Annual Conference 2025

28th February- 2nd March 2025
 
Stories of Remembrance and Meaning
in The Psalmist’s Prayers and Psychological Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are inherently storytellers.

Psychology works with the stories of our lives, both those that we want to let go and those we rework or keep. Stories of individuals, families, relationships, communities, organizations. In our recent survey of BACIP members there was a desire to have a conference on the use of narrative in psychology, how we work with clients’ traumas and grief in the stories they remember.

The process of remembering is fundamental to the discipline and practice of psychology, whether we practice in educational, clinical, or business settings or we use our skills and thinking to build up our churches or communities. Such remembering is entwined with and reshaped by the Stories we tell ourselves.

The founders of cognitive psychology, Neisser and Miller, sought to microanalyses memory and remembering using reductionist principles to understand the mechanics of remembering. Following from the pioneering work on narrative representation of memories/stories by Shank and Abelson, research by Hirst and others has sought to make sense of the relational process of remembering, our memories being reworked within the conversations that we have with ourselves and others, the stories that we tell, hand on and are told.

Such research finds greater resonance with the Biblical understanding of remembering. The Bible is at heart the story of our relationship with God and one another. In the Psalms we find conversations where God is urging the Israelites to remember Him within who He is and what He has done. Stories as prayers/songs of raw pain and anguish mixed with relief which often resonate with clients’ emotions in our therapy rooms, schools, businesses, and courts.

Our Main Speaker will be The Rev'd Dr Megan Daffern, Canon Chancellor of Wells Cathedral, and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Tutor for the Eastern Region Ministry Course. Prior to this, most recently she was Acting Dean of Caius and Gonville College, Cambridge, amongst a range of academic and pastoral commitments in both Oxford and Cambridge Universities since completing her curacy in 2009. She is the author of the book 'Songs of the Spirit'. She is with us for the whole conference.

Megan will be speaking on her research on conversations of Remembering and Self-reflecting in Prayer, with particular reference to the Psalms, enabling us to apply these relational narratives to our practice and personal lives.

On Friday night we will examine the position of storytelling and conversational remembering within the field of psychological research on memory.

On Saturday afternoon there will be workshops and short presentations from psychologists and applied psychological practitioners on how they work in practice with clients’ stories of remembering, self-reflection and meaning making in settings with children, adults, and older adults, often interweaving theological and psychological perspectives in their work.
 

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We will gather at Trinity College, Bristol

a vibrant theological college in the centre of Bristol, near the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge for a weekend of worship, fellowship, and learning.
 

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The cost of the weekend will be £310 for members and £370 for non-members which includes;

• 2 night accommodation in a private bedroom 

• Meals on Friday night, all day Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday

• Access to prayer and worship sessions

• Time for fellowship and networking

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Student rates and day places (day places are £100 to include lunch and an evening meal) are also available- please contact Bridget, our administrator, for more details.

 

To secure your place, please email administrator@bacip.org.uk

SOS- Sponsor Our Speakers

Did you know that all of our speakers give up their time to speak at our conferences for free? However, we have expenses to pay for them.

Could you or your company 'Sponsor Our Speakers'?

 Please contact Bridget at administrator@bacip.org.uk for further details

SAS- Sponsor a Student

For BACIP to flourish, we need to encourage new membership and this often means widening our membership to student members.

The cost of this weekend might prove prohibitive to some.

Could you 'Sponsor A Student' and help them to attend the conference?  
Please contact Bridget at administrator@bacip.org.uk for further details

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