PPN NW Newsletter
Thursday 4th September 2025
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Welcome to the latest edition of the Psychological Professions Network North West newsletter. We aim to bring you the latest updates about our work to join up psychological professionals, associated stakeholders, carers and experts by experience in the region.
Day in the life with Marie Longworth!
What is your name and job title:
Marie Longworth, High Intensity PCE-CfD Counsellor (MBACP Accred) and EMDR Therapist, Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.
Tell us about your role, and a brief description of what you do:
I work full time in NHS Talking Therapies BWD offering PCE-CfD counselling and EMDR therapy. I work hybrid across two local health centres and remotely from home which works really well as it offers clients the choice of face to face, video or telephone, whichever feels most comfortable.
I’ve been with the service for 5 years and my core modality is PCE-CfD. I only recently trained in EMDR and initially I felt totally out of my comfort zone in an unfamiliar territory with the structured protocol, very different to my usual non-directive way of working. However, now I’ve got going with it, I’m learning that it is very much relational, and I can integrate it into my humanistic way of working which feels much more familiar and comfortable for me.
As part of the team, I help to screen new clients and sit on the MDT meetings to discuss new referrals and together we explore the most appropriate pathway or if another service would be more beneficial to support the client at this time and this is always very person centred.
Alongside my clinical hours, I am a member of the Older Adults Champion group, which focuses on understanding the needs of older people and removing any barriers to accessing psychological therapies. As part of this role, I am excited to be involved in an active pilot with a fellow counsellor, working in partnership with Alzheimer's UK to facilitate PCE- CfD counselling groups, for people experiencing mild cognitive impairment/dementia. If successful we hope this can be rolled out within Talking Therapies teams across LSCFT.
What do you like most about your role?
I love connecting with people and building relationships. It’s a real honour getting to know clients and creating space for them to share their inner most thoughts, feelings and experiences with me and help them make meaning of them. It’s such a privilege to be part of a person’s journey and I am fortunate to meet many wonderful people working in NHS Talking Therapies and walk with them for a little while.
What could colleagues/PPN members do to help you with the work you’re doing?
It would be great to have more opportunities to meet with other Talking Therapies counsellors to make new connections and share experiences. I always find it so valuable meeting other counsellors; it gives me a real sense of belonging, being part of a wider community of practice with people who understand what it is like to be a counsellor working within a busy Talking Therapies service.
Finish the sentence – “At work I am always learning that...I have the most wonderful, supportive, knowledgeable team of colleagues and leaders around me who I take so much learning and inspiration from AND that it’s always okay to ask for help”
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
The importance of looking after myself, rather than just focusing on others. Sometimes I can lose my balance with this and have to remind myself to tip the scales back.
What’s your one top tip when remote or home working?
Having set boundaries with work start and end times to maintain a healthy work-life balance; it can be so easy to stay logged on later than you would if in the office.
What things do you do to look after your health and wellbeing?
Walking my dogs and being in nature is my absolute go to for self-care. I work condensed hours over 4 days which enables me to have a really good work/home life balance, every weekend feels like a bank holiday with more time for myself, family, friends and going to the Lake District.
Do you have a personal NHS story you’d like to share?
A number of years ago, I found myself unexpectedly needing to stay in hospital and a nurse offered to give me her spare gym clothes that she had in her car, this act of kindness made such a difference in an extremely difficult time, it will always stay with me and reminds me that the smallest of things can make the biggest of difference.
What would your colleagues be surprised to learn about you?
I have a passion for dancing; I go to dance classes three times a week; I love all things ‘Strictly’ and an afternoon dancing at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom would be my idea for our next team away day.
What’s
number one on your bucket list?
Moving to the Lake District… we spend as much time as we can in that magical place come rain or shine and getting to call it home would be a dream come true.
Living Well Partnership and Carl's story
Living well Tameside (which also covers Glossop) has supported nearly 10,000 people since launching in January 2019.
The service is led by The Big Life group, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, and supported by other key partners including Tameside Adult Social Care, Tameside and Glossop Mind Charity and Tameside Council. It unites a range of professionals from the NHS, primary care, voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, police, the council and many others.
The goal is to make support more joined-up, accessible, and consistent for adults with complex mental health needs. With their “no wrong door” approach, they’re supporting people who might not previously been able to get help.
Carl shares his story of accessing the service and how the service has changed his life. You can read more here.
Talking Therapies Leadership and Innovation Forum
Registration for the Talking Therapies Leadership & Innovation Forum is now open!
You can find the sign-up form for the Talking Therapies Leadership and Innovation Forum here.
This will be an online event, held on the 15th October 2025, 09:30 - 13:00.
Topics on the agenda include:
AI supported digital front door to services
Trauma informed resources
Preceptorship for PWPs
Psychotherapeutic Counselling
National Update
Hope to see you there!
PPN NW Conference 2025 - Register your interest now!
As part of #PPWeek2025, the PPN NW conference will be held on Wednesday 12th November 2025 at Bolton Wanderers Stadium.
This year’s themes will be on Communities and the role Psychological Professions can play in supporting community assets and resilience.
There will also be a celebration of the fantastic work done by Psychological Professions and the impact they can make!
Registering your interest will help us plan for attendee numbers who are able to travel to and attend an in-person event.
PP Ambassadors Project - looking for Volunteers!
As part of our PP Ambassadors project, we have been developing resources to inspire and attract the next generation of Psychological Professions.
We’d now like to test these resources out with prospective students at two careers events at the University of Liverpool.
We’d love to have some volunteers to help us do this – you can be either existing ambassador, or anyone who would be interested in joining the ambassadors network to join these events.
The events are as follows:
Careers in Clinical/ Health Psychology
Tuesday 30th September, 17:00-19:00
Eleanor Rathbone Building, UoL Campus
We would be looking for Practitioner, Therapist, or Psychologist roles to attend. The event will include a panel discussion followed by a networking session with students, where they can have more in-depth conversations and ask questions.
Psych Futures Careers Fair
Wednesday 29th October, 12:00-15:00
Eleanor Rathbone Building, UoL Campus
This is a careers event with each organisation having a table for students to visit and learn more about different careers.
If you are interested in attending either of these events to represent the Psychological Professions, please contact us at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net
World Alzheimer's Month this month
World Alzheimer's Month takes place every September, with World Alzheimer's Day on the 21st September each year. It's a global opportunity to raise dementia awareness and support people affected by the disease.
How can I get involved with World Alzheimer's Month 2025?
This World Alzheimer’s Month, you can join the Alzheimer’s Society to campaign with them. Campaigning could mean signing and sharing petitions, writing to your MP or local council, attending parliamentary events, or helping amplify the voices of people affected by dementia.
Psychologically informed...music and its impact on the mind
Welcome to this week’s Psychologically informed, a space where PPN NW members can share something psychologically related that stirred them in some ways.
This week Liz Kell, PPN NW Co-Chair, talks about her experience of music and its impact on the mind.
This may be a very tenuous link for the blog this week, as I’m not writing about something I’ve watched, or read, but rather something that I did!
Since I was a young child, I have played the violin. I would describe myself as a competent amateur, having played all through school and university. Perhaps less typically, I have also continued throughout my working life - although a bit less since becoming a mum!
Since I’ve been good enough though, my favourite part of playing (and the playing I have done most) has almost always been in orchestras and, for a while a few years ago, with string quartets. I am most definitely not a solo performer!
So this weekend I spent all of Sunday (rehearsal in the afternoon and concert in the evening, with a bit of practice in the morning!) playing Handel's Solomon in a local parish church. I have spent many weekends in life doing this sort of concert and have played in numerous churches and cathedrals over the years, and I am always struck by how peaceful and calming the atmosphere is. I do not describe myself as a religious person, but a church is still a beautiful and peaceful place for me to be. Maybe because of the time I have spent in them with my violin.
Playing in the orchestra is an experience I love but to be honest have always struggled to describe. There is something all consuming, in the very best way, about being sat within the middle of live music, completely immersed in it, both playing and listening to your fellow musicians. It is an incredible experience. It is also definitely something I hugely felt the absence of during lockdown! While I don’t play as often as I once did, I really hope I never have to be without it like that again!
I remember many years ago, a patient asked me how I relaxed (something we were trying to find sources of for them at the time). My initial response was one of panic thinking “what 'do' I do?!” But then I quickly realised that playing music was the answer.
It is a very active form of relaxing and as I get older the physical aches and pains definitely accompany it!
It is impossible to think about work, or practical stresses or anything else when you are focused on the music you are playing, ensuring you are playing the right notes at the right time alongside many other musicians, some playing the same thing as you and some playing a different line completely that needs to all fit together.
It often makes me think of the descriptions of ‘mindful’ activities in how your brain must engage, but for me has the huge added benefit of also requiring connections with others and a shared purpose together!
Of course there are other aspects of music which affect us. This isn’t the space to get technical about the psychology of music but how its power and impact relate to our emotions, our memories and experiences is very well researched and written about!
I certainly know just how significant it has always been in my life - and I hope always will be!
If you would like to share something to be included in Psychologically Informed – no matter how tenuous! – then please feel free to make contact at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net
Are you a member of one of our Communities of Practice?
By receiving this email you are a confirmed member of the PPN NW; however, have you considered joining one of our Communities of Practice (CoP)? Please see links below for information on how to join one of our CoPs:
PPN NW Mailing List Review
The Psychological Professions Network depends on the engagement of its members. To do this we need to ensure we have an accurate and up to date register and mailing list to enable us to keep you regularly updated with events, policy changes, projects and more.
Due to an error on our website registration form, a number of people who have created PPN NW accounts have automatically been opted out of communications and, therefore, are not receiving professional updates or event opportunities – effectively negating any benefit of being a member! We are therefore in the process of opting all of these members back into communications. Please do email us if you wish to remain opted out of communications.
What are we asking you to do?
Being a member of our PPN NW Mailing List allows us to invite you to bespoke Community of Practice events and workshops, receive our newsletter.
We will not share your information with any third parties or send you any promotional emails that are not connected to delivering psychological health and wellbeing within an NHS-commission space.
Please email the PPN NW at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net if you wish to be removed from the PPN NW Mailing List.
You can update your own details, for both Membership and Communications Preferences, at any time by visiting the website here, this includes your profile with your most recent job title, professional role, banding and ICB etc.
Share Your News!
Please email the PPN-NW team at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net if you have an update from your work or local network that you would like featured in one of our upcoming newsletters. We want to boost important events and developments from around our region, so let us know what’s going on where you are!
Interested in joining the PPN?
Anyone can join the Psychological Professions Network! Whether you are a member of one of the psychological professions, another professional of any discipline, an aspiring psychological professional, or a member of the public, you can sign up and join us for free.
