Free Psychotherapy Network: where do we go from here?

An online meeting for members and supporters of the Free Psychotherapy Network

Saturday 21st November 11am – 1pm

Dear FPN therapists and supporters,

Please join us to discuss the future of FPN. We have been going for over six years now, offering free therapy to people on benefits and low incomes. Our website has 35,000 visitors a year. We have 50 plus therapists, half in Greater London and the rest throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The demand from people wanting therapy is overwhelming, especially in the London area. 

As well as linking clients and therapists through the website, FPN has been campaigning on issues around the politics of counselling and psychotherapy – workfare and psycho-compulsion, the lack of open-ended relational therapy on the NHS, and support for the social model of mental health. We have also been providing free group support online for people isolated during the Covid pandemic.

We recently joined Partners for Counselling and Psychotherapy – a new umbrella group of progressive therapy organisations.

The organisational side of FPN has been mainly done by a small group of us based in London. Recently we have mainly just looked after the website and answered queries. A few of us meet regularly for peer supervision of our free work.

Join us to think about FPN’s future, to explore new ideas for expanding the network and campaigning for social and psychological justice. 

We definitely need more therapists. How can we campaign to encourage more therapists to join us? 

Given the experience of working online under Covid, can we start pooling enquiries and connect people by availability online rather than just geography. 

We could do more Covid support groups online. And more peer supervision of free work.

Some of us have been thinking about a campaign for “real therapy” – more provision of open-ended relational therapy through community-based therapy collectives as well as through the NHS. 

The NHS recently published an ambitious long term plan for community-based mental health provision, something that won’t happen without challenge. One possibility for the future – some community centres are offering us rooms for doing free work. 

Come and join us on Saturday 21st November, and help us think about where we go now. We are using an Eventbrite page for people to register so we have an idea of who’s attending. We will organise it on Zoom and email the link to anyone who wants to come.

Register now to receive the Zoom link – click here to register on Eventbrite

Circulate this Eventbrite link to anyone you think might be interested: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-psychotherapy-network-where-do-we-go-from-here-tickets-124245739351

For more info and contact email, see here