BAATN Gatherings
Attendee Information
Important information about BAATN Gatherings
This page includes the BAATN Gathering’s statement of purpose, as well as other relevant terms and conditions. You are strongly encouraged to read through before attending.
BAATN Gathering Events are for therapy professionals, students and others in the helping professions who are of African, South Asian or Caribbean heritage. They are also open to other People of Colour who are affected by prejudice due to the colour of their skin and global white power. See upcoming events | See the list of BAATN gatherings | See Event Ts and Cs
Gathering Statement of Purpose
- All of our gatherings are for us to witness one another and be heard, and as such, they are not therapy groups.
- We gather to work with the challenge of taking up space, sharing space and how we can feel silenced.
- We are mindful that we all have different inter-generational stories, multiple identities (genders, sexualities) and communication styles and that our community is diverse.
- We seek to be courageous in holding in mind how we experience our disappointment in each other.
- Our focus is on the process rather than who we are or what we do.
- We acknowledge that we are traumatised people working and helping each other learn in a traumatising society.
- We seek to foster a space for learning from each other’s unique wisdom and perspective.
Dual Relationships in gatherings
If you have a potential conflict of interest with one of the facilitators (for example, you are a current or former client, supervisor, or supervisee), please notify the event administrator by email at event-admin@baatn.org.uk. They will connect you with the facilitator in question to discuss how this will be managed.
Confidentiality and Participation
Confidentiality – Gatherings are confidential spaces for sharing stories, addressing dilemmas, healing from our oppression, transforming how we may oppress others, and receiving support and enthusiasm from one another. We ask everyone to speak one at a time and remain conscious of the group as a whole.
Participation – We require participants to have their videos turned on and encourage everyone to come as they are, however that may be.
Mindful communication
Communications with the operations team and others involved in the smooth running of BAATN should be courteous, respectful, and mindful of the fact that they work part-time and engage in their roles from a place of passion and service rather than profit.
Member Officiated WhatsApp groups
WhatsApp groups and other discussion forums, which have evolved from members attending the various BAATN gatherings and events, have created much-needed opportunities to continue connecting with like-minded individuals.
Whilst we encourage the continued networking and sharing of resources that these platforms provide, members of these discussion groups need to be aware that these forums are not BAATN spaces and, for confidentiality reasons, should not be used to continue discussions already started within a particular gathering.
The facilitators of these gatherings also do not moderate or monitor these discussion forums to ensure clear ethical boundaries. As such, BAATN is not responsible for the content or actions that occur within these forums. It is, therefore, the responsibility of individual members to take responsibility for how these forums run. We recommend seeking permission from an individual before adding their name or details to a group, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.
Online meetings - Video Camaras
“In the spirit of inclusivity and as a challenge to normativity, we require participants to have their videos on and invite participants to come as they are, however that might be. Our aim is to facilitate contact and connection in these gatherings so you do not need to show-up sitting upright with your face directly in front of the camera in order to participate. You can, of course, turn your camera off on occasion if something happens that necessitates that, but the preference and expectation is that cameras are left on during the meeting so that we can see each other.”