Hello from Sarah - your new Membership Committee Chair

UKATA Membership Committee Chair

Sarah Langstaff memcom@uka4ta.co.uk

I have recently agreed to take on the role of membership Committee Chair for UKATA. I think this is an important role within the organisation and that it is essential that members have a chance to have their voices heard. For UKATA to be a functioning, ethical and responsive organisation it needs the thoughts and creative ideas of its members. Therefore, I am looking for members who would be willing to join this committee and work with me on ensuring the voice of the membership is heard.

You can contact me on memcom@uka4ta.co.uk

A little about me. I started my TA journey by meeting a TA therapist and finding I understood and could relate to the language. I went on to do my foundation and first two clinical years of psychotherapy training at the Berne. I then transferred back to my home country of Wales to complete my training at Transactional Analysis Cymru. I have completed my UKATA diploma, I am a BACP Registered Member with my own private practice and I am hoping to complete the new route to the UKCP registration. I have an interest in Organisational TA and am going to be starting to do some training in this next year.

I have a passion for supporting people to find ways to account for their experiences, to develop compassion, grow, change and flourish in their individual ways. My TA journey has certainly supported me to find myself and to find connections.

I envisage UKATA being a way to support members with their journey, helping them find answers to the many questions that come up along the way, offering support for the challenges the journey offers as well as providing routes to qualifications and CPD.

Over the next few months, I will be working to clarify and define the role of this committee and prioritise specific tasks that need to be completed.  One project will be to look a the different routes to counselling and psychotherapy qualifications that are open to trainees and try to put together a useful tool that can show you clearly your options. I think this will be a complex but worthwhile task and I would welcome other people's input.

Another major priority for this committee is to find out from our members what is currently working and what isn’t. What do you want more of or less of? We will be working to find ways to consult with all members and the plan is to reestablish the Member’s forum.

Membership of UKATA is for all four fields. This committee is to serve all fields therefore it is important to have representatives from all four fields on it. I would deeply value having members from the other fields to support me to develop my own knowledge of the other fields so I can ensure I hold a wider view whilst I am in this role. Thus ensuring all fields have a voice.