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tPCA Residential Conference 2026: The Right to Be: Power and The Person-Centred Approach

We welcome all those involved in promoting and developing the person centred approach through counselling, supervising, teaching, studying, writing and research.

Friday 17 July to Sunday 19 July

Eastwood Hall, Mansfield Rd, Eastwood, Nottingham, NG16 3SS

The issue of “power” is fundamental to person-centred counselling....
Although power is so central to person-centred counselling, it is also an issue that is widely
misunderstood’


(Dave Mearns 2016)

Theme for the 2026 conference

Following our very successful 2025 Conference, our 2026 conference will focus upon what it means for us as person-centred practitioners to live and work with power in the 21st century.

We are once again developing a full programme of workshops and presentations from person centred tutors, counsellors, supervisors, researchers and students, including experiential and creative
researchers and students, including experiential and creative approaches to therapy.

We envision exploring how we define power, what it means and how it feels to be ‘empowered’, ‘powerful’, and ‘powerless’, and the manifestation of ‘power over’ and ‘power with’ in what it means and how it feels to be ‘empowered’, ‘powerful’, and ‘powerless’, and the manifestation of ‘power over’ and ‘power with’ in our personal and professional relationships and community.

Book Your Place Here

Costs

Residential rates include refreshments and meals.  Rooms are single occupancy unless you request a shared room. All rooms have ensuite facilities available. 

Non-residential rates and Saturday day rate include refreshments, lunch and dinner.

A discount is available for tPCA members £40.  Membership of tPCA is £38.00 (and is free for pre-qualified trainees);  you can find out more and join here.

Full conference, residential
before 31/03/26:    £430
from    01/04/26:    £460

Full conference, non-residential
before   31/03/26:    £265
from     01/04/26:    £295

Day rate (Saturday)

before 31/03/26:    £140
after    01/04/26:    £160

Full conference, residential, sharing pp
before 31/03/26:    £350 
from    01/04/26:    £380 

Shared rooms are available at a lower cost per person, although these are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. If you know who you are sharing with, please pay separately and add the full name of the person you wish to share with on the booking form. If you don't have someone specific, we will place you in a room with someone else, if spaces are available. 

We will do our very best to accommodate shared rooms, although if there are none available, you may be contacted to pay the additional cost of a non-sharing room. 

If you are a tPCA member, to gain your £40 discount, please log in first and navigate to the conference button on your member page.

Book Your Place Here

Cancellation Policy

We understand that situations arise that mean that attendees may no longer be able to attend and wish to cancel their place and receive a refund. 

If we are able to resell your place we will give you a full refund; if we are not able to resell your place you will receive a partial refund, depending on when you cancel. 

Before 11 Jan 26:  100% refund on cancellation

Before 11 Jun 26:   50% refund on cancellation; full refund if we can resell the place

After 11 Jun 26:   0% refund on cancellation; full refund if we can resell the place 

Book Your Place Here

Access Fund

Each year, we offer a small number of access funds to enable attendance at the residential conference by those who might otherwise struggle to afford the fee.

Requests for an access fund should be submitted by email to Jenn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before 28th February 2026. 

The access funds are prioritised to those who have not accessed the fund previously, to remain a fair process. If all funds have been allocated, the applicant will be informed that they have not been successful in obtaining an access fund on this occasion.

Donation to the Access Fund.
If you would like to make a donation to the access fund, to support the attendance of people who may not otherwise be able to attend, you can do so here.   

We Have A New Venue

For 2026, we have a brand new venue! The Hayes are prioritising Christian groups in accordance with their charitable objectives.

Eastwood Hall is a welcoming hotel and conference venue. It has eveything we need, including 26 acres of gardens. 

There will be lots of opportunities for us to connect with each other, through encounter, workshops and informal converstaions, as we take time to relax and enjoy ourselves. 

Take a look at our venue for 2026 here - Virtual Tour of Eastwood Hall

Travel to Eastwood Hall

picture of a green bus

To get from Nottingham Train Station to Eastwood Hall by bus, the whole journey will take roughly 40-60 minutes and will involve periods of walking. 

You can check various routes here

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Nottingham-Station/Eastwood

https://www.trentbarton.co.uk/services/rainbowone

image of a the external building of Nottingham Train Station

The closest train station to Eastwood Hall is Nottingham train station. This is around 9 miles away from Eastwood Hall and would require a short taxi ride. 

image of a car with an electric car charger inserted

There are 7KW electric car charging points that have a CCS Connection Type 2 for hotel guests only. Guests are required to bring their own charging cable, with a session time that is set for 5 hours per visit.

Please contact the hotel prior to arrival for the use of charging points, costs and further instructions.

Meet the Conference Team

Following many years of organising interesting and enjoyable conferences Eva,  Janet and Pauline have decided to step back and support the development of a new conference team.

We are:

image of a white women sat on a rug outdoors. She is sitting crossed legged and smiling. She has a gardland of flowers in her hair and is wearing patchwork dungarees.

Debbie Bentley: I work in private practice offering person centred counselling, clinical supervision
(individual and group) and CPD workshops. I also facilitate the PCA's monthly Education and
Research SIGs, and am currently completing a Doctorate.

image of a white women with blond bobbed hair wearing an orange jumper and a blue scarf. She is smiling.

Moira Bishop: I have been passionate about the Person-Centred approach since I first read Person-Centred Counselling in Action, it was like coming home. I ran an agency offering Person-Centred Counselling to anyone regardless of how much they could pay. I was then asked to teach Person-Centred Counselling at the local college and I spent 27 years there. 

picture of a white man, who is smiling. He is wearing glasses and brightly coloured shirt that is predominantly light blue.

Danny Cottrell: I am a person-centred counsellor, supervisor and tutor. I currently support children living in residential and foster care settings, and am particularly interested in facilitating reflective practice sessions for carers and social workers.