We normally have 10 events per year running from September. The NWRPA does not meet in January or August. You can join at any time your membership entitles you to attend all events for a year from the date you join. Please see Membership page for details. All events are held on the second Monday of the month commencing at 19:00 BST/GMT. Events typically last for 60 to 90 minutes and are followed by a networking meeting for Members.
Our programme of events for 2025-26 is taking shape, although later events have yet to be finalised. If you would like to make a presentation, or give a talk on a topic of interest to our membership, please contact the Association secretary Mr Frank Kelley.
We a small fee as a token of our appreciation and in recognition of your contribution.
Monday, February 9 at 7 PM GMT
The Dark Side of Love
Marios Georgiou
Romantic love can be associated with bliss and euphoria. But according to Arthur Aron, a psychology professor at State University of New York, there can be a dark side too.
This session will explore limerence, a term coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in her 1979 book ‘Love and Limerence.’ Marios Georgiou’s well-publicised interest in this area has led to him working with over 100 such presentations and has encouraged him to undertake his doctoral research in this area.
Limerence describes an involuntary state of intense romantic infatuation characterised by obsessive thoughts about the “limerent object,” an acute longing for emotional reciprocation, emotional dependency on subtle cues, idealisation, and fluctuating euphoria or despair, distinct from typically-described experiences of love or lust because of its obsessive and uncertain nature. While similar experiences of unrequited or obsessive romantic longing appear in earlier literary traditions e.g., courtly love or tragic romance, Tennov provided the first systematic psychological framework.
For practitioners, the key is recognising this pattern when clients report debilitating obsession or distress around uncertain attraction, validating the experience without pathologizing it unnecessarily, distinguishing it from OCD, love addiction, or erotomania, and offering support to prevent a dismissal that has led some clients to discontinue therapy or change therapists. Marios’ remains neutral on whether limerence requires recognition as a separate term and in his talk and subsequent discussion, he will focus instead on descriptions within both academic literature and what have become hugely populated online communities. His aim is to inform effective clinical practice in this type of presentation.
Marios Georgiou is a BACP registered counsellor and trainee counselling psychologist in his final year at City St George’s, University of London. He is currently undertaking placements at Oxleas (forensics) in SW London, within St George’s (Complex Needs Service), and at a private therapy clinic. He mainly works psychodynamically.
Monday, December 8 at 7 PM GMT
Unmasking at the Intersections: Understanding late-diagnosed AuDHD and queerness
Jo McCormick
For many neurodivergent individuals, a diagnosis is not the beginning of their journey, but a beginning, and an experience of hard-won validation and clarification, decades into a life of “otherness.” When late-diagnosed autism and ADHD (AuDHD) co-occur with queer identity and other identities such as working-class background, for example, this sense of otherness can be compounded, creating unique and often-overlooked barriers to care, work, study, relationships and more.
In this session, researcher, advocate and communications expert Jo McCormick draws from early PhD findings, non-profit work, work with neurodivergent and queer people in corporate environments, and their own lived experience to explore the duality of late-diagnosed AuDHD. We will move beyond singular diagnoses to examine the practical, everyday intensity of navigating life at these intersections, how two distinctly diagnosed conditions interact and ‘sit atop’ one another, sometimes causing misunderstanding in clients and clinicians alike.
Jo will shed light on the challenges of unmasking, the difficulty of “disentangling societal masks and mirrors,” and the specific ways these layered identities impact a person’s interaction with assessment pathways, therapeutic interventions, healthcare services, and workplace support (like DSA and Access to Work). This talk will provide practitioners with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the lived realities some of their multiply marginalised clients face, and hopefully ways they can be more open to accommodating different approaches, for the better.
Jo McCormick (they/them) is a graduate psychologist and PhD candidate researching neurodiversity in queer-led family structures. This academic work is grounded in their lived experience as a gender-non-conforming, queer adult who was late-diagnosed with autism and ADHD (AuDHD).
Based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Jo is a trustee of Stim Café, a non-profit providing social spaces for neurodivergent adults, and a lived-experience consultant for The Retreat, York, which offers assessments and support to neurodivergent adults and young people. Jo’s work, as a researcher, advocate, and communications specialist, is a “protest against the erasure of queer, disabled and neurodivergent people (and other marginalised communities)”. Jo’s mission is to leverage their ‘lived-and-learned’ expertise to help practitioners and organisations better understand and support multiply marginalised individuals. They believe improving the experience of one community truly opens the door for everyone’s lives to improve.
November 2025
Establishing and running an Eating Disorders Service
Claire Houston
Monday 10 November 2025
Claire Houston, MSc, PGDip CBT, PGCert HE, BABCP-Accredited, is the Founder & Clinical Director 0f All Well & Good.
She is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Senior Lecturer in CBT, University of Greater Manchester and Trainer & Supervisor for BEAT, an Eating Disorders Charity.
Claire has dedicated the past 15+ years of her career to working with people affected by eating disorders across inpatient, outpatient, and day care settings, including The Priory in Altrincham and Orri in London.
She is now the Founder and Clinical Director of All Well & Good, a specialist therapy service based in Chester, and a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy at the University of Greater Manchester.
Claire provides training and supervision for BEAT, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, and specialises in evidence-based interventions including CBT-ED, DBT, and MANTRA-informed approaches. Her clinical and teaching work focuses on translating complex theory into accessible, compassionate, and practical strategies for both clients and clinicians.
For more go to the website at 🔗 http://www.allwellandgood.uk/
October 2025
Consequences of Misdiagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder – Professional and Personal perspectives
Abbey Brocklehurst
Monday, October 13 at 7 PM GMT
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), also known as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), is a mental health diagnosis often associated with emotional intensity, unstable relationships, impulsivity, and difficulties with identity. However, it is a highly controversial and frequently misdiagnosed condition, particularly in young women. Abbey will discuss her misdiagnosis of BPD, with a focus on the personal and professional perspectives of a therapist who was herself misdiagnosed at age 21. Abbey will explore how normal developmental struggles, trauma, and gendered stereotypes contribute to misdiagnosis, and the consequences this can have for clients, including over-medication, stigma, and barriers to effective support, while also reflecting on the ways in which such experiences have shaped her both personal identity and professional practice.
Abbey is a BACP Registered Person-Centred Therapist with an MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice and a BA (Hons) in Psychology with Counselling. She has extensive experience working across private practice, charities, and a range of organisations. Having been misdiagnosed with BPD at the age of 21, Abbey brings both lived and counselling experience to her work, offering unique insight into the complexities and consequences of psychiatric labelling. Her practice is grounded in the values of empathy, authenticity, and respect for the client’s own capacity for growth. www.mindsthatmattercounselling.co.uk
September 2025
My experience of working as a counsellor in the field of visual impairment
Eileen Ainsworth
Monday, 8 Sept 2025 at 7.00pm BST
Eileen will share her experiences of setting up a counselling service for this client group. She will talk about the issues for therapy, and introduce us to the complex topic of psychosomatic eye disorders.
Her talk emphasises the importance of working with other professionals
Eileen Ainsworth was a teacher who later specialised in education with the visually impaired.
She is now retired after working since the 1980s as a counsellor and psychotherapist in the NHS and private practice.
She has contributed significantly to the NWRPA and is one of our longest serving members.
A list of last year’s events from (October 2024-July 2025) can be found here