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Saiqa Naz
Saiqa joined the Board as President-elect in 2021, having previously chaired the BABCP Equality and Culture Special Interest Group between 2017 and 2021. Saiqa is on the board of editors for the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies journals. She is also one of the co-authors of the IAPT BAME Positive Practice Guide and has been leading on work to adapt therapy for diverse communities. Saiqa's experience has primarily been with adults in socially deprived areas, but her interest is in community outreach work to bridge the gap between CBT and diverse groups including men.
Dr Andrew Beck
Dr Beck joined the BABCP Board in 2019 as President Elect, becoming President in 2020. He is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience in public sector health and social care. Most of his work has been with children and young people, as well as working with adults living with long-term health conditions such as HIV and diabetes. His area of special interest is in adapting CBT for minority ethnic communities and adapting the ways that services meet the needs of communities who are historically under-served.
Colin Hughes
Colin is a long-standing BABCP-accredited member and joined the BABCP Board as co-chair of the Finance Committee in 2018 going on to be co-chair of the Course Accreditation Committee. He is also Vice Chair of the Irish Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. He is a Programme Director of the BABCP-accredited programme at Queens University Belfast, and a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist linked with the Belfast Trust. In addition, he is a Registered Mental Health Nurse and is involved in the teaching and training of Mental Health Nursing at Queens. Most of his clinical work focuses on those adults living with Personality Disorders and Self Harm.
Jacqueline McKenna
Jacqueline joined the BABCP board as Honorary Treasurer in 2018. Her background is Mental Health Nursing. Jacqueline completed her CBT Postgraduate Diploma at Dundee University in 1998 and returned to Dundee to complete her MSc in CBT in 2001. She has worked within the NHS as an accredited BABCP senior practitioner working in Adult Mental Health service in Northern Ireland. During this time she have been instrumental in establishing a Primary Care-based CBT service in local GP surgeries. She has taken a lead role within her Trust CBT service in terms of developments and training with supervision. She is now a Service Lead within the newly formed Regional Trauma Network, a specialist Trauma service in Northern Ireland delivering evidence-based therapeutic interventions. She has been an active member of the Northern Ireland nurses CBT Forum since 1998, which is now known as the Irish Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies – part of the BABCP branch network, and has been their Treasurer for more than six years.
Pete Elliott
Pete joined the Board in 2020, after a 40-year carer in the NHS and university sectors as a chartered Clinical and Health Psychologist and BABCP-accredited Psychotherapist. He was Director of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology at the University of Southampton form 2006 to 2013, as well as posts as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist on the Isle of Wight and other NHS posts in an Adolescent Unit, Primary Care, and Psychiatric Rehabilitation. He is published in the fields of psychiatric rehabilitation, family therapy, primary care, adolescence, trauma, sexual abuse and most recently mental health and student debt.
Beth Owen
Beth gained a wealth of knowledge working as qualified healthcare professional in the NHS in Scotland, initially as a General Nurse then in District Nursing, before moving to work in the field of mental health for the last 16 years, qualifying as a CBT Therapist in 2015, gaining full BABCP accreditation in 2016, and has been an active member of the BABCP, with an organisational role as treasurer of the Scotland branch. Beth gained extensive experience working as a therapist in both low intensity and high intensity posts, and has recently left the NHS to concentrate on work in the private sector. Beth's commitment to CBT is reinforced through wide professional experience and aspiring to contribute towards highlighting and promoting the future of BABCP.
Elizabeth Ruth
Liz was elected to the Board in 2022. She is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner by background, having worked in the IAPT programme for eleven years as a Qualified, Senior and Lead PWP with a special interest in Long Term Health Conditions. She is currently Assistant Professor and course leader for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner training at the University of Bradford. Liz is the Chair of the BABCP Low Intensity CBT Special Interest Group and co-author of an upcoming book on the experience and practice of Low Intensity psychological interventions.
Stephen Wilson
Stephen was elected to the Board in 2021. He is a nurse by profession and qualified as an Registered Mental Nurse (RMN) in 1987. He completed an MSc (Distinction) in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy at the University of Derby in 2009 and from then onwards he has been working in Independent Practice as a BABCP-accredited therapist. Stephen has been an active member of the IPSIG (Independent Practitioners Special Interest Group) over the past 11 years, and has previously served as a committee member, NCF Branch Liaison Rep, IPSIG Secretary and has been Chair since 2019. Stephen has authored articles on chronic pain and within clinical practice has specialised in pain management and anxiety disorders.
Michelle Harwood
Michelle joined BABCP in January 2020 as Finance and IT Manager. Michelle started her career twenty years ago in Accountancy working in private practice and studied Association of Chartered Certified Accountants training at BPP before moving into more commercial accounting roles. In the last 8 years Michelle has worked in the not-for-profit sector combining Finance and IT projects-based work. Michelle has completed MSP (Managing Successful Programmes), PRINCEII and PROSCI Business change management.
Michelle Livesey
Michelle joined BABCP in 2017 as Head of Membership Services. She has an extensive experience in Charity and Higher Education management; working at a senior leadership level in a membership organisation for over 15 years, in addition to also managing commercial enterprises. She values the opportunity to work for organisations which make a difference to enhance the lives of others and is keen to ensure that those in her team feel valued in their role.
Helen Macdonald
Helen joined the senior management team in February 2020, after 11 years as Course Accreditation Registrar. After graduating in Psychology and qualifying as a Mental Health Nurse, she trained in CBT in 1991 at the Institute of Psychiatry and later gained a Masters Degree in CBT. She has developed CBT services in secondary care settings and in pain management, as well as teaching and supervising in CBT since the mid-1990s. She is a Senate Award Fellow of the University of Sheffield and a Fellow of BABCP. She has been elected to the Board of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.