A BAATN Conference
BAATN Online conference 2025
Belonging: An Act of Visibility and Revolution
11th October 2025
Booking closes on Thursday, 9th October, 2025 at 10 pm.
This conference is for therapists and mental health practitioners of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage. The conference is also open to therapists and mental health practitioners of Colour who are also affected by prejudice due to the colour of their skin and global white power.
Thought-provoking, interesting, educational, collective, identity reflective and comforting food for the soul!!
Angela Browne
Liberating, powerful, beautiful, and inspiring!
“I highly recommend coming together with other members in safe ground at the BAATN conference. It was a wonderful, joyous and enriching experience”
Date
11th October, 2025, (9:45 am for yoga session), conference starts at 10 am till 4:15 pm
Outline
Belonging is revolutionary; it fosters safety, stability, and community—essentials for human well-being. Being heard, valued, accepted, loved, and respected is crucial for creating a more just and inclusive society. However, we must remain vigilant.
As john a. powell notes, “Western culture has, for the last several centuries, built a society founded on three strong separations: our separation from ourselves, our separation from the other, and our separation from the Earth. The reality is we are deeply connected to each other.”
Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his *Letter from Birmingham Jail*, “All are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
This conference will explore the challenge of our age — fostering belonging without the creation of an “other”.
Keynote speakers
Yvonne John: From the Invisible Wounds of Childlessness to Finding Where We Belong
Wanderley Santos: Belonging: Black Being as a Politics of Presence
Misgana Berhane: (My)A Refugee Journey: A Journey I Never Chose.
Workshops
You will be invited to choose your workshop when you purchase your ticket
- Yvonne John – Keynote talk reflections
- Wanderley Santos – Keynote talk reflections
- Misgana Berhane – Keynote talk reflections
- Poppy Banerjee – Growing up between two cultures: A sense of belonging
- Dr. Manrutt Wongkaew – The Art of Being the Odd One Out: Reimagining Visibility, Authenticity, and Compassion in Marginalised Spaces
- Open Discussion Space
Venue
Online meeting via Zoom
Zoom is free to download and use. For more information about Zoom, click here.
To download Zoom click here.
Programme
Saturday, 11th October 2025
09:45 – Music Intro with optional pre-conference yoga session led by Jasminder Bahia
10.00 – Introduction to the conference (25 mins)
10.25 – Embodying Meditation
10:30 – Keynote Talk: (30 min followed by 10 mins reflections)
11:10 – Break (20 mins)
11:30 – Keynote Talk: (30 min followed by 10 mins reflections)
12:10 – Break (5 mins)
12:15 – Keynote Talk: (30 min followed by 10 mins reflections)
13:00 – Lunch (1 hr)
14:00 – Workshop Introductions
14:05 – Workshops (1hr 15) – Find out more
15:20 – Break (20 mins)
15:40 – Plenary (30 mins) and ending ritual – 5Rhythms dynamic dance for five minutes.
16.15 – End
Cost
Normal fees
Non-members £55, Members £35, Student non-members £30 and student members £25
(Click here to become a member)
Booking Conditions
- Bookings can be made any time up until 1 pm on the day before the event.
- If you have difficulty booking, email events
Full payment will need to be made to guarantee a place.
What delegates have said:
“The conference was a deeply insightful and reflective experience. It was thought-provoking, inviting new perspectives and deeper understanding. It was also a joy to connect with such open-hearted, welcoming people. I left feeling enriched, expanded, and warmly held by a vibrant community.” Yvonne John
“A space to connect rejuvenate and remember who we are.” Marva Sherman
“We must embrace the richness of diversity in our communities, celebrating differences and listening to our marginalised voices. Creating a space where everyone is welcomed and honoured.”
“Attending the BAATN Conference was a way of pouring back into myself and this was my first ever BAATN event, online or in-person. For me, it felt like going back to your childhood home as an adult and bringing something meaningful back with you like the toy you used to love playing with as a child, or family photos that give you joy. I needed to bring something back home to myself and being at the conference did that for me.” Anaum Hammad
“The conference was nourishing, inspiring & informative; best conference I’ve ever attended in my career as a therapist.” Davina Aidoo
“I loved hearing various people who were new to the conference speaking of how accepted, held and loved they felt. A space where one can be unapologetically oneself. A coming home. This is the ethos of BAATN in a nutshell – humanity has not been lost to its unaffected professionalism: learn, love, reflect, grow.”