PP Week 2023 – Catch Up NOW!

The 13^th – 17^th November was PP Week 23 – and what an action-packed week it was! Over the last three years PP Week has gone from strength to strength, both in the breadth of content and also the number of regional events.  This year was possibly our most ambitious and most collegiate yet with a number of events hosted by different regions, regional in-person events, and our first national in-person event in London!

I definitely didn’t manage to attend all 14(!) events – the record so far is 12 I believe! But recordings of many of the online events are now available HERE, so I’m looking forward to catching up with a few more!

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the national in-person event in London “Unite, Inspire and Transform: Integrating Psychologically Informed Practice into Physical Health and Care”. It was fantastic to be in a room full of so many enthusiastic and engaged people, and even more fantastic to give time to such a hugely important focus of work, in the ambitions to make all health and care psychological.  The event included the launch of the Psychological Practice in Physical Health Discussion Paper – and more importantly, space to begin conversations about this work. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about work going on in different regions as we find opportunities for increasing this integration in the coming year. The most important bit of the day for me was to hear the voices of those with lived experience; they were such a significant part of the day, and the whole room could not fail to feel the impact of their words and commitment to change. 

There were so many different, and important aspects covered across the week, it is hard to just pick a few highlights to comment on here.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity sessions scheduled in the early part of the week, but will definitely be accessing the recordings once they are available! And it was very timely to also see the launch of the Psychological Professions Network EDI Position Statement. I was very honoured to Chair one of the PPN North West’s own events on Thursday 16^th November 2023 “Psychological Practitioners Community of Practice – a Changing Landscape!” and it was incredible to listen to the different stories of how the regions have grown and developed these Communities of Practice and supported the inclusion of the newer practitioner roles which have been introduced in recent years.

One really important moment for me was the reflective conversation which took place as part of the South West’s online event on the Friday “The Growth of Psychological Professions and Implications for the Future”. It was such a thought provoking and engaging part of the session and I’m sure had an impact on everyone who listened! The final session of the week “Another 100% Growth” felt like the perfect ending to the week to have space to talk about the future and what comes next – and there is certainly a lot to think about for us all to achieve the ambitions of the Long-Term Workforce Plan and the continued expansion of the Psychological Professions! I’m already looking forward to next year!