Forum Programme 2024-2025

2024– 2025 FORUM PROGRAMME

Wednesday 18th September
Working with Complex Trauma
Joanne Stubley

We are increasingly recognizing the impact of early relational trauma on adult life. Psychoanalytic theory provides a framework for understanding the states of mind a traumatised individual brings to the work and emphasizes the importance of the therapeutic
relationship to allow reconnection with the body and mind, and with others. The adaptations that are needed to work with traumatised patients will be considered through the different lenses of neurobiology, attachment theory and trauma informed care.

Dr Joanne Stubley is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. She is the lead clinician of the Tavistock Trauma Service, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a psychoanalyst who has also been trained in traumaspecific
modalities of care.

Dr Stubley is Co-Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Expert Reference Group on nonrecent child sexual abuse. She is an honorary lecturer at University College London and has written widely on trauma, teaching nationally and internationally. She is co-editor of
“Complex Trauma: the Tavistock Model” with Linda Young, published in 2022, which was nominated for a Gravida Award.

Wednesday 16th October
Basic Assumptions, populist leaders, and domineering cultures: Or how I learned to stop worrying and kill the “Great Leader”
Faisal Samadi

The rise of figures such as Trump, Farage, Le Pen, and other populist leaders, has already been correctly partially attributed to shared prejudices, and the prevalence of social hierarchies and economic inequalities. However, what is it about these and other so-called “Great Leaders” that has seen their sometimes-fanatical followers willing to commit insurrections, cruel acts of violence, and historically, even crimes against humanity.

Bion identified Specialised Work Groups, operating along basic assumptions and acting as containers for the Work Group’s phantasies and projections. Through creative uses of the processes involved in Bion’s theories on Group Dynamics, the presenter hopes to demonstrate how Bion’s theories of Basic Assumption Groups and Specialised Workgroups can be used to explain not only the ascendance of the populist demagogue in modern political movements, but also how these unconscious processes might lead to what the presenter terms the “Great
Leader.” By further developing Bion’s ideas, the “Great Leader” attempts to provide explanations for how unconscious processes identified in Basic Assumptions Groups can lead to obsessional, dominant and pervasive cultural epochs across human history, and the fanatical
group behaviours that can result in both humanity’s great works but also its greatest horrors.

To close, the presentation hopes to offer a space for discussion on how by applying these theories to the rise of the demagogue, it might provide answers for potential solutions to the surge in modern authoritarian movements.

Faisal Samadi, a 2025 graduate of Birkbeck’s Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy program and a BACP member, currently works as a psychotherapist at the NHS’s CNWL Trust’s CMHT, providing long-term treatment to patients with complex histories. He is also the Business & Enterprise Service Lead at Working Well Trust, a Hackney-based employment charity partnered with the NHS’s ELFT to provide patients’ IPS work guidance. In this role, Faisal offers business and organisational consulting to business and start-up owners who are accessing mental health services. Having run and led a business for over a decade and with a long-standing interest in history and politics, he found it natural to link Bion’s Group Dynamics and apply them in the presented context, seeing it as a clear and worthy area for further investigation and thought.

At the time of writing (Jul-24), Faisal Samadi has prepared an article on this topic awaiting review for publication in Free Associations, titled: The Basic Assumptions and the rise of populist figures and dominant cultures. Or: how I learned to stop worrying and kill the “Great Leader” (2024).

Wednesday 20th November
Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy: Why it matters
Dr Marco Chiesa

Many patients enter psychotherapy while being on antidepressant medication. This presentation outlines and discusses the main effects of antidepressant medication both on the patient and on the psychotherapy process. Although widely prescribed, the effectiveness of
antidepressant medication is still uncertain, and several authors have questioned whether it ismore effective than placebo. The multi-faceted adverse effects of antidepressants include emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, a number of physical ailments and lead to chronicity
in the course of depression. These adverse effects are often not easy to identify as stemming from the medication and may be mistakenly attributed to the patient’s own emotional difficulties. This presents a challenge to the process of psychotherapy with the risk of creating an impasse and unfavourable outcome. In most cases, a gradual process of withdrawal from antidepressant medication is necessary to reduce the impact of the side-effects both on the patient’s quality of life and on the psychotherapy process. A clinical case of a patient with a ten-year history of psychiatric medication and hospitalisations, who was suffering from medication stressful adverse effects while not improving psychiatrically, is presented. A gradual withdrawal of psychiatric medication coupled with a combination of supportive and exploratory psychotherapy led to a more favourable prognosis and clear improvements in the patient’s life.

Dr Marco Chiesa, MD, FRCPsych Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society and Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists; Visiting Professor, Research Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, University College London. He works in private psychiatric and psychoanalytic practice in London. Formerly Consultant Psychiatrist at the Cassel Hospital, Richmond until his retirement in 2015. Interests include treatment of patients with personality disorder and other challenging psychiatric conditions. He has carried out a number of research projects in the area of treatment outcome for personality disorders. He has published scientific and clinical papers in the British Journal of Psychiatry, the American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Personality Disorders, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, British
Journal of Psychotherapy and the International Journal of Psychoanalysis.

Wednesday, 15th January
Desert Island Footprints 2025
Maisie Holland

The way we develop as counsellors and therapists can have many influences; sometimes a book, lecture, poem or conversation can have a particular impact. Following in the footsteps of a well-known radio programme, we have invited Maisie Holland to be our ‘castaway’, and to choose which of her favourite books, papers or other literary pieces she would take to a desert island.

Maisie Holland qualified as a Social Worker in 1976 after completing the CQSW Certificate of Qualification in Social Work at the London School of Economics. During this period, she worked as an Education Welfare Officer for the then ILEA and as a Medical Social Worker at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Great Portland Street and Stanmore. Following qualification, she worked in a Generic team in Harrow Social Services and had three daughters over a 7 years period.

In 1989, after a short experience in receiving counselling, she began an Introduction to Counselling Course and in 1993 commenced her training at Birkbeck on the Diploma in Adult Counselling, qualifying in 1995. Since then, she has worked in EAPs, primary care, staff and student counselling, Occupational Health and bereavement counselling. In 1996 she began working in Private practice and qualified as a supervisor in 2005 with the WPF. Between 2005-2011 she also taught at Birkbeck on the Introduction to Counselling Course.

She is a Senior accredited member of the BACP and was the Assistant Clinical Director for Raphael Jewish Counselling Service. Alongside working in Private practice and as a supervisor she is the Chairperson of the Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy North London and has been a member of the BAPPS (British Association for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Supervision) Executive Committee, the Birkbeck Forum Organising committee and the Executive Committee. She also founded the Pinner Synagogue Bereavement Support Group and is a member of the Journey Outreach team presenting workshops on the Kindertransport Experience on behalf of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Newark Nottinghamshire.

Her Interests have included health, stress, infertility, miscarriage, parenting, domestic abuse, Holocaust Education, developing and using listening skills and couple counselling.

Wednesday, 19th February
Book Review: “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong
George Pearse

Ocean Vuong’s novel “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” intertwines multiple themes including of memory, inter-generational dynamics and childhood development. In doing so, Vuong tells a poignant story that resonates deeply with the reader. The novel, written as a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, navigates the complex landscape of personal and familial history, exploring how memories shape identity and influence the psychological landscape of the immigrant experience

Early childhood development is intricately linked to the novel’s exploration of memory and loss. Little Dog’s formative years are marked by violence and instability, yet they also provide moments of profound connection and love. Vuong portrays the duality of early childhood experiences, showing how they can be both damaging and nurturing. The relationship between Little Dog and his mother, despite being fraught with misunderstanding and hardship, is depicted with tenderness, highlighting the significance of early attachments in shaping one’s emotional and psychological development. His emerging sexuality is also a rich source of psychotherapeutic interest

George will lead a discussion on how psychodynamic theory may help us glean further insights into Ocean’s mystical world. Using passages from the book, we shall explore how storytelling and self-expression are such powerful tools in the therapeutic process. How may this in turn benefit our client work?

George Pearse is a graduate of the MSc in psychotherapy and psychodynamic counselling at Birkbeck. Having established his private practice during the pandemic, he now specialises in working with members of the LGBTQIA+ community. He is a member of the queer analytic circle and volunteers with the BCA Forum. He also works as a personal trainer and a yoga teacher and is moved by how we may think about our embodied experiences within the therapeutic frame.

Wednesday, 19th March
Dreams and the dreamlike in psychoanalysis and poetry
Susanne Lansman

This talk will consider the power of dreams and the dreamlike to offer a transformative and creative space. Susanne Lansman will use Charles Simic’s poetry, and some of her own, to explore how poetic, dreamlike language invites creative engagement with difficult subject matter and experience. She will discuss the affect created by this engagement. Can the dreamlike reduce fear of judgement and expand our ability to accept our tendencies to disengage? How do the gaps and omissions in the ‘telling’ of the dream in psychoanalysis, and the dreamlike in poetry, communicate a traumatic response to something that is difficult
to face?

Susanne Lansman has a practice-based PhD in creative writing from Royal Holloway. Her research, supervised by Lavinia Greenlaw, considered the enactment of trauma and resilience in the poetry of Charles Simic. Her poetry has appeared in The Rialto, The Interpreter’s House, Vaine Magazine, Ink Sweat & Tears, Poetry Salzburg Review, Under the Radar, and is forthcoming in Tears in the Fence. It has been long-listed for Juritz Prize and Rialto Pamphlet Competition in 2019. She is a fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society and
works as a psychoanalyst in private practice in London.

Wednesday 21st May
Walking through the storm: Psychodynamic Therapy with Cancer Patients.
Federica De Angelis

Cancer is often being referred to as “the silent killer” and the language used to describe the difficult experience of having cancer or of being treated for cancer is frequently characterised by the presence of metaphors such as “battling cancer”, “fighting cancer”, “war on cancer” and so on. These seem to convey an idea about the intensity of the feelings mobilised by a cancer diagnosis and offer some clues about the nature of conscious and unconscious meanings associated with the disease.

Drawing from her experience as a Psychodynamic Counsellor in the Psycho-Oncology Department of a London Hospital and in private practice, Federica will use anonymized composite case material to illustrate key areas as well as anxieties and defenses encountered in the work with patients facing the trauma and unbearable states of mind of the cancer diagnosis
and treatments.

Federica De Angelis is a BACP Senior Accredited and BPC Registered Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and Counsellor experienced in working with a wide range of issues including psycho-oncology, personality disorders, psychosomatics, chronic and life threatening health conditions, and psychosexual health.

She holds a BA (Hons) in Social Work from University “La Sapienza” in Rome (Italy), and an MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy from Birkbeck College University of London, which she obtained before attending further trainings in Psychosexual Therapy with individuals and couples at the Tavistock Relationships, and in MBT at the Anna Freud Centre in London.

Currently working in full time private practice with individuals and couples, she has provided counselling and psychotherapy in a variety of social and mental health settings. These include: the UCL Student Psychological Services, Tavistock Relationships, the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (at the IPTT Lambeth secondary care specialist personality disorders service) and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where she was formerly employed until August 2022 offering specialist Counselling to Oncology patients and their carers and group supervision to nursing staff.

Federica serves on the Birkbeck Counselling Association Forum Organising Committee and is member of an International Special Interest Group on Illness, Couples and Couple Therapy.

Wednesday 18th June
The hoodwinked Little Red and the Wolves in Ewes’ Clothes
Monika Killeen

This seminar will think about some issues relating to the development of female individuality surrounded by its psychosocial context. It will start with the reading of an extract of a playful analysis of “Little Red Riding Hood”. This story, like all stories, raises questions about what
we implicitly tell our children about their future, and how stories like this, shape the development of their identities.

I will consider the psychosocial contribution to understanding psychodynamic clinical work focusing on the idea of societal oppression of women, and the related idea of internalised misogyny. How, through projective and introjective processes, the experience the mother has
of herself will become a part of experience the daughter has of herself. I will think about the impact of being a female, the influence of this particular gender, on a role that a woman may take up, in life and, in a consulting room. How this psychosocial context is connected with,
but distinct from, other factors which form her internal psychic structure. Being a woman puts her in the “minority”, defined not so much quantitatively but by “the relative weakness of its social praxis” and “distorted gaze of the so-called majority on it” (Akhtar, 2014), and
this may affect the transference in a number of ways.

Misogyny, defined as the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women still claims its place today, both individually and societally, overtly and subtly, consciously and not. I believe it can be thought of as another form of “cumulative trauma” (Khan, 1963)
passed on generationally. The link between the centuries-long internalised misogyny and the societal oppression of women interlocked in a continuous cycle can be explored and perhaps interrupted, in the consulting room, if it is understood and in therapist’s awareness.

Monika Killeen has studied Law (BA Hons eqv.), Classical History (MA) and, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (MSc) at Birkbeck. Her current focus is on the exploration of psychosocial context and its impact on the development of the female identity. She sees
clients in her private practice and is supervised by Dr Soreanu. She is also a writer, and her book “An Inflammable Act of Kindness” is a literary exploration of the projective and introjective processes raising a possibility that a female may reject an identity offered to her
by her mother, and that, in the masculine presence she may find the most obvious venue of disidentification (Orbach, 2018), which she might see as her only way out of the “shackles of perpetual midwifery”.