European Congress of Psychology: Meet the speakers
Some wisdom from Dr Kerensa Hocken and Sally Tilt, who are speaking at the DFP nested event at the ECP conference in July
24 May 2023
We're excited about the special event we're hosting for our members at the European Congress of Psychology in Brighton on 4 July!
The theme is 'creating safer communities' and will include multiple presentations from the BPS divisions of forensic, counselling, and clinical psychology, researchers in forensic psychology, and psychological psychotherapy services from Germany.
We caught up with two of the speakers, Dr Kerensa Hocken and Sally Tilt, who are practising forensic psychologists. In 2020 they launched the Forensic Psychology Podcast - now completing its second series, the podcast has attracted over 100,000 downloads in more than 130 countries. Kerensa and Sally will use their forensic and interviewing experience to encourage a lively discussion on the topic.
Congratulations on the success of your podcast - over 100,000 downloads in more than 130 countries. Were you expecting it to be such a global hit?
We're both big podcast fans, but we couldn't find one specifically on forensic psychology, so thought that there may be other people like us who would be interested in listening. We have both worked in prisons for over 20 years and wanted more people to be able to hear about the work that takes place behind the gates – they can otherwise be closed places and hard to hear about. Having said that, we've been surprised and delighted by the amount of interest. As well as people working or training to be forensic psychologists, it's been great to hear from people from different professions and other countries. We love it when people have got in touch to tell us what they like or would like to hear more of.
What has been the podcast's most unexpected moment so far?
After series one had been released, we were contacted by BBC Radio 4 to make a radio show - we were definitely not expecting that! We're keen to spread the word about forensic psychology and to encourage curiosity about our justice system, so were really pleased to have the chance to speak to a new audience. We have now recorded two series of 'Behind the Crime', which is available on BBC Sounds.
The programme is anticipating a lively discussion. What are you most looking forward to in Brighton?
We can't wait to chat to Martine Ratcliffe, Lawrence Jones and Tansy Warrilow about how as practitioners we need to be aware of bias in our approaches. We're curious about why some questions feel harder to ask clients than others - and the importance of addressing this. We're also really looking forward to the fish and chips on the pier!
One of the themes of the conference is 'poverty and inequalities'. What might reducing inequality in forensic assessment look like where you work in the Prison and Probation Service?
That's a great question - we are hoping to dig down into this in our discussion on the day. Assessment in forensic psychology has benefitted from developments in structured guidance tools over recent decades, which might on the face of it suggest that inequality of approach would have been addressed. While these are undoubtedly a step forward, there is now more work to do, considering the experiences of the individual being assessed to better understand risk. This is a question we'll definitely be putting to Martine, Lawrence and Tansy though!
Book your ECP ticket
In order to attend the Division of Forensic Psychology event at ECP, you can purchase a one day ticket that's exclusively available for you as a member.
Your ticket will give you access to the entire ECP scientific programme on the day of this event, so you can enjoy presentations from our keynote speakers, network with peers and hear from other thought-leaders in psychology.
Just log in using your online portal details to book.