TAP Talk 15th November 2019 - Berkeley Wilde

The talk subject: "Diversity in Practice"

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Open to the general public as well as professionals, Taunton Association of Psychotherapists (TAP) hosted another interesting talk on Friday the 15th November at the Quaker meeting House in Taunton. The talk, ‘Diversity in Practice’ was given by Berkeley Wilde, founder and director of The Diversity Trust.

Berkeley has extensive experience within the field of diversity stretching back 30 years and encompassing a variety of settings including Relate, Terrence Higgins Trust, Department of Health, an All Parliamentary Group and with the European Men's Health Forum in Brussels. Berkeley also received the Ann Wood Award for making an Outstanding Contribution to Tackling Domestic Abuse in 2016.
 
The Diversity Trust, established in 2012, provides training and consultancy across a range of services; private, public sector and social purpose, to support and promote equality and inclusion. Berkeley describes the core tenets of the trust as research and evidence-based, this includes established links with higher and further education and researcher partnerships. The trust is also ethics led, this is clearly demonstrated by their policy of ‘open access’, making large amounts of research and materials freely accessible to the general public from their website www.diversitytrust.org.uk 

Berkeley covered a huge amount of information, delivered in a relaxed and engaging way, which made a potentially challenging topic accessible to all. Not only was the historical and political context of gender and sexuality outlined, but also a critical eye was cast over the complexities and impact of language. In addition, how these and other barriers experienced by members of the LGBT+ community may prevent support seeking and inclusion and how services can make small alterations to indicate their recognition of diversity, making them a safe space.
 
Diversity and inclusion, whilst terms increasingly common, are arguably, nuanced concepts, the depths of which are not often explored. By using easy to understand models and case studies to help people visualize the concepts being discussed, interesting insights were gained by all who attended.
 
This talk also whets the appetite for TAP’s March conference ‘Exploring Gender Diversity and Bias in Therapeutic Settings’ with eminent speakers Dr Jay Stewart, MBE and Russell J. Thomas, which presents professionals and public alike the opportunity to gain a wealth of understanding about issues related to diversity, structural and unconscious bias.

Talk write-up provided by TAP Council Member - Caroline Barrett

The next TAP talk takes place on the 17th January 2020 with speaker Mark Conway on ‘Working with trauma and emotional dysregulation from a skills based perspective’.  
​All are welcome.

If you would like to attend the next talk, please register your interest on the form below or e-mail taplimited@hotmail.co.uk

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