APSCC Conference 2011 - Spirituality in Practice:  The difference for your client and for you!

5-7 September 2011, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester 

On behalf of the Association for Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counselling (APSCC) may I invite you to come and join us for some very stimulating days in Cirencester.

A great deal of work has gone into choosing not only our conference theme but also the best ways to explore it and the best guides to explore it with. We particularly look forward to personal, practical and challenging keynote presentations by Lynne Gabriel, Salma Khalid and Professor Peter Gilbert. Along with a variety of workshops and other opportunities, we will have plenty of time to learn, to reflect and to share our experiences.

Our focus is on spirituality in practice and we will explore this theme in a variety of practice-based ways! One of the over-arching themes of not only this conference but also all of APSCC's work is: how do we best support our clients' search for meaning, which some will explicitly name as a spiritual or religious search? This also asks questions of us personally, in terms of the meaning we find in life and in our work. Each of us inevitably brings who we are, our own beliefs and meanings, into the counselling room. Doing so in an ethical and fruitful way - a way that makes a positive difference - is a constant challenge and an exciting one!

The beautiful setting of the Royal Agricultural College promises to be a warm and welcoming place to host our explorations, whether in the meeting rooms or over a meal or a drink. I look forward to meeting you there and to exploring together.

Lynette Harborne

Acting Chair, APSCC Division