Taunton Association for Psychotherapy - The Final Blog

 It’s often been said that the only certainty in life is that everything changes.  Some changes we can see coming and are gradual, for example the demise of icons of the modern world such as Woolworths, Concorde, VHS Video Recorders,  Floppy Disks and flared trousers.  Others can be sudden and take us by surprise like bereavement, redundancy and relationship break-ups.

Nothing or no-one it seems is exempt from the march of change and by now Friends of TAP will know that TAP has reached the end of it’s long illustrious road and is closing it’s doors for good.  The seeds of this ending were sown with the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic in early 2020, which has caused chaos and misery around the world.   For our small organisation it meant that Talks had to cancelled along with the annual Conference, the latter of which generated much of the income for the work of TAP.

Unable to provide the type of presentations that TAP was famous for, the committee put membership on hold and looked at different ways that it might continue to exist but found little in the way of alternatives.  With some of the committee now wishing to stand down and follow other paths an appeal was sent out to Friends of TAP for new committee members, however only one positive reply was received, which still left the Council shorthanded. (Thank you to that person, it was much appreciated). With TAP unable to operate and with little prospect of the situation improving, the decision was made by the majority to close TAP down permanently.
With any ending comes reflection and perhaps now is a good time to thank all the people who served on the TAP Council in the past. Their roles were varied from putting out chairs and making hot drinks to organising the conference and finding speakers and what speakers they found. It’s fair to say that almost every approach to therapy and it’s related subjects were examined over the years and presented by wonderful speakers, many of which were leaders in their field, so a big thank you to you all.

Many `Friends of TAP` will no doubt have fond memories of TAP’s previous venue of the United Reformed Church on the corner of Paul Street that served us well for many years. Later saw the move to the Friends Meeting House in Bath Place.  It’s here that many will recall the social gatherings after the Talks where members and guests enjoyed a friendly chat accompanied by a hot drink and the now legendry biscuits. These events were so popular that often a committee member had to `call time` to end the evening.

As therapists we are accustomed to endings, however I anticipate the loss of TAP will have wider implications to it’s members and friends. For many it has been a valuable source of CPD, not only being of high quality but also being affordable.  Another facet of TAP was the networking. For some the working life of a therapist can be quite solitary but TAP brought together an eclectic mix of people who shared one aim – to help others.

 On behalf of the committee I would like to thank everyone past and present involved with TAP and wish you good health and good fortune.  

David Trott