PWP Conference 2025: Supporting Best Practice
Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner Conference – 24th September 2025 10am-3pm
This conference for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners working in Talking Therapies services is brought
to you by Bespoke Mental Health in collaboration with NHS PWP Leads Network
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The event will be equivalent to 3.3/4hrs of CPD.
Presenters | Topic | Time |
|---|---|---|
Pam Myles-Hooton, Bespoke Mental Health | Welcome and Introduction | 10.00-10.05 |
Dr Adrian Whittington, National Clinical Lead for Psychological Professions, NHS England | Keynote: Engaging those who may drop out early and other methods for improving outcomes in PWP practices | 10.05-11.00 |
Break | 11.00-11.15 | |
Dr Adrian Whittington, Taf Kunorubwe, Palvisha Iqbal, Natasha Hickmott, Rachel Balster, chaired by Simon Winter and Pamela Myles-Hooton | Panel Discussion: How can we optimise outcomes in PWP practice? | 11.15-12.00 |
Break | 12.00-12.45 | |
Natasha Hickmott and Benjamin Ford - BABCP Neurodiversity Special Interest Group | Working with Neurodivergence in Low Intensity CBT | 12.45-13.45 |
Break | 13.45-14.00 | |
Liz Ruth and Palvisha Iqbal | Behavioural Experiments: Design and Implementation | 14.00-15.00 |
About the Presenters
Dr Adrian Whittington is National Clinical Lead for the Psychological Professions at NHS England. In this role Adrian provides professional leadership across the national NHS teams aimed at maximising the impact of the psychological professions for the public, to deliver NHS policy.
Palvisha Iqbal is a practicing PWP and works with the University of Bradford as a PWP lecturer. She has presented work on improving inclusion in PWP training at national conferences and is a lead chapter author in the Low Intensity CBT Skills and Interventions practitioner manual (2025). She is Co-Chair of the Anti-Racist Community of Practice at Psychological Professions Network (NW-PPN).
Rachel Balster has over 10 years’ experience as a PWP and remains deeply passionate about the role. Her career has provided opportunities to develop a wider variety of skills leading to other roles, including PWP clinical educator and leadership positions within NHS Talking Therapies services. She has worked as Lead PWP for four years and has more recently progressed to be Step 2 Team Lead.
Simon Winter is Lead Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner at West Sussex Talking Therapies. He is co-chair of the National PWP Leads Network and part of their working group currently updating the PWP Best Practice Guide. He was instrumental in founding and co-chairing the PPN South East PWP Network, now the Psychological Practitioners CoP.
Pam Myles-Hooton, Director, Bespoke Mental Health. She worked in the NHS for over 20 years and has over 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering LICBT and HICBT training programmes. She is the author/co-author of several educational texts, academic publications, self-help books, and has contributed to national guidance and curricula.
Taf Kunorubwe is a BABCP-accredited CBT Therapist, Supervisor, and Trainer. He has extensive experience in working and supervising as a PWP and HI CBT therapist. He also led LICBT and CBT training courses in Wales. He has a special interest in enhancing access and outcomes for clients from diverse backgrounds. He is a guest lecturer at various universities and trainer within the field.
Natasha Hickmott is a late diagnosed ADHDer and identifies as also autistic. She has worked as a PWP then HICBT therapist for over 10 years. She is chair of BABCP’s Neurodiversity SIG, a member of NHSE’s ADHD Clinical Reference Group and contributes to the NHS ADHD taskforce. Natasha provides training in the benefits of neuro-culturally sensitive and neurodiversity affirming practice.
Benjamin Ford is a late diagnosed autistic and otherwise neurodivergent, probably AuDHD. Parent to two adult neurodivergent sons. Actively involved in promoting awareness and understanding of neurodivergence for nearly 30 years. Co-chair of the experts by experience committee for NHSE Midlands Autism and Learning Disabilities workstream. Founder member of the BABCP Neurodiversity SIG.
Liz Ruth is Assistant Professor and PWP course leader at the University of Bradford. She trained as a Low Intensity Psychological Practitioner at the University of Sheffield in 2010 and practiced as a Qualified, Senior and Lead PWP in IAPT before transitioning into education. Elizabeth is co-author of A Pragmatic Guide to Low Intensity Psychological Interventions: Care in High Volume (2023).
This conference is being recorded and will be
available on-demand
Further Information
Keynote Address 10:00-11:00
What next for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners?
Keynote Speaker:
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Dr Adrian Whittington, National Clinical Lead for Psychological Professions, NHS England
Chair:
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Professor Roz Shafran, Director, Bespoke Mental Health and Professor of Translational Psychology, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Panel Discussion: 11.15-12.00
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How can high volume work be satisfying and manageable?
Panellists:
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Lizzie Gray, PWP Team Lead, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Co-chair for the National PWP Leads Network and PPN South East PWP Subnetwork
Tania Ignatius, Step 2 Lead, NHS Warrington Talking Therapies, Mental Health Matters
Taf Kunorubwe, Mindfulness in Reading, Berkshire
Liz Ruth, Assistant Professor and PWP course leader, University of Bradford; Chair of the Low Intensity Special Interest Group
Dr Adrian Whittington, National Clinical Lead for Psychological Professions, NHS England
Chair:
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Prof. Roz Shafran, Director, Bespoke Mental Health and Professor of Translational Psychology, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Skills Class 1: 12.45-13.45
Working with Neurodivergence in Low Intensity CBT
Name of presenter and affiliation
Natasha Hickmott and Benjamin Ford - BABCP Neurodiversity Special Interest Group
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Introduction
Do you want to feel more confident working with neurodivergent clients?
Do you want to help your neurodivergent clients get more from low intensity (LI) CBT?
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As neurodivergent CBT therapists working in NHS Talking Therapies Benjamin and Tash recognise the challenges CBT can bring for neurodivergent clients, and for practitioners working with neurodivergent clients. During this webinar they will reflect on their own lived experience of being neurodivergent, their clinical practice with other neurodivergents and the wider evidence base and consider implications for working with neurodivergent clients. The session will focus on neurodiversity affirming practice and how this underpins effective therapy with neurodivergent individuals and supports flexing of LI interventions.
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Content
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This webinar will provide a brief overview of neurodiversity affirming practice techniques and how this supports adaptations to low intensity CBT.
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This webinar will consider the need for a paradigm shift to neuro-culturally sensitive, neurodiversity affirming practice to meet neurodivergent clients’ needs and enable effective LI CBT interventions within talking therapy services.
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The session will provide a brief overview of neurodiversity and neurodiversity affirming practice, before going on to reflect on how this can support LI CBT and consideration of implications for practice and flexing CBT.
Learning objectives
Understand why neurodivergence is every clinician’s business.
Brief overview of neurodiversity.
Explore the role of neuro-cultural sensitivity and neurodiversity affirming practice for effective low intensity interventions in NHS talking therapies.
Consider ways to flex and adapt your practice as you become a neurodiversity affirming practitioner.
Training modalities
Didactic content, Q&A, videos, self-reflection, polls
Key References
Miller, P. K., Dewison, N., Bowden, S. L., Ingham, B., Thwaites, R., & Dagnan, D. (2025). ‘They’ve Almost Got, Like, a Checklist to Work Down’: On the Lived Experiences of Autistic Adults Who Have Received a Structured Therapy Service for Depression and/or Anxiety Disorders. Neurodiversity, 3, 27546330251350037. https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330251350037
William, S., Horrocks, M., Richmond, J., Hall, C. L., & French, B. (2024). Experience of CBT in adults with ADHD: A mixed methods study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1341624. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1341624
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Department of Health and Social Care. (2019). Core Capabilities Framework for Supporting Autistic People. https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Autism-Capabilities-Framework-Oct-2019.pdf
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About the presenters:
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Natasha (Tash) Hickmott (she/her)
Late diagnosed ADHDer (likely AuDHD) from a neurodiverse family.
CBT therapist and supervisor in NHS Talking therapies.
Previously a PWP in NHS Talking Therapies for several years.
Private practice CBTforADHD.com specialising in therapy with ADHDers and neurodiversity training for clinicians and workplaces
Chair BABCP neurodiversity SIG
Member of NHSE ADHD Clinical Reference Group and contributor to NHSE ADHD taskforce health service design and challenging stigma workstreams.
Committed to neuro-inclusion, developing and promoting neuro-culturally sensitive, neurodiversity affirming practice.
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Benjamin Ford (he/him)
Late diagnosed autistic and otherwise neurodivergent, probably AuDHD.
Parent to two adult neurodivergent sons and has several neurodivergent relatives.
Actively involved in learning about and promoting awareness and understanding of neurodivergence for nearly 30 years.
Previous member of the Derbyshire Children’s Autism Pathway committee.
Co-chair of the experts by experience committee for the NHSE Midlands Autism and Learning Disabilities workstream.
Founder member of the BABCP neurodiversity Special Interest Group.
Who should attend?
This webinar is designed for low intensity practitioners, supervisors and leads working in adult NHS Talking Therapies.
Skills Class 2: 14:00-15.00
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Behavioural Experiments: Design and Implementation
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Name of presenter and affiliation
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Palvisha Iqbal and Elizabeth Ruth, University of Bradford
Introduction
Behavioural Experiments can offer ‘the most powerful means to cognitive change in cognitive therapy’ (Wells. 1997; Clark. 1989; Greenberger and Padesky 1995). Cognitive Restructuring based on Beck’s cognitive model [reference] is a long-established treatment intervention for depression and panic in Low Intensity CBT for adults and children. Behavioural experiments are an often-neglected catalyst for creating behaviour change that enables patients to meet their treatment goals and retain learning after the end of treatment.
Behavioural Experiments have only recently been specified for inclusion in training by the national curriculum for training PWPs (NHS.2022). The result of this is that many LI CBT practitioners are not confident to integrate behavioural change with a cognitive intervention. Behavioural Experiments are a key stage in the thought challenging intervention where they can provide tangible evidence that distorted thoughts are not factual. They also support other adaptive cognitive activity, involving practice of the skills of planning, self-observation and self-reflection. The behaviour change of carrying out the experiment cements learning in a profound experiential way. Learning theory provides a framework to design effective Behavioural Experiments, encouraging reflective learning on the part of the patient (Bennett-Levy et al. 2004).
Content
In this one hour workshop we will provide a theoretical explanation of how behavioural experiments work, with an emphasis on how learning theory can inform behavioural experiment design. We will provide practical examples of different types of behavioural experiments; active and observational, with a consideration of how these might be integrated into practice in a high-volume caseload. We will consider barriers to designing and implementing behavioural experiments, including time limitations in most LICBT clinical settings.
Learning objectives
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Up to six learning outcomes for a full day workshop, up to four for a half day workshop and webinar
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To understand the theory that explains the use of behavioural experiments.
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A clear guide to designing the different types of behavioural experiments in LICBT interventions.
Training modalities
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Didactic content; recommendations for SPSR and supervision activities; Q&A.
Key References
Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., and Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. Guilford Press, New York
Bennett-Levy, James, and others, Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy (Oxford, 2004; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Jan. 2015), https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780198529163.001.0001, accessed 5 June 2025
Clark, D.M. (1989). Anxiety states: panic and general anxiety. In: K. Hawton, P.M. Salkovskis, J. Kirk, and D.M. Clark (eds.). Cognitive behaviour therapy for psychiatric problems. Oxford Medical Publications, Oxford.
Greenberger, D. and Padesky, C.A. (1995). Mind over mood: change how you feel by changing the way you think. Guilford Press, New York.
NHS Talking Therapies. 2022. National Curriculum for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner Programmes. NHS.
Wells, A. and Clark, D.M. (1997). Social phobia: a cognitive approach. In: G.L. Davey (ed.). Phobias: a handbook of description, treatment and theory. Wiley, Chichester
About the presenter:
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Palvisha Iqbal is a practicing Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner and works with the University of Bradford as a PWP lecturer. She has presented work on improving inclusion in PWP training at national conferences and is a lead chapter author in the Low Intensity CBT Skills and Interventions practitioner manual (2025) focussing on working with individuals from ethnic minorities. She is also the Co-Chair of the Anti-Racist Community of Practice at Psychological Professions Network (NW-PPN).
Liz Ruth is an Assistant Professor and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner course leader at the University of Bradford. She trained as a Low Intensity Psychological Practitioner at the University of Sheffield in 2010 and practiced as a Qualified, Senior and Lead PWP in IAPT before transitioning into education. Elizabeth is co-author of A Pragmatic Guide to Low Intensity Psychological Interventions: Care in High Volume (2023).
Who should attend?
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We hope this brief workshop will be useful for any Low Intensity CBT practitioner who wants to integrate effective Behavioural Experiments into their work.