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Erin Stevens

@aclientfirst.bsky.social
2.1K followers 892 following 308 posts

Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer. working with people who have experienced harm in therapy, and therapists who are interested in addressing harm. Pro-client AuDHD she/they

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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
New podcast episode! With thanks to @josephineh.bsky.social for the conversation. I hope it is useful to therapists, supervisors and clients who might be concerned or curious about Harm in Therapy. click here to listen: player.captivate.fm/episode/7b61...
player.captivate.fm
Navigating Harm in Therapy: Insights from Erin Stevens
Quickly and easily listen to Good Enough Counsellors for free!
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Love these awards. Brilliantly done.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
❤️ go @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
The news is now trickling into members' inboxes that I am one of the three successful candidates in the recent BACP elections. It was a difficult decision to stand, and frankly, the recent events surrounding governance led me to seriously reconsider whether change is possible, and whether I can be part of achieving it. After much deliberation, and conversations with colleagues and friends, I have made the decision to accept the position. It will be important for the incoming trustees to understand what has happened over the last few months (and years), so that we can understand what change is needed, especially around organisational dynamics and culture, to restore trust for members, and clients, and to address the harm which has undoubtedly occurred.

 I am so pleased that Bumi and Matt are also elected. They are fantastic people, and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience which I think will be brilliant for BACP, and by extension, for its members and those who need the BACP to meet its objectives. Congratulations to both of you – I am glad you are here.

As part of the agreement I have signed, I have agreed not to comment on the BACP publicly without prior consent from the CEO or chair. This agreement comes into effect at the AGM on the 6th November. I want it to be really clear that I have signed that agreement, so my colleagues can understand why I am not making as many direct comments about what is happening in the organisation on social media. As many will know, I have never been reticent in expressing my feelings about what is happening in my membership body, and the change in my social media output is not indicative of any change in my proactiveness, or drive for positive change. Nor will it stop me listening to what members and clients are telling me, on social media or otherwise. I also promise not to disappear, not to become another invisible board member, and not to stop talking about the profession, its direction, its issues, and their impact on the…
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Counsellors' Staffroom hosted a Q&A event for the BACP election with candidates Matt Cormack and me. It's now available to view here youtu.be/n5TpemRbyrs?... Voting closes 15th August!
youtu.be
Counsellors Staffroom: Meet BACP Board Candidates 2025 Erin Stevens and Matt Cormack
YouTube video by Erin Stevens - Harm in Therapy
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drmabel.bsky.social @drmabel.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Meowslow's hierarchy of needs
Meowslow's hierarchy of needs 

Pyramid of needs with food on almost every tier except the second top with reads "other cats to stay out of my garden"
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
BACP Trustee voting is open! if you are a BACP member, please check your emails and cast your votes! Remember you can email me on erinstevens4bacpboard@gmail.com if you have any questions for me.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
I'm standing for the BACP board! Voting is 15th July - 15th August so if you are a BACP member, you can look for an email from Mi Voice with a link to vote around then. I'm interested in anti-oppressive practice & ethics and I'll be answering questions sent to erinstevens4bacpboard@gmail.com
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Introducing the Therapy Harm Resistance Project: a conversation with Natalie Russ is now available on YouTube! youtu.be/Ne1NX48UoKk
youtu.be
The Harm in Therapy Series: Introducing the Therapy Harm Resistance Project
YouTube video by Erin Stevens - Harm in Therapy
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
30th April I'm hosting a 1 hour webinar on therapy therapy, open to everyone whether client, therapist or just interested. I'll overview the fundamentals of recognising harm, leaving harmful therapy, complaints (UK) and seeking support. Tickets by donation. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/when-thera...
eventbrite.co.uk
When Therapy Causes Harm: A Webinar for anyone interested in Therapy Harm
A one hour webinar including Q&A with Erin Stevens - a therapist working with clients who have been harmed and a survivor of therapy harm.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
If you are a member of BACP you can listen to me being interviewed by Katy Georgiou for the latest Therapy Today podcast here www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-r...
bacp.co.uk
BACP podcasts
Listen to our BACP podcasts featuring highlights from Therapy Today, extras from our events and professional learning insights - in the office, on the move or at home.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
The recording of the Harm in Therapy for Queer Autistic Therapists workshop with me and Sonny Hallett @scrappapertiger.bsky.social , which was sold out for live attendance, is now available for purchase! Access here: www.erinstevens.co.uk/workshop-rec...
erinstevens.co.uk
Workshop Recordings | Erin Stevens
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
I've been really pleased to hear from people who found this landing on their doorstep today. Finally, conversations about harm are becoming mainstream in the profession. I was grateful to be invited to participate in this issue & the corresponding podcast. If you are a BACP member check it out. 🙂
Front cover of April 2025 Therapy Today magazine. When therapy causes harm. Image of a therapist standing on a client's toe, which i take to be metaphorical.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Therapeutic neutrality. Let's talk about what it is and what it isn't. We are inherently non-neutral. We bring contexts, some of which will be explicit, some of which are implicit, all of which influence how we show up in the world and in the room. Any attempt at apoliticism is inherently political
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
I'm doing the crystal maze experience for my 40th birthday, fulfilling a lifelong ambition to collect tickets in the crystal dome.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Good decision from BACP to leave twitter. I hope they join BlueSky www.bacp.co.uk/news/news-fr...
bacp.co.uk
Update on our social media channels
News from BACP | We’ve reviewed our use of X and are exploring new channels
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Workshop 2 in the Harm in Therapy Series - "Rupture and Repair: The Fundamentals" is now available to buy from my website. Keep an eye on this page as more Harm in Therapy resources and CPD are added! www.erinstevens.co.uk/workshop-recordings
erinstevens.co.uk
Workshop Recordings | Erin Stevens
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
If you are on Instagram and you are interested in harm in therapy, Natalie Russ is an important follow. This is an important fact for anyone working with harmed clients or involved in complaints processes.
Natalie Russ account saying 'a quick reminder for therapists. There is nothing that makes therapists inherently more credible than clients. If you tend to assume that the therapist's accounting of what transacted in the therapy is more reliable than the client's, that needs to be examined. None of our schooling or training should earn us this kind of default believability. Agree or disagree? Talking about therapy harm @natalierusspsyd
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I'm offering additional no cost tickets for tomorrow night's 2 hour workshop Rupture and Repair: The Fundamentals. 6-8pm. Due to the change in date, some of the attendees who had no cost tickets are unable to attend. Please DM me if you are a therapist or trainee and would like to come.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Thanks to UKCP members for voting a resounding NO to far right politics.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
I'm listening to a really interesting webinar by Sally Openshaw about sexual boundaries in therapy. She's currently talking about how things might go wrong, noting the ways it might be pushed into the shadows and how boundary breaches escalate.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Really excited to announce a one-hour webinar coming up in May, with Natalie Russ Introducing the Therapy Harm Resistance Project. This webinar is open to all with tickets on a donation basis. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/introducin... Harm in Therapy Series: www.erinstevens.co.uk/events
eventbrite.co.uk
Introducing the The Therapy Harm Resistance Project
A one hour webinar including Q&A with Natalie Russ Psy. D in conversation with Erin Stevens.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
My workshop "An introduction to Working with People who have been Harmed in Therapy" is now available to purchase through my website. If you missed the event or are interested in the topic, please click the link to access the recording: www.erinstevens.co.uk/workshop-recordings
erinstevens.co.uk
Workshop Recordings | Erin Stevens
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Lucia Sarmiento Verano @sarmientoverano.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
I'm holding Julia's invitation to question every rule/norm by asking who are those rules serving.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Still reflecting on last night's webinar on Disability Justice in therapy by @juliaouzia.bsky.social and hosted by @sarmientoverano.bsky.social Therapy is conceptualised in such normative ways, and much inaccessibility is invisible to most therapists. I recommend checking out Julia's work.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Due to unavoidable unforseen circumstances, my workshop on Rupture and Repair: its relationship with harm and the foundations of repair has been postponed by one week to Wednesday 5th March 2025. If the new time works for you, please come along: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rupture-an...
Orange poster. The harm in therapy series, rupture and Repair the Fundamentals. With Erin Stevens MBACP. Old date crossed out and 5th March 2025 stamped over the top.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
If you are a UKCP member who hasn't voted yet, please check your emails, and also check out this informative letter: openletter.earth/open-letter-...
openletter.earth
Open letter to the UKCP on the election of its Chair
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
UKCP members, the ballot is open. You know what to do!
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
1 hour webinar for ANYONE interested in harm in therapy. Offering info/resources to ppl who've experienced harm in therapy, or want to learn more abt harm, complaints or finding a new therapist after harm. Donation tickets. Will include live Q&A. April 30th 6pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/when-thera...
eventbrite.co.uk
When Therapy Causes Harm: A Webinar for anyone interested in Therapy Harm
A one hour webinar including Q&A with Erin Stevens - a therapist working with clients who have been harmed and a survivor of therapy harm.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
An open letter to UKCP is now live and ready to sign. Therapists, please sign and share with your networks openletter.earth/open-letter-...
openletter.earth
Open letter to the UKCP on the election of its Chair
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
@thrivingautistic.bsky.social have created a therapy passport for autistic people to fill in and state their needs to send to a therapist before meeting with them. Fabulous idea 👏 www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nck2w...
dropbox.com
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Well i had thought I was going to spend this evening in London lolling about the hotel room, instead of which I have just attended a 90 minute online meeting with around 50 therapist activists all invested in fighting for the future of this profession. Feeling very hopeful!
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
UKCP members! Please read this important letter by UKCP members graduated from Minster Centre, about your upcoming chair elections. Shared here by Caz. Please use your vote. www.linkedin.com/posts/caz-bi...
linkedin.com
Caz Binstead on LinkedIn: #therapistsconnect
1/ An open letter being circulated by some members of UKCP re the forthcoming chair elections. Give it a read: We are writing to express our serious concerns…
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PFLAG National @pflag.org · 04/02/2025
BREAKING NEWS: We’re SUING TRUMP! 🏛️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🧵
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
An unused vote is a vote for the opposition. Rooting for you, UKCP 🙏
Vote Pippa Donovan for UKCP chair. White lettering on a gradient blue background
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
This evening, I had a fantastic time presenting a workshop on working with clients who have had previous harmful experiences of therapy. It was so great to share my learning and passion for working in this area. Everyone was so open and engaged, it was great.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Maria Albertsen's obituary is in the February edition of Therapy Today on page 73.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
We are at a critical moment in our profession's history. Our survival depends on resisting the right. Our clients depend on it. We must not mirror national and international politics. If your professional body has elections coming up, there is no room for apathy. Vote.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
I sometimes think therapists don't understand the function of professional bodies. I see therapists getting upset about MBs playing "judge and jury" in the case of complaint, but that's literally what we hire them for: so that clients have access to recourse. Why else do we pay them?
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Really pleased you're coming and that my info email was useful. It feels like a really simple thing that workshop hosts can do to make events more accessible! Looking forward to this series. Workshop one covers working with people who have experienced harm in previous therapy. Thanks for sharing!
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Eartha Kitt when asked why she has an affinity with working class people in spite of her wealth: "I have acquired things; things have not acquired me".
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Interesting to see a possible link between prevalence of left handedness and autism/adhd. I've long thought it was the case. Such a high proportion of autistic folk I know are left handed. Feels more than the '1 in 6 people' we always hear. www-psychologytoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.psyc...
www-psychologytoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org
Left-Handedness and Cognition: New Insights
Benefits of moderate handedness—and the challenges of asymmetry.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
I grew up on a council estate in inner city Leeds & have a pretty strong Leeds accent. I wear my accent unapologetically, in this very middle class profession. I check myself if I notice the urge to temper broad vowel sounds. It's important bc of bias like this www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cambridge study raises concern about regional accents stereotypes - BBC News
Perceptions of accents could affect the way people are treated in the legal system, say researchers.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
My theory is that autistic people experience far far higher rates of harm in therapy than the general client population.
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
I believe that membership bodies can and should overhaul complaints processes to make them more accessible for clients and less traumatic for everyone. Current complaints procedures aren't good enough in any MB.
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Brennan Holt (he/him) and thanks for asking @brennanholt.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
We need to take this in as therapists as well. How much of our theory and practice is intended to light the way and how much is it meant to oppress? #therapistsconnect
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Erin Stevens @aclientfirst.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Well fuck it. I don't have time to keep responding to bizarre accusations of conspiracy against analysts. It will be available at a future date with other resources for clients.
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Patrick Killeen @pwkilleen.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Of course they're upset, you're ruining it for everyone. How are therapists meant to instill worshipful awe in their clients if people go around explaining things clearly to them?
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