Key Interests

• Complex mental health presentations
• Mental health law
• Offending and mental health
• Risk assessment and management
• Professional practice issues 
• Decision-making research
• Safeguarding

Current Role

I am the Programme Director for the UEA Clinical Psychology Doctorate programme (ClinPsyD), within the Department of Clincial Psychology and Psychological Therapies in Norwich Medical School. 

I am proud to be a Clinical Psychologist and to have the opportunity to support the training and development of tomorrow's workforce through my role at UEA. I am passionate that we create a workforce which is ready to serve the NHS, with Clinical Psychologists who have the potential to become expert clinicians and change the way we deliver services to people with mental health problems. 

I firmly believe that Clinical Psychology research, and the resultant clinical practice that derives from this research, has huge untapped potential to make our services more effective, and to help us understand complex clinical problems more meaningfully. 

I am keen to promote the development of clinicians who are ready to work in the NHS so who approach training with the right values. We need clinicians who are not afraid to 'speak up' and be able to prioritse the needs of the often vulnerable individuals we work with. We need clinicians who are driven by the desire to understand complex problems better, and who prioritise evidence over ideology. We need clinicians who will work effectively with other professionals, and seek to understandand and improve wider systems that influence healthcare delivery. 

I am delighted to be supported by such an able and fantastic staff team in our programme and wider department. I am, too, constantly inspired and proud of the excellent work of our trainees. I hope that, together, we can do 'our bit' for developing and promoting the delivery of effective and meaningful mental health-care in East Anglia. 

Career To Date

I completed my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology at Oxford University in 2005, and then trained as a Clinical Psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry (King's College London) from 2006-2009. I gained interest in working with complex mental health conditions and inpatient forensic work during my clinical training. 

After training, I then worked in the NHS, becoming a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in 2014 in forensic inpatient services. My role included service management role for psychology provision in all secure services within the trust, including a large low/medium secure unit in South Essex and two low secure units in Luton and Bedfordshire.

As a clinician working within this service, I gained significant experience in the assessment and treatment of offenders with mental health problems, including experience in using CBT for Psychosis on an individual basis within this population. 

Since joining UEA in 2016, I have taken a range of leadership and mangement roles and retains significant responsibility for the operational management of the ClinPsyD programme. I have held the roles of Clinical Director, Admissions Director, Fitness to Practise Lead and Deputy Programme Director. I became the Programme Director in 2025.  

Over recent years, I have developed my interest and expertise in Mental Health Law (including completion of an LLM), and led the development of our Mental Health Law CPD programme (which has now become a PG Cert in Mental Health Law). This programme is offered in partnership with the NHS, to support the development of multiprofessional Approved Clinicians within local and regional services. 

I have supervised a number of ClinPsyD doctoral research projects, commonly adopting experimental methodologies to better understand decision-making in forensic and legal professional contexts. 

Expert Witness Work

I have experience in providing reports and giving evidence in courts in both criminal and civil cases. This includes experience in completing assessments of risk for clients with complex histories of mental health difficulty and offending behaviours. Particular interests include assessments of clinical presentations of psychosis and personality disorder, as well as assessments of response style and factitious presentations (e.g. malingering). I have undergone specialist training in the application of a number of different clinical measures (including the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE), Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)), as well as structured assessments of risk (e.g. the HCR-20 for general violence and RSVP for sexual violence). Assessments for courts include assessments on effective participation within trial proceedings, clinical assessment and analysis of offending to contribute to understanding of mens rea, assessment of risk, and detailed clinical assessment to understand clinical vulnerabilities relevant in the commissioning of the offence, at interview, or in trial. 

I have had experience in providing evidence in a range of court settings including Crown Courts, Magistrates Courts, Family Courts, the Coroner's court, and Mental Health Tribunals. I have also acted as an independent psychologist in assessment of clients for the Parole Board and given evidence in this context.

Safeguarding Adult Reviews

Since 2018, I have acted as the Independent Author for six Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) for Essex, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Safeguarding Adult Boards. These reviews considered clients where, prior to death, there had been a wide range of safeguarding concerns relating to issues including complex mental health problems, multi-agency working, homelessness and institutional practice. 

Availability 

Please contact me directly for current availability to act in the above matters which may need to be formally commissioned through UEA Consulting Partners. 

Psychosis (particularly within a forensic context)

Personality disorder especially narcissism and formulation-driven approaches to assessment

Approaches to forensic assessment

Risk assessment of offending and violence

Safeguarding in complex mental health

Mental Capacity Act and Assessment

Mental Health Law

BA Experimental Psychology - Oxford University - 2002-2005 (First Class)

DClinPsy - Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, King's College London - 2006-2009

LLM - Northumbria University - Mental Health Law, Distinction - 2018

SFHEA - Senior Fellowship, Higher Education Academy