Message from the Chair – Paul Robinson

Dear UKATA Members,

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself, and your new UKATA Trustee Team. We have a new and different Board of Trustees (Council) committed to taking the organisation forward, with the support and assistance of the new Management Board.

The Board of Trustees (Council) now consists of myself, Paul Robinson as Chair, (PTSTA-E):

• Shantelle Prosper (Vice Chair), who is an organisational and psychotherapy trainee

• Elena Turapina (Treasurer), based in Helsinki, who is an organisational trainee

• Sarah Devine, who is a CTA-P

• David Norton, who is an educational trainee

• Sally Trevaskis, who is a contractual trainee in psychotherapy

• Evelyn McClean, based in Texas, USA, who is an organisational trainee

The Management Board now has the remit to do much of what Council used to do – the part that deals with the ongoing operations of the organisation and the Policies and procedures around TA training, qualification and the registration process with UKCP for our CTA-Ps who want to be registered as psychotherapists with UKCP.

There are 6 positions on the Management Board open to UKATA members, which also comprises the Chairs of the main committees. There are also positions on most of the committees, but particularly needed are members to support the Examinations Committee, the Membership Committee, the Finance Committee and the All Fields Committee. If you are interested in getting involved and supporting UKATA to become a more inclusive organisation that supports TA training and practice, please get in touch and tell us where your interests lie.

In February 2019 the, then, Council developed a business plan which has been the foundation that we have been working from to inform our actions in moving the organisation forward. We now have four part time members of staff, who provide the administration functions of the organisation, taking much of the work off the shoulders of the Council and committee members.

We have a much improved, financial control system in place, and we have disposed of our physical office with all staff working remotely and are getting close to being “paperless”, with all information and communications being done through our new website.

I want to pay tribute to the time, energy and commitment made by all over the previous years to enable UKATA to get to the position it is now, in and especially to the three Chairs of Council that have led the organisation over the past 3 years: John Renwick, Bev Gibbons and David Gibbons.

We have also been working closely with our RTEs and have some exciting developments being worked through by our Training and Accreditation Standards Committee (TASC) with them, which we expect to share with the membership in the coming months.

We have developed a new governance structure which will enable the organisation to operate more efficiently and effectively. To achieve this, we do need members to become engaged with the organisation and support the new Committees and Boards that will enable the organisation to flourish. We look forward to welcoming you on board and working with you.

Paul Robinson

Chair of UKATA

bawdseypaul@gmail.com