Our Trainers and speakers

Sarah is Director of Schools and Families Programmes and a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in colleges and universities.

Sarah holds professional qualifications in counselling and psychotherapy, nutritional therapy and coaching. She is a Registered and Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) a Member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

Over the last 30 years, Sarah has worked with a wide variety of individuals and groups, particularly children and young people. Prior to joining Charlie Waller, she led a multidisciplinary team as Head of Mental Health at the University of Warwick. Sarah continues to work in private practice and teaches counselling related and psychopathology modules at the University of Warwick and the University of Oxford.

A highly experienced mental health practitioner and educator, Sarah’s passion is supporting others to understand the multitude of biological, psychological and sociological factors which influence mental health and wellbeing, providing training and interventions to facilitate wellbeing at an individual and collective level.

Wendy is a parent who has supported her daughter with mental health issues. This experience led to Wendy being involved in a variety of initiatives locally and nationally to promote the role parents can play in improving children and young people’s mental health (CYPMH).

Wendy is a co-founder of Rollercoaster Parent Support Project which is ran in partnership with Tees, Esk and Wear Valley Trust (TEWV). Wendy is the Parent Lead for the Charlie Waller Trust and coordinates the PLACE CYPMH National Network of parent-carer support groups. She has also worked with NHS England (North) to promote children, young people and family engagement in Mental Health in Schools Teams. Wendy is a Parent Co-author for MindEd for Families, has worked with the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and NHS England National Policy and Participation teams, on a variety of CYPMH focused workstreams. Wendy is currently a Patient and Public Voice member on the National Taskforce Delivery Group for Children and Young Peoples’ Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Inpatient Services.

Wendy has a passion and drive both professionally and personally to improve CYPMH by working with parents and families. Wendy believes with the right support, information and guidance that families can and do make a difference to a child or young person’s mental health.

When her eldest son recovered from anorexia over fifteen years ago Jenny left her City job behind and has since focused her attention on raising awareness of mental health and emotional resilience of young people and has a special interest in prevention, early intervention and crisis management in the school environment.

Jenny has written two books, Boys Get Anorexia Too and The New Maudsley Training Manual. Jenny delivers New Maudsley training to professional eating disorder experts on working alongside families. Jenny also supports families affected by eating disorders and teaches carers skills that can help to create a supportive environment within the family setting.

Jenny is a Mental Health First Aid Youth Instructor.

Jenny is not a doctor, counsellor or medical expert, but has worked closely with the Maudsley as well as several mental health charities and has built up a great deal of expertise, participated in several research programmes and helped develop and pilot a range of courses for use in schools and the general community setting.

Dean is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in the workplace.

He is a qualified integrative counsellor and coach, a Registered Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP), and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Dean is passionate about helping organisations and individuals thrive, encouraging them to engage with their wellbeing and mental health in order to maximise their potential.

Having started out teaching biology, he moved into the healthcare sector, working for 17 years in various people and culture roles at Roche, the global  medicines and diagnostics healthcare group. Operating across different levels, departments and geographies, he gained extensive experience in training and development, employee engagement and wellbeing, internal and corporate communications and corporate social responsibility.

As a line manager he developed a deep understanding of, and close interest in, the vital role that leaders play in facilitating employee health and wellbeing.  His interest and desire to work in the mental health field also grew out of curiosity about mental health issues in his own family.

Mike is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in the workplace.

A Chartered Psychologist and registered Health Psychologist specialising in workplace health and wellbeing, he works with organisations at all levels, including board level and senior leadership consultation.

During his career, he has worked for a large multinational management consultancy, a global bank, a utilities company, and for himself, specialising in consulting and training in people change management, facilitation and creative thinking.

Having witnessed the pressure that some organisations, either consciously or subconsciously, place on their employees, he was motivated to qualify as a Health Psychologist, in order to be able to apply evidence-based approaches to health in the workplace.

Mike has carried out in-depth research into the mental and physical benefits of taking meaningful work breaks and uses this knowledge to help organisations and people make positive changes in this area. He is also an Associate Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Derby and at Staffordshire University, where he is also a Visiting Fellow.

Tracy is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in the workplace.

A cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, business psychologist and coach, with an MSc in Occupational Psychology and over 20 years’ experience in mental health, she has a special interest in organisational leadership, workplace mental health, and developing mental health cultures within organisations.

Tracy is experienced in advising at Board and Executive level as well as designing and delivering evidence-based interventions to promote employee understanding and management of mental wellbeing.  She has worked across a range of sectors including financial services, technology, media, legal, and private equity.

She also has specific knowledge of the issues faced by 18-25 year olds in the workplace, having worked clinically with this age group and helped an array of start-ups to support their younger employees in growing confidence, managing anxiety, developing independence and leadership, and addressing workplace bullying.

Tracy is an Associate Lecturer at the University of East Anglia.  Her clinical career began at the Charlie Waller Institute at Reading University where she started her Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy training.

Michael is a PhD student at Durham University studying how higher education policies and practices impact on student mental health and wellbeing. He is CWT's Student Involvement Coordinator, sits on the Trust’s College & University Advisory Board, and also delivers talks on behalf of the Trust.

Best thing about working for Charlie Waller

Working with a super friendly and supportive team, and being part of an organisation that truly values student voice

Rachel is the Consultant Trainer with the School's & Families Team. Rachel has a MSc in Mental Health Science, where she focussed on biopsychosocial interventions against suicide. She is also an Associate Tutor at the University of East Anglia, and Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor.

Rachel has over 20 year’s experience working across the mental health sector. This has previously included being the Director of SelfharmUK and providing Mental Health Advocacy in a medium secure hospital. Rachel has particular interest in eating disorders, self-harm and embedding a Whole School Approach, and she is passionate about finding creative and engaging ways to communicate difficult or complex issues; drawing on both her professional background and own lived experiences. In her spare time, Rachel runs ultra-marathons for fun.

Ian has been a trainer with Charlie Waller since 2016, working on a range of projects and initiatives across children's mental health.

Ian's background was initially in the field of sport sciences, and subsequently navigated to postgraduate study and roles in the field of public health. He has a particular interest in the social determinants of health.

Ian has worked in a variety of roles including young person's substance use services, local public health, Healthy Schools and Headstart programmes, and writing national guidance documents and resources around alcohol and drug education for Mentor-ADEPIS. He also works for the Open University in the school of Education, Childhood, Youth & Sport, teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sport and fitness, and mental health in the curriculum. He has a particular interest in how best practice and research is made accessible to practitioners within universal services who work with children, young people and families.

In addition to delivering training to schools and other professionals, Ian also sits .on a number of research programmes and networks for both CWT and the Open University.

Julie is a member of the Schools & Families team and has worked alongside the Colleges and Universities team delivering consultancy and training.

Julie has a BPhil Ed degree and NPQH. She has worked on a variety of projects for the trust and particularly enjoys running sessions with both primary and secondary school children. She is keen to ensure that all schools have a consistent whole school approach to mental health for both staff and young people. She has been part of Dr John Coleman's early adoption group for the Teen Brain workshops. She is currently working with another CWT trainer on a Podcast series for the trust.

Julie has worked in education for over 30 years her most recent position being as an interim Headteacher focussing on school improvement. She is passionate about enabling young people to achieve to their full potential building resilience and focussing on self- esteem and confidence are essential tools for us all.

Julie lives in Devon and loves being in or on the sea and enjoys unwinding at her beach hut. She is a keen gig rower and has been fortunate enough to row in the world championships on a number of occasions.

Gemma is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering training and support for schools and families.

An experienced Primary Teacher specialising in PSHE and a B.A Honours in Human Communication, Gemma is also a yoga teacher, Relax Kids coach, Tuning into Teens facilitator, Mental Health First Aider and a Trauma Recovery Model practitioner. She has spent the last 6 years working for the NSPCC Schools Service, educating children about abuse and supporting schools to safeguard young people.

Her own lived experience and recovery of mental health conditions and anxiety, together with her experience within the education sector has made Gemma passionate about the emotional well-being of young people. She believes every child has the right to access the help they need to develop into a mentally and physically healthy person.

Gemma's area of training covers primary age groups with a focus on supporting others to understand factors affecting mental health and well-being, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to support young people to thrive.

After qualifying as a psychiatric nurse in 1996, Claire worked in a variety of mental health services settings, both in-patient and community. In 2005, she joined the University of Northampton as a senior lecturer, where she teaches on numerous undergraduate and post graduate courses as well as the mental health nursing degree.

Claire is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the emotional wellbeing of primary school children.

Claire delivers training mainly in and around the Northamptonshire area.

Gemma is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in the workplace.  She is also actively involved in our Schools and Families and Colleges Programme

Gemma has over 25 years’ experience working in the field of mental health, including working as a Clinical Team Manager at the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

She worked at the University of Huddersfield for over five years as a Mental Health Advisor supporting students with mental health difficulties and setting up a number of peer support groups including an Eating Disorder Support Group. .

Gemma has a specialist interest in eating disorders, and is a Senior Associate Clinical Trainer for Beat, the National Eating Disorder Charity.  She is also a qualified Mental Health First Aid (Adult and Lite) instructor.

Zoe is Schools and Families, FE Programmes trainer and has been a member of the Charlie Waller team since 2015.

Zoe has achieved professional qualifications in Health, Sport and Exercise Science, is an adult and youth Mental Health First Aider, resilience and PTTLs trained.

Over the last 17 years, Zoe has experienced working in a variety of settings which include Public Health Improvement, NHS, employability and adult learning programmes. This has allowed Zoe to gain experience of working with a wide variety of individuals and groups, including individuals with / experiencing health conditions, learning disabilities and difficulties.

Zoe’s passion is supporting others to understand how they can look after their whole self and others to ensure everyone can reach their full potential and thrive.

Dick has been a housemaster, English teacher, rugby coach and headmaster, and has a passionate interest in the emotional wellbeing of young people.

He delivers talks across the UK on the following topics:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Disordered eating
• Self-harm
• Stress
• Adolescent development

Dick is an instructor in Youth Mental Health First Aid

Jo is a mental health trainer specialising in the wellbeing of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). She is a member of the Charlie Waller Schools and Families team.

Jo’s work for the Trust is underpinned by her research in the Centre for Autism at the University of Reading where her PhD focuses on the wellbeing of autistic children in mainstream primary schools. Jo is also an Associate Lecturer in the School of Education at Oxford Brookes University where she has taught across various programmes including Initial Teacher Training. In addition to these posts, Jo is also a visiting lecturer at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families where she is part of a pioneering autistic-led clinical training programme.

Further to her teaching and research, Jo runs peer support workshops for parent-carers of autistic children at Berkshire-based charity Parenting Special Children. Jo is herself parent to two autistic sons and has extensive lived experience of the facilitators of and barriers to wellbeing for children with special needs.

Lisa works as a mental health trainer for the Schools & Families Programme delivering the PPEPCare project training across Berkshire. PPEPCare is fully funded by a collaboration between the NHS and the Charlie Waller Trust.

Lisa has had a long career in a variety of Mental Health settings within the NHS. She originally trained and registered as a Mental Health Nurse in 1990 and subsequently worked in inpatient and community settings with adults, children, young people and their families. Lisa completed a Masters in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and is a UKCP registered psychotherapist. Lisa completed a post graduate diploma in Evidence Based Practice leading to qualifying as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist in 2015. Lisa works part time in clinical practice in a Specialist CAMHs team for Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust as a Family Therapist and part time as the Strategic Lead for PPEPCare training in Berkshire, as part of a Thames Valley wide project delivering training to frontline professionals in evidence based approaches in children and young people’s mental health. This project delivers training and trains and supports other CAMHs professionals to deliver evidence based training in Mental Health to frontline professionals and foster carers in Berkshire.

Lisa is a longstanding CAMHs clinician who strives to bring practical ideas from the research relating to children, young people and families to all professional working with young people. Aiming to enable all adults to have greater understanding, skills and confidence in supporting the mental health, well being and resilience of young people and their families.

Debbie is a member of both the Schools & Families and the Colleges & Universities teams delivering consultancy and training.

Debbie has a psychology degree, a post graduate diploma in careers guidance and counselling, is a trained special educational needs teacher (SpLD) and an experienced PSHE tutor. She has been part of Dr John Coleman’s early adoption group for the Teen Brain Workshops and is qualified to deliver the Mindfulness in Schools Programme and Mental Health First Aid.

Over the past 30 years Debbie has been living and working in boarding education involved in the pastoral care team. She is passionate about educating others around mental health awareness, spotting the early signs to enable good recovery and helping to remove the stigma of poor mental health.

When not working for the Trust Debbie combines her mental health training with careers guidance counselling helping young people with decision making and enabling them to cope with navigating the difficulties of being launched into the workplace in this tough and competitive world.

Andy has been a trainer with the Schools and Families Team for the last six years, working in both primary and secondary settings as well as delivering training for parents, carers and those working in informal education.

Andy holds a PGDip in Youth and Community Work, a PGCE in Secondary History and most recently has been awarded an MA in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from the University of South Wales.

Over the last 15 years, Andy has worked with a wide variety of individuals and groups, particularly children and young people. Prior to joining Charlie Waller, he worked in a range of settings including delivering the Prince's Trust TEAM programme, the National Citizen Service programme and as a neighbourhood youth worker. Andy is also a licensed chaperone who has worked on number of professional UK and international theatre productions.

A highly experienced mental health trainer and educator, Andy has a particular passion for supporting young people experiencing self-harm and suicidal ideation. He also wants to support schools hoping to implement a whole school approach to create a supportive environment for pupils in their care.

Best thing about working for Charlie Waller:

The opportunity to work as part of such a passionate and supportive team of people, all of whom bring their own knowledge, experience and energy to their work.

Julie is a Trainer for the HE and Colleges Programme. She has over 18 years’ experience of working in mental health. She is a qualified counsellor and Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Julie has worked in Private Practice, Educational and Workplace settings, including 9 years as the Team Leader for the Counselling and Mental Health Service at the University of Bath.

Julie has experience of developing and delivering bespoke Mental Health Awareness training, including developing the BEGIN framework, now incorporated into trainings delivered through the Workplace programme. She is an MHFA National Trainer and a Suicide First Aid National Tutor, delivering the UK’s National, City and Guilds qualification in Suicide Prevention.

Julie is passionate about raising awareness of the continuum of mental health and providing training in the wider community, workplace and educational settings. Her desire is to help people build confidence in recognising the signs of poor mental health, reducing stigma and enabling the support of others whilst enhancing people's own wellbeing.

Reena is a counsellor and psychotherapist accredited with BACP and registered with UKCP.  She is also a trainer and supervisor, delivering and leading psychotherapy courses at the Minster Centre in London.  Reena has a particular interest in training on issues of difference and diversity, and in opening up conversations and explorations around race in the UK.

Barbara is a CWT mental health trainer delivering training and consultancy to universities and colleges.

Before joining CWT, Barbara worked in education for over 30 years, initially as a teacher in secondary schools and colleges in Berkshire, Staffordshire and Yorkshire, then as a counsellor and lecturer at the University of Leeds, where she taught modules relating to mental health on various degree courses including Counselling and Psychotherapy, Medicine and the PGCE. She is a registered, senior accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and a former Chair of its Universities and Colleges Division.

As well as working one to one with students at Leeds University’s Student Wellbeing Centre, Barbara also facilitated a support group for post graduate researchers and ran regular workshops on topics such as developing confidence and self esteem, building resilience and using active listening skills.

Barbara is a highly experienced mental health professional and trainer with a particular interest in student wellbeing and effective ways to help students protect their mental health.

Jackie is the Consultant Trainer for Universities at the Charlie Waller Trust.

Jackie has worked as a counsellor since 1987 within NHS Community Health and since 1992 within Higher Education. She has set up Counselling services for students and staff within HE and managed staff and developments within these services. This has included developing psycho educational groups for Students on a range of mental health topics and facilitating these. Jackie has lectured at senior level for both UG and PG students on integrative psychotherapy training at both UCLAN and Warwick Universities.

Paul is a member of The Charlie Waller Team delivering training in colleges and universities.

Paul holds professional qualifications in counselling, philosophy and theology. He is a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Paul is an associate counsellor at Glasgow Clyde College. He also delivers psychoeducational workshops for The Wise Group.

Previously Paul worked for 17 years as a minister of religion which encompassed supporting those of all ages from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

John is a BACP Vice President, BACP Fellow and Senior Accredited Counsellor. He worked as Head of Counselling, Health and Wellbeing at Cardiff University for 20 years. John has a particular interest in working creatively with organisations to enhance the provision of mental health for students. He was funded by the World Health Organisation to help a university set up a counselling service in Sri Lanka.

As former Deputy Chair of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), he also Chaired the BACP’s Equality and Diversity Committee, and its Criminal Justice Forum. He represented BACP both nationally and internationally at conferences.

He has 20 years working in schools and further education settings, as well as in primary care. In addition, he has worked on innovative projects with prisoners.

Upon his retirement form Cardiff University, John was honoured with the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the University.

Under his management the service at Cardiff University developed an innovative short-term counselling model receiving the BACP Innovation Award in 2007.

He co-authored a chapter describing this model in the book Short Term Counselling in Higher Education edited by David Mair.

Best thing about working for Charlie Waller:

Its ambition and can-do attitude

Lindsay is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in colleges and universities.

Lindsay holds professional qualifications in social work and the psychosocial management of psychosis. She is trained in safeguarding to Level 4. Lindsay is registered with Social Work England and is a member of the British Association of Social Workers.

Since qualifying as a social worker, Lindsay has worked with a wide variety of individuals and groups, including young people, and adults. Lindsay has led multi-disciplinary teams within the local authority, health and higher education setting. This included over 10 years as a Senior Mental Health Advisor at a large North West University.

Lindsay works independently as a social worker and trainer enjoying a range of roles that include Associate Hospital Manager, Specialist Safeguarding Practitioner (mental health unit) and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Lindsay is an experienced mental health professional and trainer with a desire to prioritise mental health, suicide interventions and safeguarding within all settings.

Katherine is Consultant Trainer for the Colleges Programme and a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in colleges and universities.

Katherine is an experienced qualified counsellor and clinical supervisor, with a background in education. She is a Registered and Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Over the last 18 months, Katherine has worked for Charlie Waller within schools, colleges and universities with a wide variety of individuals and groups. Prior to joining Charlie Waller, she worked for many years as part of the counselling service at University of Liverpool, as a lead counsellor in a high school in Cheshire and developed a successful private practice.

Katherine continues to work in private practice as a therapist and clinical supervisor, specialising in work with children and young people. She provides training for the BACP for professionals working with risk, and in private practice provides training for counsellors who wish to work ethically with children and young people.

A highly experienced mental health practitioner and trainer Katherine's passion is supporting children and young people, and the professionals that work with them, to improve their mental health and to improve understanding and support for those working with risk.

Satinder studied at the University of Derby and has an MA in Integrative Counselling. She is an accredited, registered member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) & UKCP.

She is an Integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist who has worked in the third sector, the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and the private sector for the past 25 years nationally, delivering counselling to young people and adults. Satinder has delivered training in a variety of environments and on a range of topics. She is also a clinical supervisor for individuals and groups, and an executive coach.

Satinder has a particular interest in facilitating group clinical and wellbeing supervision and delivering training to students. Amongst other projects, she is working with students across Scotland and providing wellbeing supervision groups for nurses and consultants within a sexual health setting. Her more recent work around wellbeing supervision has been supporting individuals who work at the crisis end of homelessness and employability.

As a Punjabi speaking Counsellor and Psychotherapist, Satinder is able to take into consideration the issues that are faced in small communities. She has a particular interest and vast experience in working with trauma (the Judith Herman Model), in particular working with survivors of rape and sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

Additionally, Satinder is a member of the BACP Healthcare Executive Division for the four nations, the aim of which is to promote and support excellence in healthcare, counselling and psychotherapy, and supervision.

Maryanne is a doctor, psychiatrist & GP educator. She graduated in 1987 from Newcastle Medical School and specialised in psychiatry.

In addition to her clinical work, for the last 20 years, she has been a clinical lecturer in general practice at Newcastle Medical School. Her areas of special interest are mental health training for general practice, (and particularly in remote, rural general practice), and young people’s mental health.

Maryanne has a national reputation in these areas, and with 22 years of experience, has taught GPs and spoken at conferences across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales & Eire, West Canada, and East USA.  This has involved working with Royal College of GP’s, Department of Health’s, Deaneries and Directors of Public Health. She is also a Winston Churchill Fellow, having travelled and studied General Practice in West Canada.

In her role as trainer for Charlie Waller Trust, Sheila has developed and delivers mental health and wellbeing training to nurses and allied health care professionals in primary care, and mentors nurses undertaking projects. She is part of a small team at the University of Hull evaluating a Big Lottery mental health project.

Sheila has worked for a foundation trust as Senior Research Fellow and an academic health science network as an education fellow. She has twenty years of experience in primary care where her clinical work included consulting with patients with physical and mental health problems.

Sheila is keen to improve the care of people with mental health issues and has carried out research in this area. She writes educational articles for nursing journals and has co-authored and authored books and book chapters. Sheila has sat on several national expert reference and steering groups. In 2018 she won an Award of Merit from the Royal College of Nursing for her work on the physical health of people with mental illness.

Nicholas provides training for GPs and other professionals working in primary care on mental health in a General Practice setting. This includes sessions on:

• practical Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for general practice
• young people’s mental health
• medical error in mental health
• perinatal depression
• risk management
• medically unexplained symptoms

He provides training for GP trainers and GP CPD events in collaboration with Health Education England Thames Valley.

As well as being a Charlie Waller GP educator, Nick is a practising GP in Berkshire. He has worked locally in reorganising the way care is provided for young people who self-harm. He continues to volunteer with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, having designed and implemented a teaching programme, together with local partners in Uganda.

Abigail joined us in 2020 from Acas, the independent national advisory body for employers and employees, where she was Head of Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing.

She has worked in the field of Mental Health and Wellbeing for more than 25 years, has an MA in Psychotherapy, an MSc in Psychology, and extensive research experience in occupational psychology.

She joined Acas in 2015 as Senior Adviser on Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing and was appointed to lead this area in 2017. Her work included leading on strategic wellbeing projects with executive boards, advising government on key policy issues and delivering keynote presentations and thought leadership on systemic issues relating to mental health and wellbeing at work.

Until recently she sat as the workplace expert for the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on mental wellbeing and is an active member of several mental health at work advisory groups.

Katie is a member of the Charlie Waller team delivering consultancy and training in the workplace.

Katie graduated in medicine from the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals, London and then trained to become a GP.

After working in the Cayman Islands, she returned to London to work at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a Medical Adviser providing care and and Occupational Health advice for employees posted overseas. She then took up a GP partnership in a London teaching practice where she taught Imperial College undergraduates, before moving to Singapore as part of a team setting up a new medical school in collaboration with Imperial College and Nanyang Technological University. She created and implemented part of the early clinical practice course, delivered teaching in clinical communication and examination skills, and became a house tutor looking after the welfare of medical students.

Her experience to date has given her wide-reaching insight into varied institutions, cultures and socio-economic groups.

Penny has more than 25 years’ experience as a counsellor and trainer, starting with Relate in 1992. She became a sessional counsellor at the University of Huddersfield in 1995 and then moved to a full-time counselling post at the University of Leeds in 2003, where she became Senior Counsellor in 2006.

Between 1995 and 2003, Penny also worked in private practice and as a counsellor and consultant in two local industries, offering one-to-one support, staff training and policy development. Her Master’s research ‘Is counselling good for business?’ examined the impact of counselling on productivity at Zeneca Huddersfield works.

While at the University of Leeds, Penny developed and managed an extensive group work and psychoeducational training programme for students, as well as delivering staff training on mental health awareness. She worked at the University of Bradford from 2014 to 2018, joining as Head of Counselling and then taking on disability as an additional area of responsibility in 2016.

Penny has also worked in NHS settings as a counsellor in GP surgeries and as a staff counsellor, as well as being a practitioner and clinical lead with Take Time, a counselling and psychotherapy service for junior doctors in Yorkshire and Humber NHS trusts.

Nargis has extensive experience in delivering clinical services, and research training and supervision, working in a variety of clinical and academic settings both in the NHS and internationally. Since 2019 she has been senior lecturer and clinical tutor at the University of East London, with previous roles including Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, as a community-based Principal Clinical Psychologist and Service Evaluation Lead, as a tutor on the Oxford University Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology, and as Programme (Research) Co-Director for the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the Metanoia Institute at Middlesex University. She is the current Deputy chair and incoming Co-Chair of the accreditation Committee for Training in Clinical Psychology (CTCP), British Psychological Society, and is a Trustee for the Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre (OSAARC)

Nargis is also engaged international mental health activity as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist for BRAC Bangladesh, one of the largest NGO’s in the world, where she provides consultation and training, supervision, research, and project development. She has been involved in developing mental health interventions in the Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh and has produced the first Mental Health Strategy for the organisation. Her interests are in social and systemic determinants of mental health, anti-racism, equality and inclusivity activity in mental health service structures and in the workplace. This work is grounded in research and evidence-based models, and she is particularly interested in the development of compassionate leadership models and resilient organisation models in her inclusivity work.

A successful social entrepreneur, author and conference speaker, Nick is probably best known as the father of Dr Elizabeth McNaught, who is the author of the best-selling book ‘Life Hurts: a doctor’s personal journey through anorexia’.

He now speaks and broadcasts about the personal insights he gained which built upon his professional knowledge as a psychologist and became instrumental in his daughter’s recovery. His talks highlight the practical insights applicable to mental health and wellbeing for all families, in both their personal and professional lives.

With lived experience of her own mental health struggles and a subsequent awareness of the day-to-day stigma it can be met with, Alice has embarked on a career whereby she is able to speak to those who may be struggling or supporting those struggling from a place of perception and integrity.

As well as being a public speaker for CWT, Alice is also a workshop facilitator for Making Generation Resilience, a campaign designed to inspire resilience amongst young people via the power of storytelling from those who've experienced extreme adversity. She is currently the Project Co-Ordinator of Bravo 22 Company, a recovery through the arts programme for ex-military in the UK.

She is ASIST trained (Papyrus UK- Suicide intervention Skills Training) and qualified in Mental Health First Aid.

In the past Alice has worked in settings ranging from refugee camps in France to urban schools in Malawi and homeless shelters in South London, utilising the arts to assist with wellbeing and self-expression.

Anvita is a trainer with the Charlie Waller Trust.

Anvita holds a PhD in Counselling Psychology. She specializes in multicultural psychology and psychosexual and relational therapy. Her interests include cross-cultural psychology, diversity issues, sexual well being, abuse and trauma.

She has developed and facilitated diversity training at various universities and organizations. The topics have ranged from race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion and sexual identity. She has extensive experience in understanding and conceptualizing issues based on diversity and culture. She is most passionate about designing culturally based programs that address minority based issues. She designed one such program for her dissertation, using Bollywood films clips to discuss comprehensive sexuality education with South Asian girls in New York. The dissertation was published as a book: Sexual Health and Bollywood Films: A Culturally Based Program for South Asian Teenage Girls. NY: Cambria Press.

She provides therapy to survivors of violence (both gender-based violence as well as trauma due to displacement and conflict). She develops and facilitates workshops at organizations working with refugees, asylum seekers and recent immigrants. Most important she works towards reducing the taboo around sex and sexuality. Anvita currently lives in London, and works as a therapist, trainer and lecturer

Katie has been a mental health social worker for more than 25 years. She started out professionally as a ceramicist, teaching adults with learning disabilities pottery in a day centre, & it was through this work she discovered a passion for working directly with people in need of encouragement, help, support & advocacy.

Katie became the first (& only) Young People's Dual Diagnosis social worker for young people aged 10 to 19 years in North Yorkshire, bridging the gap across Drug & Alcohol Services, Youth Justice, Education, & Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services to support young people with complex needs get the assessments & subsequent help they needed. She has also set up & managed a third-sector self-harm service to support individuals in managing their self harm & associated trauma.

Her long career in mental health services led to becoming a National Trainer for MHFA England, a National Tutor for the National Centre for Suicide Prevention Education & Training, an ASIST & safeTALK Instructor, as well as a freelance training associate with several well-known charities & universities.

Katie works nationally across a wide range of topics including Mental Health First Aid, Suicide First Aid, Safeguarding Children, Child Sexual Exploitation, Human Trafficking, Safeguarding Adults, & Suicide Prevention/ Intervention.

Mark has over 20 years experience of working within mental health within higher education and prior to this in health promotion and community development. He is the current chair of BACP Universities and Colleges division and is passionate about multi-disciplinary approaches to mental health. He is a founder member of SCORE and is committed to extending the evidence base for counselling within education.

Kathryn Pugh is a member of the Parent Carer Peer Support team. She is a parent with lived experience and has worked for almost 20 years to improve in children and young people’s mental health services, leading strategy development, programme implementation, and partnership working at local, regional and national levels.

She was Deputy Head of Mental Health in NHS England, leading the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Community Transformation Programme.   She was the programme lead for CYP IAPT and worked on the development, implementation and system wide assurance of Future in Mind, the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health – Green Paper   and the NHS Long Term Plan.   

She was previously a member of the National CAMHS Support Service and the National Mental Health Development Unit where she led the national implementation of the children and young people’s programme following the amendments to the Mental Health Act in 2007 and developed a national programme to improve transition services. These roles allowed her to deliver the changes she instigated as Head of Policy at YoungMinds, where she led the Stressed out and Struggling Project to improve services for 16–25-year-olds and the collaborative work of the Mental Health Coalition to secure amendments to the Mental Health Act 2007 regarding age-appropriate environments and consent.    

Before that, she worked in primary care, commissioning primary, secondary and specialist care in both acute and mental health for all ages following a successful career in advertising and direct marketing.    

She is deeply committed to ensuring children, young people, parents and carers  and professionals are all able to contribute to shaping services – whether NHS, VCSE or in Children’s services. In 2015 she was awarded an MBE for services to children and young people’s mental health.