Further information about workshops run by PACE

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Dates of forthcoming PACE workshops
Meet the PACE facilitators
Frequently asked questions about PACE workshops

Meet the PACE facilitators

Dennis L Carney

Dennis is the Black Gay Men's Groupworker at PACE, and leads the development of groupwork with Black gay and bisexual men. He has worked with groups in a variety of different settings for 18 years, predominately as a freelance trainer and consultant focussing on Diversity, Team Building and HIV issues within the workplace.

Dennis has completed 5 years post-graduate training in humanistic psychotherapy at Spectrum. He is a part-time tutor at the City Lit based within the Counselling & Psychotherapy department.

Dennis is committed to creating safe spaces for gay men to meet, share and explore issues around identity, sexuality, relationships and personal development. He recently appeared in the Channel Four documentary Trainers, Reggae & The Olympics that explored, amongst other things, homophobic lyrics in dancehall music. Dennis is also the current vice-chair of the UK Black Gay Men's Advisory Group.

Kamaldeep Dhillon

Kamaldeep is an Occupational and Research Psychologist (BPS) and an Accredited and Registered Counsellor/Psychotherapist (BACP; UKRC) and Supervisor of Therapy. He takes an integrative approach to psychotherapeutic work. His core therapy training model, humanistic-existential, has evolved since 1995 to include Cultural, Cognitive-Behavioural and Psychodynamic approaches, studied at the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester.

He has worked psycho-therapeutically in Primary, Secondary and tertiary-care settings with various psychological distress, including race and cultural, bereavement and loss, sexuality, substance misuse and severe mental health issues with individuals, couples and groups. His PhD, conducted at the University of Manchester, investigated culturally marginalised South Asian men and mental health, taking an acculturation and psychotherapy perspective.

Kam is interested in how public and private identities are construed and maintained by ethnic and sexual minorities, along with studying discrimination and mental health. He is a founder and consultant at Culture Doctors (www.culturedoctors.com) and in private and hospital-based therapy practice. He enjoys yoga and being a Dad.

Tim Foskett

Tim is an accredited counsellor and group therapist with the Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners. Since 1995, with Alfred Hurst, Tim has led the sexual health groupwork programme for gay/bi men at PACE. He has trained in person-centred and existential counselling and groupwork at City University, counselling psychology at PHYSIS and humanistic integrative psychotherapy at Spectrum.

Tim has worked in a variety of settings, as a trainer, counsellor, researcher and dance teacher. As well as working for PACE, Tim is a teacher of 5Rhythms™ dance and currently has a private practice in North London where he sees individuals and couples, and runs on-going therapy groups for gay men.

Alfred Hurst

Alfred has worked in a range of therapeutic situations over the last 20 years including residential social work with young people and families, counselling and facilitating groups. In 1995 Alfred joined with Tim Foskett to set up PACE’s gay men’s groupwork programme. Being both over 40 and HIV positive Alfred focuses the groups, at PACE, for gay men in these areas.

Alfred is a qualified social worker and has MSc in family/couples therapy. He has studied groupwork at the Tavistock Clinic and has an MSc in Public Service Management. He is currently undertaking his Doctorate in Systemic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock Clinic as well developing his own organic garden. He has a private practice where he sees individuals and couples, and runs therapy groups for gay men. His work particularly focuses on 'change.'

Anthony Johnson

Anthony is a qualified counsellor, holding a Diploma in Person Centred Counselling. He is a graduate of the Metanoia Institute, and works widely in the field of personal growth and counselling. He has his own private counselling practice. He has been a key-worker for ARP (Alcohol Recovery Project) and has worked as a volunteer for a number of agencies specialising in addiction issues and in supporting lesbians and gay men. He is currently a Senior Clinical Practitioner at Rugby House, running a community-based substance misuse rehabilitation centre and leads a gay men’s substance misuse group at Turning Point Hungerford.

He has developed strategies for promoting sexual health for black gay men as a volunteer for Big Up at GMFA and has been part of the PACE groupwork programme since February 2001. As a Person Centred counsellor Anthony empowers clients to make positive choices and changes in their lives.

Sanjay Kumar

Sanjay is the Asian Gay Men's Counsellor at the Naz Project London. He trained in Integrative Psychotherapy at Regents College London, and has been working as a therapist in health services and employee assistance schemes. He specialises in bereavement counselling and in offering culturally sensitive counselling, integrating psychoanalysis, exisitential and humanistic models of therapy. Sanjay has experience of working with individuals and with groups.

He comes from Bangalore, India, where his previous training and work was with the Church as a minister. In India, he was also involved in providing support to gay men through a group called Good As You. His main interest is in providing a safe space for South Asian gay men to explore their sexuality within their cultural and religious contexts.

Micheál Ó Ruairc

Micheál helped set up and run the Irish Gay Helpline (1991-2000). He was involved in a Nicaraguan HIV/AIDS education project in the 80's and later volunteered at London Lighthouse. In recent years he has worked at Terrence Higgins Trust as a HIV counsellor and as a clinical supervisor. In 2004 he established and currently manages a NHS counselling service for people with coronary heart disease.

Micheál is interested in gender, ethnic, linguistic and sexual identities He has facilitated rehabilitation groups for perpetrators of domestic violence as well as sexual addiction groups.

He is a qualified transpersonal psychotherapist (CCPE: Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, London, 2000; and De Montfort University, Leicester, 2001) and is UKCP registered. He works in private practice offering individual and couple psychotherapy in west London.

Frequently asked questions about PACE workshops

What happens in the workshop?

PACE workshops follow a structure, which is planned by the facilitators. There are usually between 8 and 14 participants. We use exercises and activities to help you explore issues and concerns, and make sense of them within your own life. These may include talking to others in pairs or small groups, talking together in the large group, playing games or doing structured exercises. Each of these activities will be carefully introduced and if it something doesn't feel right for you it's OK opt out of an exercise.

At the first meeting the group will make agreements about how to work together in a way that is constructive and supportive. Throughout the workshop you will have an opportunity to put things on the agenda for discussion and exploration, within the general topic or theme of the workshop.

Towards the end of the workshop there will be a chance to review what you have learned during the workshop, and time to think about how to apply this in your life.

Who comes on PACE workshops?

Gay and bisexual men of all ages, shapes, races, and interests. One of the things participants often say is that they value meeting such a wide range of men and hearing different perspectives. We have worked with men aged from 17 to 72, with HIV positive, untested and negative men; with men from all over the world; with deaf men, using sign language interpretation, and men who use wheelchairs; with scene queens and disco dollies; and non-scene, newly out, pensioners. All men who are attracted to other men are welcome.

We run some specific workshops for some groups of men, such as HIV positive gay men, negative and untested partners or positive men, Black & Asian gay men and gay men over 40, because we have found that people often value meeting with others who share similar experiences.

How do I know it's worth going to a workshop?

Some people are nervous or wary about going on a workshop, because it's a new experience or because they think it might be a waste of time. Nearly everyone who's come on our workshops finds them valuable and many are surprised at how much they get out of them.

This is what some participants have said about PACE workshops:

"It has increased my ability to communicate with my partner when problems arise."
"Spending time in a non-scene environment with other gay men was great."
"Excellent professionalism and participation from the facilitators."
"It introduced me to some useful concepts about relationships."
"Gave me back some self-confidence."
"It has been a great relief to compare my anxieties about HIV with those of other people."

What is expected of participants?

We ask you to get to the workshop on time, make a commitment to participate in all the sessions, and not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs before or while attending workshop sessions.

It helps to be as active as you can in getting what you want from the workshop. We use the idea of a comfort zone. Its good to be willing to stretch your comfort zone a bit on a workshop. For some people simply showing up is challenging enough, while others will gain more by volunteering to participate in exercises or talk more personally about something. Only you know whether you're engaging with the workshop at the right level, so it helps if you monitor yourself as we go along. As the old adage goes "you get out as much as you put in".

What do the facilitators do?

The facilitators for PACE groups are gay men who are experienced counsellors and groupworkers. They use their skills to structure the group, facilitate various exercises to trigger discussion and experimentation, input relevant theory and create a safe and constructive environment. They will encourage discussion and interaction between members of the group, and make sure that the group keeps to the agreements for working together.

How do I book a place?

If you would like to book onto a workshop, or want to talk to someone before deciding whether or not to book, ring us on 020 7700 1323 and we'll be happy to help.