Hello and welcome to the South West of England Branch.
The branch represents over 3,600 psychologists and stretches from Bristol in the north to Cornwall and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the south.
I am delighted to say that our committee has Hubs representing all these areas so you will not be too far away from a local group.
We are keen on collaboration in the south-west working with the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP), and the Division of Coaching Psychology (DCoP) in the South West and with neighbouring branches in Wessex, West Midlands, Wales and further afield in the North West of England.
As a group all the branches communicate through a Branches Forum.
I joined the branch in February 2019 when I moved from Sheffield to Devon. I became chair in November 2019.
We have a lively branch that is keen to be involved in a wide range of psychological activities. For example, following our successful gathering focusing on poverty in January 2021 (see South West Review Spring 2021) we are planning our next multidisciplinary event on Homelessness not hopelessness in May 2022 – see the events section for further details.
The branch reviews its activities at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and our next AGM is scheduled as a virtual meeting on Tuesday 15 November 2022 beginning at 17.00. As a BPS member you will receive an invitation to this event.
We are seeking new committee members at the AGM so please get in touch through links in our e-newsletter to find out more about the roles available
Over the last 22 months we have been developing a strategy for the support of psychologists in the south-west featuring forward planning, engagement, and empowerment.
These facets guide our activities and over these pages you will see the things we are doing:
- helping undergraduates and postgraduates build their knowledge and practice
- offer career coaching and mentoring enabling psychologists to make informed career decisions
- enabling continuous professional development for all grades of psychologists
- collaborating and supporting activities in our communities.