exploring boundaries, limits, prohibition and separateness (Katia Houghton is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice. A former lead school counsellor, she now supervises counsellors in schools)
3. Stories of sexual abuse – understandings, misunderstandings, damage and repair in families (Shona Reed-Purvis is a counsellor, systemic psychotherapist and registered systemic supervisor and family therapist currently working for CAMHS)
4. It didn’t do me any harm! What happens when they can’t go home? (Gee Whitlock is an integrative counsellor at Stowe School, a boarding and day school, in Buckinghamshire)

Afternoon Workshops

1. Flirting with Death: feeling out of control vs the rebel and risk taker. Looking through the counsellors lens into death, anxiety and medical OCD (Emma Payne is a psychotherapeutic counsellor in private practice. Previously a school and university counsellor, she now specialises in supervising school counsellors and offering walk-and-talk counselling)
2. Don’t suppose you’ve got any time for me? Exploring the importance of providing counselling support for staff (Debbie Lee is the Lead Counsellor at King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage and has a wealth of experience in working with young people, staff and parents)
3. My damaged heart – the impact of absent fathers on daughters. Looking at emotional regulation, attachment style, self worth, intimacy and their relationships with men and authority (Having worked in a range of educational settings, Angelique Camoenié now works as the lead school counsellor and supervisor at Gosford Hill School, Kidlington and in private practice)
4. Hang your head: working with shame in the counsellor, the young person and in school (Lucy-Jean Lloyd worked for many years as a school counsellor and is now a trainer, supervisor and counsellor in private practice)

Please note you will be required to choose a morning and afternoon workshop at the time of booking. If someone else is booking on your behalf, then please ensure they know your workshop choices in advance.

Payment

Payment is required at the time of booking by credit card, debit card or Paypal. Unless otherwise stated, a ticket gives admission to one person at face-to-face and online events.

Refunds

No refunds will be given with less than 30 days notice.

In the event of a refund request, please note that the Eventbrite booking fee of 6.95% plus 0.59p per ticket is not refundable.

To keep our event fees as low as possible, we are not able to issue invoices for payment by cheque or bank transfer and we are not able to reserve places without payment.

We strongly recommend that you take out ‘event ticket insurance’ which may cover the cost of your fee should you be unable to attend the event.