BAATN Gathering
South Asian Gatherings
For Practitioners and Trainees of South Asian Heritage and Culture
Outline
This gathering has grown out of a need for connection, solidarity and safety within which to explore the complex and dynamic nature of what it means to be a therapist of South Asian descent. It is our intention to co-create a heart-opening space that is emergent and continually evolving. We invite attendees to bring themselves as fully as they are able to so we can share, accompany, explore belonging, witness and heal, in our work as therapeutic practitioners, and likely ripple into our personal lives. All are welcome, whether for the first time, as a trainee or as a regular attendee.
We will be your co-hosts on this journey, as this will not be facilitated as a therapy group but a peer-led gathering. We also request that people read, or refresh themselves, with the BAATN ethos and Statement of Purpose on gatherings before attending these, which can be viewed following the link below.
We very much look forward to welcoming each of you.
Facilitators
Samina Ali and Veena Ganapathy
Gathering Statement of Purpose
Read the Statement of Purpose for all our gatherings.
Venue
This gathering takes place online or in person. Please check the dates to confirm the location.
Online meetings take place via Zoom. Zoom is free to download and use. For more information about Zoom, click here. To download Zoom free of charge, click here.
In-person meetings take place at The Redmond Community Centre, Kayani Ave, Woodberry Down, London N4 2HF
Time
10:30am – 1:00pm
Dates
The dates below are tentative:
Saturday, 10 May 2025 – The Tara Room, Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, London, SE11 4NA
Saturday, 14 June 2025 – Online
Saturday, 19 July 2025 – Online
Saturday, 6 September 2025 – Online
Saturday, 11 October 2025 – Online
Saturday, 22 November 2025 – Online
Saturday, 20 December 2025 – Online
Cost
Free to Psychological Therapist Members and Student Therapist Members, £10 for Non-members.
(Click here to become a member)
Booking Conditions
- Bookings can be made any time up until 15 minutes before the event.
- Only the next two upcoming dates will be open for registration at any one time.
- If you have difficulty booking, email the events administrator
- If an event is full, email the events administrator to go on the waiting list. If a place becomes available before 5 pm on the day before the event, priority will be given to those at the top of the waiting list.
Full payment will need to be made to guarantee a place.
What delegates have said:
“The BAATN Asian Gatherings are always so nourishing to mind, body, and soul. I get so much from them, both personally and professionally. To have that safe, collaborative and co-supportive space is hugely valuable and helpful”
“I really enjoy attending Asian Therapy group, as I find the discussion very valuable, insightful and comforting to hear to my personal and professional clinical work as an Asian.”
“This is a nourishing, challenging, and enabling experience in a safe space.”
“Thank you to all participants – not least to Mehboob & Suhith – for the safety, usefulness &, I feel, the preponderant warmth & challenging authenticity of this meeting”
“Enough food for thought to keep you processing until the next gathering.”
“The group helps me reclaim and give a voice to this subjugated part of my identity”
“I thank members of the group – especially Mehboob & Suhith – & hope we can go forward together in what is proving for me a greatly instructive & increasingly necessary process.”
“What does it mean to be BOTH a black & Asian clinician in The UK? What does it mean to be EITHER a black OR Asian clinician in The UK? What changes MIGHT the above meanings undergo in an age of environmental decay & pandemic?”
“It’s important that a group like this exists where Asian people can come together and share our individual history and story of slavery, and where we can come to understand the psychological shackles of slavery and begin to free ourselves.”
“A supportive gathering. Nourishing Challenging and thought-provoking”
“I am deeply grateful for the BAATN Asian Gatherings and for the shared experiences, wisdom, and collaborative spirit of the groups’ attendees. The meetings provide a vital safe and reflective space in which we can explore and articulate what it is like to be a person, trainee, and/ or practitioner of colour living in the UK in such turbulent and troubling times.”
“The BAATN Asian Gatherings Group is an incredibly important part of my life and professional life, where I can share some challenging aspects of racism. I learn, feel valued, can engage fully, and give and receive support. There’s a profound meeting and understanding that happens for me in each group. . . I feel we are doing groundbreaking work together.”