Transforming Race Conversations Online Conference

Counsellor, Coach and Trainer

With over three decades of experience, Delroy Hall is a trained counsellor, wellbeing practitioner, trainer, and independent scholar.

Delroy has given lectures and academic papers nationally and internationally and has extensive keynote speaker experience Including Harvard University, Boston College Massachusetts, USA, Durham university and South Yorkshire Police.

Delroy has coordinated mental health projects and is currently working with Birmingham Community Health Care Trust (BCHC) facilitating the Inclusive Leadership component on their ‘Inspire Leadership Programme. He is coordinator for a Black Male Suicide Prevention programme under the auspices Sheffield Health and Social Care (SCHC).

Dr. Lucia Berdondini, PhD., is currently Associate Professor and Course Leader of the Distance Learning MSc Humanitarian Intervention at the School of Psychology, University of East London. At UEL she is also teaching on the BSc (Hons) Counselling. Lucia is a BACP Accredited Gestalt Psychotherapist since 2003 and she has been working with a variety of clients, individuals, couples and groups, adolescents and adults. Her areas of interest are psychosocial intervention in countries in war and conflict; existential therapies; intercultural counselling training. She has been involved in co-creating psychosocial interventions in countries like Afghanistan, Angola, India and Syria.

Eugene Ellis is a psychotherapist, writer and public speaker on issues of race, difference and intersectionality. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. For the past 20 years, Eugene has been the director and founder of the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network, the UK’s largest independent organisation to specialise in working therapeutically with Black, African, Caribbean and South Asian people.

His book, ‘The Race Conversation: An essential guide to creating life-changing dialogue’ (2021), explores the race construct both through its cognitive and historical development and also, more crucially, on the intergenerational, non-verbal communication of race, both as a means of social control and as an essential part of navigating oppressive patterns.

Counsellor, Mentor, Support Worker, Author

Hello, I’m Kiren. I’m a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited person-centred counsellor in private practice and a single, disabled mum of 3 boys. I am also a Mentor and Support Worker within the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network’s (BAATN) Each One Teach One (EOTO) Programme. My work is with clients and mentees experiencing trauma and discrimination within the workplace and in educational settings, including counselling training institutions and placements. A self-penned account of my survival of explicit racism in counselling training, entitled ‘Counsellor Training and Beyond’ is published in ‘Therapy in Colour: Intersectional, Anti-Racist and Intercultural Approaches by Therapists of Colour’ (2023; Jessica Kingsley Publishers). I look forward to meeting you for BWTOC UK 24. Alongside colleagues Salma Joosub and a contribution from Debrina Lloyd-Davies, I will be presenting a 90-minute Seminar exploring the experiences of Black and BIPOC trainee therapists Healing from Therapy Training.

Mark Williams is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work with Leeds Beckett University since 2004. He has extensive experience in mental health social work practice and worked in both statutory and third sector mental health provision, prior to joining the university, including having the privilege to be involved in the development and launch of the first Assertive Outreach provision in Leeds (in 2000), and earlier the development of a multicultural mental health community resource (in 1998).

As a British African Caribbean man Mark has a particular interest in the lived experiences of Black and Global Majority (BGM) communities living in the UK. His interests has led him to become involved in the development and delivery of mental health services targeted towards the needs of BGM groups which has now extended to concerns about the diversity and inclusion of BGM individuals in higher education.

Nomsa Wayland is a Professional Doctorate Counselling Psychology Trainee, qualified Integrative therapist, and part-time lecturer at the University of East London (UEL). She contributes her knowledge to the foundation Counselling Skills and the Intercultural Counselling Practice and Processes modules within the Humanitarian Intervention programme. She is passionate about addressing race and racism in therapy.

Nomsa has delivered lectures on race and culture while working to create a more inclusive therapeutic environment, demonstrating her commitment to fostering meaningful conversations and promoting positive change.

Her current research project, “Understanding Counselling Professionals’ Experiences of Working with Black Clients Presenting with Race-Based Traumatic Stress,” aims to contribute to a larger conversation about equality, diversity, and inclusion within the counselling psychology field and to improve education and the counselling process for minority clients. Nomsa’s research and dedication make her an asset to UEL and the counselling psychology field, as she advocates for cultural competence and social justice.

Sarah Henry is a published author, person-centred counsellor and counselling tutor. She is a contributor to the book People Not Pathology: Freeing Therapy From The Medical Model (PCCS Books, 2023), with a chapter focused on the overmedicalisation of Black people. Sarah has also presented nationally about the impact of race and ethnicity within the counselling and tutoring relationship. Born in England to a Black British mother and Jamaican father, Sarah’s formative experience was a notable dynamic of complementary and clashing norms. Elements of this disparity continue into adulthood and inform her work, both implicitly and explicitly.