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Reclaiming the Commons of Therapy

It was a privilege to last weekend host a workshop at the TPCA 2026 online conference – Freedom To Exist in a Difficult World. From presentations on Neurodivergence, Plurality, The experience of being a South Asian Counsellor exploring the concept of freedom, though to the two incredible keynotes by Sam Hope and Dr Stephen Joseph , the theme of the day was how to meet humans where they are, not where the medical models and counselling establishments want us to be. To meet with another human as a human not as a problem to be solved.

I was invited to speak after writing this piece on my decision not to pursue accreditation, to reject, in my mind what SCOPED and the demand we become cogs in the medical industrial machine, means. In our current climate, “rejection” is often framed as a personal failure or a door slamming shut. But what if we view it as a radical act of self-preservation? What if saying “no” to systems that dehumanize us is the most person-centered and powerful thing we can do?

The “Enclosure” of Our Profession

One of the ideas I presented in the workshop, as I explored the historic and current oppressions of those with power over those without was the unsettling parallels of the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries and Scoped. Just as common land—once open to all for grazing and sustenance—was fenced off by the elite to create private profit and official boundaries, we are seeing the enclosure of the therapeutic landscape. Each column acts like a wall around a field which was once a place of growth and sustenance, replacing it with a ground destroying cash crop. I pull no punches around what I call zombie therapy, and therapists – the army of the undead who work with “diagnoises” not human beings, who spend more time with a worksheet than with their hearts and ears open.

By categorizing and tiering our ways of being, these frameworks threaten to fence off the “commons” of human connection. They tell us that our natural empathy and relational depth aren’t enough unless they fit within a specific, walled-off hierarchy. Resisting this isn’t just about professional politics; it’s about protecting the soul of what we do.

I want to give a huge thank you to the tPCA team for their tireless work in supporting this conference and for being such a steadfast anchor for therapists struggling to breathe in a hostile world.

• The Person-Centred Association (tPCA): you can join tPCA here to help keep the person-centered voice loud and clear.
  
• Onlinevents: If you missed the live discussion or want to revisit the energy of the day, you can find the recordings of some of the sessions at Onlinevents.

I’ve shared the visual materials from the workshop below. It includes a series of reflective questions and prompts which I hope might be a useful starting point and opportunity for others.

View the “Rejection is Resistance” Slide Deck on Canva