FPC Ethics Study Day -  Saturday 7th November 2026

The 2026 FPC Ethics Study Day will be held on Saturday 7th November from 10.00am to 12.30pm by Zoom. Attendance is free of charge for all FPC members and represents 2.5 hours CPD. The study day will not be recorded. To book a place please email admin@thefpc.org.uk

Between Exploration and Affirmation: Minority Stress and the Therapeutic Relationship - Paul Mollitt

This talk explores how minority stress shapes both psychic life and the therapeutic encounter, and how therapists can work with its effects without reproducing harm. Drawing on psychodynamic theory, minority stress research, and autoethnographic reflection, the talk examines the often-polarised framing of affirmative versus exploratory approaches in work with gender and sexually diverse clients. Rather than positioning these as competing models, the talk argues that effective therapeutic work requires both: affirmation to establish safety and dignity, and exploration to engage unconscious shame, defensive adaptations, and relational patterns shaped by social oppression.

Using clinical examples, cultural material, and a personal vignette, the talk traces how minority stress operates across distal social forces and proximal psychological responses, and how these dynamics are encountered and negotiated within the therapeutic relationship. Particular attention is given to psychoanalysis’ pathologising histories, the ethical anxieties this legacy generates in contemporary practice, and the risks of both over-affirmation and depth-oriented work undertaken without sufficient contextualisation. The talk will combine conceptual input with reflective prompts and shared discussion, inviting participants to think actively about how these dynamics show up in their own clinical work.

Dr Paul C. Mollitt is a psychodynamic therapist, group therapist, supervisor, and researcher, and a senior accredited member of the BACP and registrant of the BPC. He has worked for over fifteen years across the NHS, higher education, and private practice. Alongside a broad and diverse clinical caseload, he has a particular clinical and research interest in Gender, Sex and Relationship Diversity (GSRD). He is a Pink Therapy Clinical Associate and is currently training as a group analyst. His research focuses on minority stress and its implications for psychodynamic identity, illness, and LGBTQ+ lives.

Organised by the FPC Ethics Committee