This is one day HYBRID workshop with Dr Helen Kennerley that will be delivered in Birmingham (and online) on 12th October 2026

This is a one day HYBRID workshop that will take place on 12th October 2026 in Birmingham (with livestream access), and is part of our 15th International Conference.

For more information about our conference program please visit:

https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk/cmf-conference-2026

Timings

All timings are according to UK Time

9.30 to 16.30 BST

Venue

Millenium Point

Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7AP

Pricing Face to Face

Early Bird: £185.00 (ends on the 31st July 2026)

Student Rate: £145.00

Member Rate: £ 175.00

Emerging Country: £105.00

Standard Rate: £205.00

Pricing Online

Early Bird: £125.00 (ends on the 31st July 2026)

Student Rate: £105.00

Member Rate: £ 115.00

Emerging Country: £75.00

Standard Rate: £145.00

For those in difficult financial circumstances, or to pay in instalments or via invoice, please contact finance@compassionatemind.co.uk

About the workshop

'Integrating the Fragmented Self using CBT principles: when less is more’

The link between trauma or stress and dissociation is well established across a range of psychological disorders. In some instances, sense of self becomes fragmented and normally integrated aspects of self-knowledge and being seemingly dissociate in time, or with regard to affect or even identity. Sometimes the experience is short-lived, sometimes it is chronic, but it is frequently distressing.

CBT “first principles” reflect common psychological and neuropsychological processes and as such are pan-diagnostic and flexible (Beck & Haigh, 2014). This, rather broad, knowledge base can provide a foundation to understanding both why and how a fragmented sense of self evolved, which in itself can create a compassionate conceptualisation. This, in turn, can inspire ideas for recovery, present possibilities for integration and strengthening of a sense of self, but only if the conceptualisation is relatable and explored within a therapeutic relationship that is founded on warmth and empathy.

Therapy involves more than the application of strategies -the art of our work lies in creating a therapeutic milieu that is safe and containing for the work to take place (Beck et al, 1979). And therapy involves creating a blueprint for treatment that is personally relevant and simple enough to speak to the patient: this means knowing when less is more.

This workshop aims to demystify dissociation of the self and guide clinicians in formulation-driven treatment by addressing:

Understanding processes relating to psychological trauma and dissociation,

Making this accessible to the patient

Using formulation-based interventions to enhance integration of a fragmented sense of self.

Key references

Kennerley H (1996): "Cognitive Therapy of Dissociative Symptoms Associated with Trauma." British Journal of Clinical Psychology Vol 35, 325-341

Kennerley H & Kischka U (2013) The Brain, Neuropsychology and Dissociation In: Kennedy F, Kennerley H, Pearson D (2013) Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to the Understanding and Treatment of Dissociation Routledge

Kennedy, F., & Kennerley, H. (2023). Taking CBT Forward: Focusing on the self in CBT CBT Today, February 26-29

Workshop Leader

Helen Kennerley, D.Phil, is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist working with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, and a Senior Associate Tutor with the University of Oxford. She is a founding fellow of the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre (OCTC), where she is the lead for the Postgraduate Certificates in CBT Supervision & Training and in Psychological Trauma & Personality Development.

She has practiced CBT for 40 years, having trained in Oxford and the US, and has worked with forms of dissociation during that time, developing simple ways of communicating the phenomenon to patients and using familiar CBT interventions to help them manage dissociation-related difficulties.

She has written several popular cognitive therapy self-help books and texts, some of which have been commended by the British Medical Association. Most relevant to this workshop, she is co-author of “An Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,” which is now in its 4th edition (2026) and co-editor of “Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to the understanding and treatment of Dissociation” (2013)

Description supplied by the event organiser.