Our opening plenary will be led by Nora Bateson,  award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator and president of the International  Bateson Institute in Sweden. This is the first time Nora has presented at the AFT conference, and we are so excited to welcome her to our UK family therapy  community.

We welcome back Dr Taiwo Afuape to the AFT Conference.  Taiwo is a Clinical Psychologist and Systemic Family Therapist and is currently the Clinical Team Lead for the Emotional and Behavioural Team and Youth Zones in Newham Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

There is a huge range of workshops to choose from, including presentations from Hendrix Hammond and Derek Nasseri on the influence of patriarchy on our perceptions, beliefs and interactions.

Dinner will be followed by a vocal performance and DJ set by South West composer, beatboxer and curator Jason Singh. Fresh from his headline set at WOMAD Festival, Jason will showcase music from around the world based largely on communities, traditions and cultures of the global majority as well UK dance music cultures.

This powerful, laugh-out-loud funny yet poignant play, directed by Polly Whitfield, created by playwright Duncan MacMillan and performed solo by Philip Robinson , raises awareness around mental

health issues such as depression and suicide, yet addresses these in such a gentle way to highlight the irrepressible resilience of the human spirit.

Ruth Pitter MBE, will join with the AFT board to open the 2024 AFT Conference.  

Ruth is an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion consultant, formerly head of EDI at Voscur. She is a creative theatre practitioner and walk leader who values working interactively with diverse communities in Bristol, the South West and beyond.’

Maimunah Mosli, a director, systemic clinical consultant and psychotherapist at the Hayaa' Network in Singapore will join her close colleague Nora Bateson to conduct an interactive warm data lab, exploring the conference themes of belonging, home and uniting communities, which will be a powerful way to open our conference and bring us all together.

Roger Duncan is a Systemic Psychotherapist and Systemic Supervisor and Author, working in the NHS.  Roger has been leading nature-based retreats and researching Eco Systemic approaches to nature and mental health for 30 years and will deliver his keynote on Nature and Belonging.

Dr Karen Partridge and Tim Fisher will deliver a fascinating workshop on relational activism, in which they will invite participants to become systemic nomads, embodying systemic theory as lived practice and practice as living theory.

And if a choice of 32 workshops wasn't enough for you, we will be hosting range of informal fringe events that will take place before the conference starts and also during lunchtime.  More details coming soon!

The bookshop, provided by Bookmark, is open again this year, stocking a range of relevant books, including suggestions from our speakers.

The new AFT Bursary Scheme aims to support AFT members to attend conferences or training where the cost would otherwise be prohibitive, and to support programmes aimed at groups currently under-represented in our activities and the profession.

One of our keynote speakers for day two will be Dr Divine Charura, professor of counselling psychology and programme lead at York St John University. Divine has been acknowledged with various awards for his international collaborative work and research projects and is author of The Handbook of Social Justice in Psychological Therapies: Power, Politics, Change.

This year's workshops include a fascinating panel discussion on 'Home and Belonging', featuring Dr Tom Allport, Samira Musse, Dr Viola Sallay, Prof Tamás Martos, and Prof Hannah Sherbersky. 

We have been working hard to bring you a more ethical and innovative offer for the conference meal and we are pleased to announce a partnership with The Coexist Community Kitchen, a non-profit cookery school in Bristol. Coexist’s main aim is to use food as a vehicle to work with people who experience social marginalisation in our society, and we are delighted that they will be providing the main meal on Thursday night.

The conference will feature an exhibition space withing the lunch area, featuring various forms of creative expression from AFT Members.

The conference will be held in the vibrant city of Bristol at the Delta Hotel Bristol City Centre.  The hotel is right in the heart of the city centre and is close to many of Bristol's amenities and attractions, including the Cabot Circus Shopping Centre and the Brunel's SS Great Britain.