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Following my first degree in psychology, I trained as a clinical psychologist and worked in hospital and mental health services for five years.
After that I worked as a researcher at the Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling on a project exploring ways of consulting people with dementia about their views of services. (You can find out more about this work by looking at our previous projects page.)
I now undertake work in the dementia field on a freelance basis, and in this role I have
- undertaken arts activities with people with dementia, and provided training in this area for staff and family supporters
- researched the experiences and needs of people with dementia who are also deaf (with Deaf Action in Edinburgh)
- explored ways of communicating with people with very advanced dementia (with John Killick)
- done a lot of writing and speaking at events in the UK and abroad
For most of the past 5 years, I have returned to working therapeutically with people with complex mental health problems as a clinical psychologist in the NHS. Whilst this work does not involve people with dementia, I love doing it.
Over the last few years, I have negotiated some health problems of my own and spent time taking stock and planning new directions. My main plan is to start PhD at the University of St Andrews on the experience of flow in persons with dementia. Flow is the name given to a psychological state of being totally involved and focused on an activity in an enjoyable and effective way. I am very excited about this as it will enable me to bring together many strands from over the years in a systematic way, and allow me to do a lot of what I love most – meeting amazing people doing fascinating things, reading, writing, thinking and sharing. I expect to be spending a lot of time in flow myself!
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