Personality Disorder Conference: Advances in management and treatment of Personality Disorder

Consultant Psychiatrist, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Rex Haigh studied social sciences as well as medicine as an undergraduate, being particularly interested in critical theories of psychiatry. After working as a GP, he trained as psychiatrist, then as an NHS medical psychotherapist and group analyst – becoming a consultant in Berkshire in 1994, where he has been based since. He received a mid-career award from the Health Foundation in 2002, and became Clinical Advisor to the English Personality Disorder Development Programme until it closed in 2011. At the Royal College of Psychiatrists, he was the founder of ‘Community of Communities’ quality network in 2002 and the ‘Enabling Environments’ award in 2008. He was a member of the 2009 NICE guideline development group for Borderline Personality Disorder, and is involved with several third sector organisations in the Personality Disorder field. His particular clinical interests are modified therapeutic communities, ecotherapy, critical psychiatry, and co-creation with service users. The social enterprise he chairs, ‘Growing Better Lives’ won the 2014 sustainability award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He was appointed as Honorary Professor of Therapeutic Environments and Relational Health at Nottingham University’s School of Sociology and Social Policy in 2015.

Senior Lecturer and Taught Programmes Lead, Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine Queen Mary University of London

Dr Mark Freestone is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He has worked as a researcher and clinician in forensic mental health services since obtaining his PhD in 2004, and has recently established a new Forensic Mental Health MSc programme at QMUL. His research interests are in the evaluation of psychosocial treatment approaches, particularly for clients diagnosed with a personality disorder, and the reduction of violent outcomes among patients with mental disorder.

Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy, Outpatient Clinical Lead, Cassel Hospital Outreach Service, West London Mental Health NHS Trust

Kimberley Barlow, Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy. I graduated in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh and trained in Psychiatry at South West London and St George’s where my interest in personality disorder was stimulated through working at the Henderson Hospital. After gaining some experience in forensic psychiatry I trained in psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic. I have been the clinical lead for the Cassel Hospital Outreach Service since February 2016. I lead the Cassel Hospital Research Unit and I am a member of the Clinical Reference Group for Specialised Mental Health Services within NHS England.

Thames Valley Initiative

Training and Vocational Initiatives in Personality Disorders (TVi) and Support, Training and Recovery Systems (STARS)

Training and Vocational Initiatives in Personality Disorders are a Team who provide training for both statutory and voluntary sector staff across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire primarily but it is also open to those further afield. All training is delivered in partnership with ex-service users from STARS (Support, Training and Recovery Systems) and the complex needs services in these areas. STARS are a thriving group of people with a diagnosis of Personality disorder and diverse life experiences who have chosen to work in collaboration with clinical staff in delivering the training, they will also work with people who have been given the diagnosis of personality disorder who are perhaps struggling to understand what it means or to engage with services. The STARS group have been in existence since 2004. There are now between 15 and 20 active members. The group provides a stepping stone from therapy to gainful employment, if that is what the participant’s wants and needs. It helps develop confidence and competencies. The partnership working of ex-service users who have had the diagnosis of Personality disorders with experienced clinical staff is consistently well received. We have trained people across many services including the police, council organisations, mental health clinicians and GP’s as well as increasing profile in contributing to conferences, publications and in service development. For further information about our work please look at our website-

Relational Practice

Dr Peter Cockersell is CEO of Community Housing and Therapy, a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in private practice, a supervisor in the NHS and third sector, a consultant on psychologically informed approaches to treatment, care and support services, and a Lecturer on the Counselling Psychology training in the Dept of Psychology at Surrey University; he was previously Director of Health & Recovery for St Mungo’s, a leading homelessness agency. Peter has worked extensively with people with histories of compound trauma, complex needs, personality disorders and psychosis both as a clinician and in developing and managing service delivery. Peter is author of various publications on PIEs, mental health and social exclusion, and was one of the co-authors of the national guidance on Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs), and his book, Compound Trauma, Social Exclusion and Recovery, is due to be published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in March 2018.

Therapeutic communities and related approaches

Steve Pearce worked in general medicine before training in Psychiatry. He now works as a consultant psychiatrist and medical psychotherapist in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, UK, where he runs the Complex Needs Service, a specialist service for people with personality disorders and related conditions. He is a past editor of the International Journal of Therapeutic Communities and past President of the British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorder. He chairs the specialised mental health clinical reference group for NHS England.

Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham

Conor Duggan BSc, PhD, MD, FRCPsych, OBE is Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham in the UK. He was until 2011 an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Arnold Lodge, Regional Secure Unit in Leicester UK where he shared responsibility for a 22-bedded in-patient unit that treats men with personality disorder and a history of serious offending.

His research interests are treatment efficacy in personality disordered offenders, their long-term course and the neuropsychological basis of psychopathy. He has been responsible for several Cochrane Reviews in the treatment of personality disorder and sex offending. He has written over 150 peer reviewed papers and book chapters.

He was until recently Editor of The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology and chaired a NICE Guidance Committee on Antisocial personality Disorder. In 2012, he was awarded an OBE for his services to mental health.

Challenges and Rewards in Working with those suffering from Severe Personality Disorder

Until May 2017 Dr Van Velsen was Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy based within the Forensic Personality Disorder service of the East London NHS Foundation Trust. Her post was as a Responsible Clinician in a Community of Communities Accredited Therapeutic Community, which specialises in forensic personality disorder in men. Most of the patients are transferred prisoners. She trained a Doctor in London and went on to train as a Psychiatrist and specialised in Psychotherapy. She was Consultant Psychotherapist at the Maudsley Hospital for five years. She is a member of the British Institute of Psychoanalysis. Dr Van Velsen worked for one year in the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and completed research in the area of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is co-editor of a text book of Forensic Psychotherapy and a section editor of the Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis. Dr Van Velsen has expertise in the assessment and treatment of people suffering from a wide range of personality and other difficulties and has prepared many reports for the civil, criminal and family courts. She is a member of Forensic Psychiatry Chambers, which consists of a group of experienced psychiatrists providing psychiatric advice and reports to the legal profession. She has particular expertise in the understanding and formulation of complex personality difficulties and violence and has presented at many national and international conferences on Personality Disorder and related topics. She has contributed to discussions on TV, radio and the stage on related topics. For some years she was an advisor to the British Board of Film Censors in particular addressing areas of sexual violence. She was also, for a period of three years, an external examiner to the Guild Hall School of Music, Diploma in Music Therapy, followed by a period of three years as external examiner in the University of Hertfordshire MA and Art Therapies.

Clinical Director, Specialist and Learning Disability Services

Tom Mullen is a mental health nurse and is currently the Clinical Director for Specialist and Learning Disability services in Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. For the past twenty years he has worked to develop and lead on the delivery of a range of community based, multi-agency personality disorder services and he has contributed to the development of national policy and guidance in this area. Tom is also the joint President of the British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorder (BIGSPD), the leading organisation bringing together learning through evaluation, research and experience of working with and living with personality disorder.

The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway

Nikki Jeffcote is Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of the London Pathways Partnership (LPP). LPP is a consortium of four mental health Trusts working with criminal justice partners to deliver services in custody and the community to high risk personality disordered offenders.

Advances in psychotherapy of personality disorders

Dr Marcella Fok is Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She has experience in the treatment of personality disorders in different settings — specialist PD services, psychotherapy services and community mental health teams. She is Visiting Researcher at King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience; her research examines the links between personality disorder and health, mortality and service use. She is a member of the Medical Psychotherapy Faculty Executive of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway

Sarah Skett is a Registered Forensic Psychologist, Chartered and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She has worked with offenders for over 25 years, including men, women and young offenders. She has experience of undertaking assessment and treatment interventions with serious violent