We’ve all watched films and television programmes featuring therapists, such as The Sopranos – but what’s the best way to access therapy in real life if you’re not a mafia boss? What’s the difference between therapy and counselling, or CBT and psychoanalysis? And why pay a stranger to listen to you in the first place? Can’t a good friend provide a shoulder to cry on?

In this talk, based on her new book Talk Yourself Better, Atheist Bus Campaign creator Ariane Sherine will answer all these questions and more, demystifying once and for all the secret world of therapy - with plenty of laughs along the way.

Ariane will also be signing copies of Talk Yourself Better after the talk.

What people have said about Talk Yourself Better:

“Brilliant – makes the baffling comprehensible.” JEREMY VINE

"What an excellent, long-overdue idea! A super-accessible guide, through the bewildering marketplace of modern therapy, to ease our noble search for help." DERREN BROWN

“How do we cope with this brutal world? In this witty, revealing book Ariane Sherine runs through the ways. An excellent, funny and thought-provoking read for all who seek answers.” ARTHUR SMITH

“What makes Ariane Sherine’s Talk Yourself Better stand out from the crowd is its accessibility and humour; to be able to discuss difficult things with a lightness of touch and a comedy that does not trivialise is a rare skill indeed. This, combined with the honest – and often deeply moving – stories of clients and practitioners alike, makes this the ideal introduction to for anyone considering therapy for the first time.” BRIAN BILSTON

Ariane Sherine is the comedy writer and journalist who created the Atheist Bus Campaign, as well as the bestselling celebrity book The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas. She has written for BBC1’s My Family, Channel 4’s Countdown and BBC2’s Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, as well as for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Observer, New Statesman and The Spectator. She lives in London with her seven-year-old daughter, Lily.

Are we being inundated with "fake science" and why do people believe the hype? While at a basic level it seems harmless, what threat does the creep of fake science pose? We'll be taking a look at some evidence of the harm that pursuing alternative therapies can cause people with a cancer diagnosis, and some of the emotional cost.

Emma studied biochemistry at Imperial College London then stayed on for a Masters and PhD on her favourite topic, immunology. After almost a decade there, she braved the move out of London and joined The Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton as a Postdoc to study multiple myeloma, a white blood cell cancer. In 2010 she left the lab behind after making the decision to work in science communications, and joined Breast Cancer Now for a short while. In 2012 she moved to a role in the Science Communications team at Cancer Research UK and spent 6 years perfecting the art of science communications at the biggest cancer charity in the world. In 2018 she took up a position at Imperial College London working in the field of volunteer infection studies and vaccines, but most of her talk today is centered around her experiences at CRUK.

http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/author/emma-smith/
www.hic-vac.org/news
Twitter - @EmmaMarieSmith1, @hic_vac

For decades, science has been fascinated by the LGBTQ+ community. What makes gay people gay? How does sexuality affect one's behaviour, appearance, or ability to raise children? In this talk scientist and PhD student Cerys Bradley, a part time comedian and full time bisexual, explains the extent and impact of scientific research on the LGBTQ+ community in a bid to understand the more important question: just because science can ask a question, does that mean it should?

Anthony Warner is a professional chef and writer.  A regular contributor to New Scientist and The Pool, his articles have also been featured in the Guardian, Mail on Sunday,The Sun and many more.  He writes the regular Angry Chef column for The Sunday Times, exposing food myths and misunderstandings.  In 2017, he was named on the Telegraph's Food Power List of tastemakers changing the way we eat and drink. His first book, The Angry Chef - Bad Science and the Truth About Healthy Eating, won the Hearst Big Book Awards Health and Lifestyle Category in 2018, and was double nominated by the Guild of Food Writers in the same year.  His second book, The Truth About Fat, is published by Oneworld in January 2019, and will definitely upset a lot of people.  He lives in Nottinghamshire, blogs at angry-chef.com and you can follow him @One_Angry_Chef.

Jeremy Banx, an award winning cartoonist, will talk about his work – and some of his original cartoons will be available for purchase at very reasonable prices.

He has contributed to newspapers, magazines and comics including Private Eye, Wall Street Journal, Punch, New Statesman, Vice.uk, Oink!, Toxic, etc. For the past twenty-five years he has been the pocket cartoonist for the Financial Times. He is the cartoon editor for The Reaper at www.thereaper.rip

His books include ‘Cubes’, ‘The Many Deaths of Norman Spittal’, ‘Big Fat Sleepy Cat’, ‘The Dewsburys’ and ‘Frankenthing’. More than 150 short animated films were based on his character Norman Spittal.

For ten years he contributed designs for floats to the Nice Carnival.

He lives and works in Greenwich, London, with his wife Elaine and has four children.