All PCU members are warmly invited to the PCU AGM to be held on Saturday 5th May 2018 from 10am to 5pm at Resource For London, Holloway Road, London N7.

There will be a free workshop open to members and non-members Mapping transferences in complaints procedure: The shadow of therapeutic work from 10am to 1pm (see details below) and the AGM will be held from 2pm to 5pm. Please let Jane know if you will be attending the workshop, the AGM or both by e-mail: pcu.union@gmail.com

The AGM has to have one tenth of the membership or 21 members, whichever is less to go ahead on this date. As there are approx. 335 current members, at least 21 members will need to be in attendance.

Nominations (Constitution points 4 and 5)

The current committee would welcome and encourage new committee members to share the work in keeping the union active but also to encourage diversity and energy.

In accordance with the constitution committee members serve for a two-year term unless they no longer want to. As the current committee members have served for a year re-election of existing members is not required.

The constitution allows for 12 committee members including office bearers. As Jamie Crabb intends to stand down at the AGM there will be 5 vacant committee positions. Victoria Childs was co-opted onto the committee in 2017 which is allowed for in the constitution. She would like to continue, so her membership will need to be formalised at the AGM.

Nominations are invited from members for the vacant committee positions and will need other union members to nominate and second a nomination.

Nominations should include a brief statement about your interest in joining the committee and any relevant background information.

Nominations should be sent to Juliet Lyons, The Secretary, at: secretary.pcunion@gmail.com by Monday 16th April 2018. Nominations will be voted on at the AGM.

Proposals (Constitution points 7 and 8 a)

Only a general meeting of members shall have the right to decide on union policy, amend the constitution or wind up the union.

Proposals are invited from members and the committee and will need other union members to propose and second a proposal.

Proposals should be sent by e-mail to Juliet Lyons, The Secretary at: secretary.pcunion@gmail.com by Monday 16th April 2018.

Each proposal will be discussed and voted on at the AGM, a majority of two-thirds of members in attendance will be needed to pass a proposal.

The committee are looking into the possibility of using electronic voting for members who are unable to attend.

The AGM is in the events calendar on the website. There is also an AGM events forum on the events page where members are invited to post/discuss AGM related comments, thoughts and ideas at: https://pandcunion.ning.com/pcuevents/agm2018

An agenda and reports including an abstract of accounts will be sent to members by Friday 20th April 2018.

Workshop 10am - 1pm - open to members and non-members

Mapping transferences in complaints procedures: The shadow of therapeutic work - Philip Cox and Robin Shohet

In this interactive workshop, we will look at all the stakeholders involved in a complaint and how they interact in ways that might not be useful. We aim to experientially highlight how the interactions serve different and sometimes contradictory needs within the system, and how mapping this out can lead to working in a way that is less adversarial and more humane.

Complaints contain a transformative seed. People don’t generally complain about something they don’t care about. Beneath the surface torrent of complaining lies a hidden river of our caring. We and the professional registration bodies could treat complaints as a doorway to deeper commitments. The language of complaints tells us what we can’t stand. The language of commitment tells us what we stand for (Kegan & Lahey, Immunity to Change, 2009).

The PCU is committed to change how complaints are worked with, and how to support professionals complained against. The underlying philosophy is that by standing up for therapists we are standing up for clients.

In this workshop, our aim is to explore and understated the forces at work in us, in our professions and how they may reflect in wider society as a whole, ways that relationships break down. What are the unconscious dynamics at work? What might be the feelings, unmet needs and values that have not had a voice? How can we embrace uncertainty, humility and being human in a way that will help us to move towards a more compassionate, systemic view in the face of inevitable challenges? (Shohet, 2017).

The PCU Committee: Richard Bagnall-Oakeley, Viviane Carneiro, Victoria Childs, Jane Clements, Phil Cox, Jamie Crabb, Robbie Lockwood, Juliet Lyons, Andy Price