MHWP Conference 7th July 2026 - Blog

On Tuesday 7 July 2026, I had the pleasure of chairing the very first MHWP Conference. Hosted by Bespoke Mental Health as a free event, it was fantastic to welcome around 300 MHWPs in attendance.

The event offered a strong and varied agenda. It opened with a keynote speech from Dr Adrian Whittington, National Clinical Lead for the Psychological Professions, followed by a panel discussion featuring Branita Sekaran, an MHWP; Nick Grey, Associate Director of Psychological Professions in a trust employing more than 40 MHWPs; Nicole Jamani, Chair of the MHWP Training Consortium; Fergus Kane, who leads MHWP training at UCL; and Adrian.

The afternoon took a different pace, with two clinical skills workshops delivered by MHWP course directors, followed by two research sessions exploring ongoing research in relation to the MHWP role.

Throughout the day, the audience was so engaged, with questions and comments across every part of the agenda. At times, it felt a little like a quick-fire quiz round trying to respond to them all, but we worked hard to cover as much as possible for everyone!

The day really felt like a celebration of how much the MHWP role has grown and achieved over the last four years. While there was clear recognition of the challenges many MHWPs are currently facing, the underlying message remained that MHWPs are making a real difference to patients’ lives.

There was also a clear intention to continue increasing awareness and understanding of the value of the role. This includes sharing evidence through evaluations and strengthening reporting mechanisms to demonstrate effectiveness through patient outcomes and the systems into which these can be reported.

Career progression was another important theme, and it was fantastic to see at least one senior MHWP in attendance. While it is still early days, these roles are beginning to develop, which is a real testament to the effectiveness of the role and will hopefully pave the way for other services looking to develop similar posts. This will support the development of the MHWP workforce and provide important opportunities for people to grow and progress within the role. It is also one of the areas of focus for the National MHWP Steering Group, which I co-chair with Adrian, and we hope to share more widely the learning from these developments so that other services can benefit.

We are also beginning to see the first examples of MHWPs moving on to train as clinical psychologists and CBT therapists, including through our SMHP CBT training programmes. These different progression routes within the psychological professions family are clearly starting to emerge.

I was left feeling really inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment to the MHWP role throughout the day. I very much look forward to seeing what the next year brings, and to hearing about the brilliant work that will be presented at future MHWP conference events.