Doing More With Less

UKASFP
2025 CONFERENCE
BRADFORD

  • 17-18 July 2025
  • Bradford College, Bradford
Memories

Doing More With Less

2025 Annual Conference

July 17th-18th, 2025
Bradford College, West Yorkshire

Pre-conference workshops Wednesday 16th

Memories

Join The Conversation

Doing More With Less

Achieve More, Faster. Across therapy, coaching, and organizations, there's a growing need for quicker, significant results. Discover powerful strategies to deliver these outcomes more efficiently, saving crucial time, money, and energy.

Exploring the 'brief' aspect of solution focused approaches in coaching and therapy

  • How therapy outcomes are attained in fewer sessions
  • Coaching and therapy in just one session. Is it possible? Is it useful?

Better organisations - a quest for efficient, co-created solutions

  • Rapid improvement in productivity
  • Do project efficiency and improvement need to be month-spanning projects or can they be rolled out in days? Learn from our experience with real case-studies.

About Our

Keynote Sessions

Mental Health Crisis Panel - Doing More With Less

Doing more with less

Using Solution Focused Practice in Mental Health Crisis

Nick Perry, Lauren Jerome, Guy Shennan, Rose McCabe, Natasha Adams, Michele Orr, Aamena Akubat

A panel discussion on the suitability of Solution Focused Practice as an approach for people in mental health crisis.

Lou White Pawson

Curiosity across the intersection of our cultural lens

Lou White Pawson

A practical narrative of SFBT practice and the value of curiosity across cultures, working with intersections of our multi cultural identities, exploring the self and our wider communities through curious practice.

Guy Shennan

Solution-focused practice and hope(s)

Exploring the role of hope-focused approaches to change

Guy Shennan

Guy will delve into hope across anthropology, sociology, and philosophy, linking it to solution-focused practice. Drawing from a recent account: "In the face of hardship people hope." His presentation will also integrate findings from his current study on how Palestinians hope and what they hope for.

Transforming Legal Services - A Solutions Focused Approach

Transforming legal services

A Solutions Focused Approach to Cultural Change

Janine Waldman, Paul Z Jackson, Michael Graham

How a solutions-focused approach can drive cultural change in high-stakes environments.

At My Best Strengths Cards - Plenary Session

Plenary session - At my best: Strengthening connections

Martin Galpin

A quick introduction to the pack of Strengths Cards that delegates will have received in their conference packs. Learn practical techniques for recognizing and developing strengths in yourself and others using solution-focused approaches.

Schedule

At the conference

Day 1
17th

Conference day 1

July 17th, 9:00 - 17:00

  • 08:00Registration
  • 09:00Welcome - Conference Team
  • 09:00Networking Workshop - Andrew Gibson
  • 09:30Keynote: Solution Focused Practice and Hope(s) - Guy Shennan
  • 10:15Coffee Break
  • 10:45Workshop 1
    • Confident Career Conversations - Antoinette Oglethorpe
    • A Single Session Cure for "Depression" - John Pihlaja
    • SFP and Autism in Primary Classroom - Sarah Kellett
    • Creating possibilities for change - Helena Rose, Rob Edwards
  • 11:45Workshop 2
    • Facilitating Better Group Decisions - John Brooker, Sonali Kumarakulasinghe
    • Testing SF chatbot - Lauren Jerome
    • Solution Talk in schools and Mental Health Support Teams - Rose McCabe, Fiona Robinson, Fiona Bird
    • Straight in to Description - Allegra Harrison
  • 12:45Lunch including Poster Presentations
  • 13:45Workshop 3
    • I don't have enough time… - Greg Oberbeck
    • We don't need your complication - Sean Foy and Paul Hanton
    • An SF Approach to Meetings involving Young People - Jen Frazer-Smith
    • Writing SF - Mark McKergow
  • 14:45Coffee break
  • 15:15Panel discussion/Keynote: Using Solution Focused Practice in Mental Health Crisis
  • 16:45Close: Sparkling Moments and Appreciation
  • 17:15Depart for the evening
  • 19:00Cabaret Dinner – Jinnah Marquee
Day 2
18th

Conference day 2

July 18th, 9:00 - 17:00

  • 08:00Registration
  • 09:00Welcome - Opening Plenary: At My Best: Strengthening Connections
  • 09:30Keynote: Transforming Legal Services - Janine Waldman, Paul Z Jackson with Mike Graham
  • 10:30Coffee Break
  • 11:00Workshop 1
    • Improv for SF Thinking - Jade Fearnely, Kate McCabe, Prab Riat
    • Sex buyers and SF - Ben Scott
    • Broader Influences on SF Practice, indoors and outdoors - Stephan Natynczuk
    • Enjoy School Again - Pascale Scheurer
    • Playing at the Edges - Gerry Andrews, Amanda Strevett-Smith
  • 12:00Workshop 2
    • ASPIRE: building cultures - Michele Deeks
    • Hope and Possibilities in Life - SF in suicide prevention - Michelle Orr
    • Working together and change - Alexandra Ashida
    • A sideways look at SF - John Brooker
    • Goal Mapping - Jay Sharma
  • 13:00Lunch including Poster Presentations
  • 14:00Workshop 3
    • Adapting to text based SFT - Tellmi
    • Improving communication between young people and parents/carers - Maria Long, Rose McCabe, Brad Begley
    • What role can mindfulness play in solution-focused practice? - Martin Buckley
  • 15:00Coffee break
  • 15:30Keynote: Curiosity across intersection of cultural lens - Lou White-Pawson
  • 16:30Gratitude, Appreciation and Close
  • 17:00Departures and Mass (optional!) Hugging
Marquee at Jinnah Restaurants
Day 1
17th

Cabaret dinner

July 17th, 19:00 - 22:00

19:00A tradition of our conference is to hold a self-organising Cabaret Dinner on the evening of Day 1 of the Conference. This year, we've booked the amazing Marquee at Jinnah Restaurants, a short walk from the venue.
21:00As well as great food and company, we will ask enthusiastic volunteers to take to the stage and perform for us all. Don't worry – participation is not compulsory!

Our Conference Venue

Join us at Bradford College's state-of-the-art conference centre, offering modern facilities in the heart of West Yorkshire. Easy to access with excellent amenities.

Bronte Theatre Seating at Bradford College

Modern facilities

Our venue offers cutting-edge technology, comfortable seating, and versatile spaces for both presentations and interactive workshops.

  • Spacious main auditorium with excellent acoustics
  • Multiple breakout rooms for focused discussions
  • High-speed WiFi throughout the venue
  • On-site catering with dietary options

Organised By

Your Hosts

Kerry McDowell

Kerry McDowell

Conference host

Kerry McDowell is a skilled and experienced Counsellor (BACP Accredited), Supervisor and Coach with a track record of in service design and delivery, the management of organisational teams, and providing therapeutic support in the statutory and non-statutory sector.

Andrew Gibson

Andrew Gibson

Lead host

Andrew Gibson brings Solution Focused Practice to organisations. His current activities include culture change and productivity improvement in the NHS, stimulating local economies in deprived communities, and helping charities and non-profits with income generation from their activities.

Katie Turner

Katie Turner

Conference host

I fell in love with SF practice during my final university placement. My passion has only grown since. Last year, I chaired the conference and was a keynote speaker. These conferences highlight the best of UKASFP, and I'm thrilled to help plan this year's event.

Susannah Stowbart

Susannah Stobart

Conference host

Solution Focused Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist, specialising in adult communication difficulties from stroke, brain injury, or neurological conditions. SFP contract at Green Tree Therapy and volunteer for Let's Keep Talking. Registered with RCSLT, HCPC, accredited with UKASFP and IASTI.

Martin Buckley

Martin Buckley

Conference host

Martin is a journalist, author, and psychotherapist. Starting as a journalist in India, he explored psychological models in Hinduism and Buddhism. He worked at the BBC and Discovery Channel, creating over 20 documentaries and authoring three books. After a decade in academia teaching journalism and politics, he returned to psychology, training in solution-focused therapy.

Joel Marks

Joel Marks

Conference web co-ordinator

Solution Focused coach and clinical hypnotherapist, looking at the intersection of coaching, spiritual development, and entheogens. With a background in teaching music synthesis in the 90s, now a freelance AV engineer in central London while developing AI-integrated websites and brands for startups.

Ready to Join Us?

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