Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Gabrielle Beaudry did with their award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

​I was fortunate to attend the course on Clinical Predictions Models from the Department of Epidemiology and Data Science at Amsterdam UMC delivered online by Dr Martijn Heymans on 6, 7 and 8 January 2021. The aim of the course was to provide insight into the development and validation of prognostic and diagnostic prediction models for various clinical outcomes. The course consisted of interactive lectures and computer-based practical work (using R). The main themes were: (1) the development and quality; (2) validation; (3) and updating of prediction models.
 
More specifically, we discussed various methods for selecting variables, and the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. We also focused on assessing the quality of the prediction model — in terms of accuracy, discrimination and calibration — following its development. Another key component of the course was external validation, which involves validating the model amongst new patients. Finally, we learned about techniques for updating the prediction model if generalisability problems occur when it is transposed to a new clinical setting.
 
This course was invaluable for the completion of my DPhil, which focuses on violence risk assessment and prevention of future violence in people released from prison. It provided me with the necessary knowledge and skills to validate an existing model — the Oxford Risk of Recidivism tool (OxRec) — in two different countries (i.e. Tajikistan and the UK). These projects have since been submitted for publication as scientific articles. I am very grateful to the VAMHN for the support they provided me with the Early Career Researchers’ (ECR) Bursary, which enabled me to attend the course.

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Alex Fairnes did with their award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

I spent one week at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. My aim was to use the facilities and the contacts to review recent U.K.- focusing literature concerning the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the health and developmental well-being of children and young people.
 
In my view, this seems to be particular relevant given the evidence of rising domestic violence during the lock-down and the severe impact on youth mental health.
 
During my stay, I undertook a comprehensive search of identified databases which were developed within an 11-year framework (1995-2006) in the U.K.. Impact was explored across four separate yet inter-related domains (domestic violence exposure and child abuse; impact on parental capacity; impact on child and adolescent development; and exposure to additional adversities), with potential outcomes and key messages concerning best practice responses to children's needs highlighted.
 
There is compelling evidence that children and adolescents living with domestic violence are at increased risk of experiencing emotional, physical and sexual abuse, of developing emotional and behavioral problems and of increased exposure to the presence of other adversities in their lives. This should inform action towards a range of protective factors that can mitigate against this impact, in particular a strong relationship with and attachment to a caring adult, usually the mother.
 
Moreover, children and young people may be significantly affected by living with domestic violence, and impact can endure even after measures have been taken to secure their safety. Based on findings of my literature review,  there is rarely a direct causal pathway leading to a particular outcome and that children are active in constructing their own social world. Implications for interventions suggest that timely, appropriate and individually tailored responses need to build on the resilient blocks in the child's life.

Given the limited period of my research stay, I am keen to further explore the links between exposure to domestic violence, various forms of child abuse and other related adversities, investigating how such exposure may have a differential yet potentially deleterious impact for children and young people.
 
From a resilient perspective, I am also interested, in the future,  to review the influence of each protective factor regarding the impact of exposure and the subsequent outcomes for the child.
 
The research stay comes to benefit of me as an independent researcher ad survivors’ community organiser. It definitely strengthened my abilities, skills and network of contacts finds and will hopefully help me contribute to discussions & action plans for a holistic and child-centered approach to service delivery, derived from an informed assessment, designed to capture a picture of the individual child's experience, and responsive to their individual needs.

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Claire Cunnington did with their award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

I was really grateful to be awarded the Early Career Researcher grant from VAMHN to attend the 2021 International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (ISPCAN) Milan Virtual Congress. I finished my PhD in May 2020 and afterwards is the perfect time to share your research but as an hourly paid academic that’s not always possible. That’s why the VAMHN grant was so helpful.

My Wellcome Trust funded doctoral research took a salutogenic, strengths-based approach to recovering from childhood sexual abuse (CSA) by asking adults what had helped and hindered their recovery. Salutogenics is about finding out what moves people towards better health, happiness and wellbeing, rather than what causes illness, sadness and lower wellbeing. Whilst the larger field is extensive there is very little about recovery from the perspective of adults who have experienced CSA. To very quickly sum up the research results - what helped recovering were good, safe relationships and activities that cause a flow state. What hindered was people who minimised the abuse, denied the victim and in general were not supportive. My paper at ISPCAN argued that responses to abuse disclosure can utilise the same neutralisation techniques adopted by perpetrators.
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Presenting at the conference gave me an invaluable opportunity to share my research, increase my skills and keep up with research in the wider field. It also made me consider further how to challenge these neutralising responses and I am currently working on a short film to improve responses to disclosure in the NHS. I am so grateful to VAMHM for the funding. 

In 2021 the VAMHN funded a project as part of its understanding stream which was led by Dr Rachel Latham at King's College London. The project was about "Understanding the impact of micro- and macro-level violence during adolescence on mental health at the transition to adulthood".  The study examined how adolescents’ experiences of violence and neighbourhood disorder (e.g., vandalism and muggings) affects their mental health as they move into adulthood. 

Saffron, Bianca and Alysha are the peer researchers who worked on the project and have written an insightful blog on what their experiences were like as experts by experience who were integral to the running of the project. This blog highlights the importance of centering the voices of people with lived experience in research.

​To read the full blog click here.

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Murylo Batista did with their award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

Thanks to the VAMHN, on 21-22 January 2022, I was given the opportunity to attend a training on sequence analysis for the social sciences delivered through the National Centre for Research Methods and taught by Professor Nicola Barban from the University of Bologna. Sequence analysis originated in computational biology to study and compare DNA sequences and has been readily adapted by social scientists to study events in the life course. My research questions lie in the application of life course approaches to understanding the dynamics of violence against women and children. VAWC can occur at any age but also vary by age, whereby differences in experiences during early life can be associated with health outcomes in later life.

As an early career demographer working in social services for missing and exploited children, I am interested in how population health sciences could generate new insights for safeguarding strategies that are typically more attuned to individual case work. For example, let us say a child went missing (M) in June and July but was at home (H) for the other months in an annual period. We can use sequence analysis to represent the missing episode like this: HHHHHMMHHHHHH. Then, another child went missing in September through November: HHHHHHHHMMMH. We go on to analyse these patterns using the mathematical properties underlying the positions (first, second, third, etc.…) of both states in the sequence (at home or missing). We can compare the missing trajectories of young people based on individual characteristics, safeguarding concerns, and health outcomes. The NCRM training on sequence analysis demonstrated that applying demography and life course perspectives to violence and abuse can lead us to new research questions for social services. 

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Zoe Moula did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

My name is Zoe Moula (well, Dr Zoe Moula!) and I’m an early career researcher investigating the effectiveness of arts therapies for children’s quality of life and wellbeing. During my PhD, I designed and conducted a pilot RCT for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties across five primary schools in the Northwest of England. The intervention included art therapy, music therapy, dance movement therapy, and dramatherapy. The 64 children who participated in this study had experienced domestic issues, such as divorce, parental separation, and on several occasions, domestic abuse. Some children were also adopted, while some were in foster care.
 
I was expected to present the findings of my study at 14th World Conference for Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counseling in Auckland University, New Zealand. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference was postponed for a year when I was no longer a student, and as such, the university where I conducted my research would not support me with the expenses.
 
I was very fortunate to receive the VAMHN ECR training bursary, which allowed me to present my PhD online. Following my presentation, I received excellent, constructive feedback from experts in this area, while I was also able to connect with other person-centred counsellors and psychotherapists nationally and internationally. I received great advice on how to apply for future ECR funding and which areas of my PhD could be improved to make my applications stronger. I am extremely thankful to the VAMHN network for offering me this opportunity and I would strongly advice fellow-ECRs to apply for this bursary. 

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Jo Higson did with their award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

I am currently doing a self-funded, part-time PhD in Creative Writing looking at the representation of domestic abuse in contemporary narrative fiction and who speaks for survivors. As part of my research I am keen to give people the opportunity to express themselves and their experiences using creative writing. While I am a trained and experienced coach, trainer and facilitator, it is a huge responsibility when people are writing about traumatic experiences to keep it a healthy and safe experience and I was keen to gain some knowledge and experience of how to ensure I can do that.
 
With the VAMN Bursary I was able to attend an Introduction to Therapeutic Writing run by the well-known poetry therapist, Charmaine Pollard. The course covered the principles of poetry therapy and therapeutic writing; enabled us to experience different therapeutic writing techniques, and, most importantly for me, how to create and maintain a safe and supportive framework for therapeutic work.
 
I came away with a greater understanding of the difference between creative writing and therapeutic writing and realised that what I am proposing to do would be creative writing with a therapeutic intent rather than pure therapeutic writing. Creating a safe space, however, will be just as important.
 
Charmaine is an inspirational tutor and role model for this type of work, In the future I would be interested in doing more therapeutic writing but for now I need to focus on my PhD and use the knowledge I’ve gained here to enhance the work I do with other survivors as part of my research. I am really grateful for the opportunity the bursary provided.

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Sylvia Behrendt did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

On the 9th and 10th of October, I was able to attend the introductory workshop on “Working creatively with Trauma” by Jill Carter. The workshop was held online and attended by a group of therapists and counsellors interested in expanding their creative skillset when working with clients. The course was conducted over 2 days and offered ample insight into the benefits of working with trauma creatively. An important part of the course was the exploration of what trauma can mean, how trauma can manifest in the nervous system and how working creatively can benefit the process of recovery. As an experiential workshop, all participants had the chance to work creatively themselves and explore the different impacts of sandplay, music, art and other expressive arts tools. The workshop was aimed to leave participants with an expanded repertoire of tools to engage with in client work and in their research both in online work and face-to-face. It particularly highlighted the gap that creative work can address when trauma, developmental factors and other aspects can impede the ability to name and describe. As the GBV lead of my team, I am looking forward to the chance to share the experience with my team and beyond and to help inform the landscape of wellbeing and counselling support offered to our students via active provision and ongoing research. 

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Raeena Hirve did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

​I was extremely pleased to be awarded the Early Career Researcher grant from VAMHN to attend a short course by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on researching gender-based violence in May 2021. The purpose of the course was to strengthen participants’ knowledge and skills to conduct or commission technically rigorous, ethical and policy- and service-relevant research on various forms of violence against women. Over the course of 2 weeks, we were taught through a series of online interactive lectures, practical exercises, group work and assigned reading. The course covered a range of topics on violence including approaches to researching violence, developing conceptual frameworks, ethics and safety, research in conflict settings etc.  I found myself really enjoying every lecture (and bonus lectures) and was enthusiastic to go through all the readings. I also really appreciated the group work where we were asked to design and conceptualise GBV research in a humanitarian setting. This group work enabled us to really use what we learnt over the course and apply it practically. It was also a great opportunity to meet and learn from my team members. I learnt the current gold standard methods to conceptualise and measure violence exposures, various methodological techniques for assessing the relationship between violence and health outcomes and practical issues faced when meeting ethical and safety obligations. As an early career researcher, this course gave me the skills and confidence to purse a PhD and am very grateful for this opportunity. 

Savitri Hensman, the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London's patient and public involvement coordinator, reflects on issues of safety, control and health. The disappearance of Sarah Everard, on her way home in south London in March, and subsequent discovery of her body, has led to an outpouring of sadness for her, her family and friends.

Since then, many women have shared their own experiences of sexual or physical harassment, attacks or threats. 
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A court hearing for the Blackheath man alleged to have murdered two sisters, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, whose bodies were found in a Brent park, has further highlighted the issue of violence against women and girls. In both cases, serious questions have arisen about the action of police officers, which tie into issues of power and accountability.

In addition, widely-aired concerns about a south London school have recently highlighted alarming levels of sexual harassment and violence faced by schoolgirls more widely. Reportedly local girls and boys tried five years ago to draw attention to a “culture of misogyny”, along with use of homophobic and racist slurs The same year, a parliamentary committee pointed to major problems in schools nationally, yet this too did not lead to adequate action.

There is now extensive evidence of the connections between safety and health, especially of those facing social and economic inequalities. Sometimes violence results in serious injury or death. A wider number of people who are attacked or menaced may undergo trauma, while others may be left with a lingering sense of insecurity or humiliation.

Public spaces are not always welcoming to all the public: sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia are still all too common. Lack of access may leave disabled people feeling yet more unsafe or excluded. Even the home may not be a safe space, as the surge in domestic abuse during the pandemic has shown. Poverty makes it harder to escape from risky situations, while hostels, asylum centres, care homes and other places with multiple residents vary greatly in how secure they feel. Yet health research which is not specifically about such issues often fails to take on board the wide-ranging effects, including drawing on findings from other disciplines.

For instance, studies often focus on encouraging people to lead healthier lifestyles, yet with little recognition of the hugely different ways in which people might experience their physical and social environment. For many, a walk or run may offer a welcome boost to their mental and physical health – but for others, it may be stressful because they are, or feel, unsafe. And some people may have experienced such disempowerment at critical times in their lives that they may have little confidence that their choices can make much of a difference. Or they may not trust advice from the authorities, after bad experiences.

People from all backgrounds can find themselves on the receiving end of violence, harassment or intimidation, which may affect their health in varying ways. Yet often lack of safety reflects and reinforces existing inequalities, as well as getting in the way of seemingly simple ways in which people could improve their own health. This is not to say that those on the receiving end are just victims – many have played a key role in raising awareness, caring for others and bringing about change.

Being more consistently aware of the complex ways in which safety (or lack of it) may influence health could enrich research. Greater involvement of diverse people and groups, including those addressing violence or its aftermath, and valuing lived experience are important. The death of Sarah Everard and other recent events are a reminder of the value of listening to a range of voices and recognising the injustices which complicate the work of improving health, as well as valuing the initiatives within communities to try to keep more people safe and well.

This blog was first published by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London. Original link here.

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Nicole Renehan did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

I was delighted to be awarded the Early Career Researcher grant from VAMHN to attend the Autism and Mental Health Conference on 11th March 2021, hosted by the National Autistic Society. The purpose of the conference was to explore the specific adversities and needs of autistic people in relation to their mental health and how services have responded to them before, during, and thinking beyond the pandemic. There were four sessions including several speakers and presentations covering the broad topics of: 1) Understanding and meeting the needs of autistic people; 2) The impact of covid 3) Evidence based approaches; and a Key Note speech by Dr Peter Vermeulen on Coping with uncertainty – Strategies for well-being. All of the presentations and talks were fascinating and the pre-conference easy read booklet with engaging power point slides was really impressive.

My own interest in attending this conference stems for my research with domestic abuse perpetrators which explored how, why, and for whom UK accredited criminal justice, domestic violence perpetrator programmes work. This was an in-depth cohort study which meant that I was able to ask about the lived experiences of some of the men who attended the programme and follow them through their journeys of change. One of the men I interviewed was awaiting an assessment for autism. ‘Trevor’ had faced many adversities in his life such as domestic abuse, parental violence (by his stepfather) and mainstream school exclusion. He said that he had always felt like an ‘outsider’ and struggled to ‘associate’ with people, which had impacted on his mental health. Trevor also experienced overwhelming feelings within intimate relationships. My research documented many barriers to change. But it was identified that autistic men (certainly evidenced in Trevor’s accounts) will face additional barriers than neurotypical men in regard to programme engagement, understanding and support needs. 

I attended the Autism and Mental Health conference as I wanted to further my understanding about the difficulties autistic people face in regard to their mental health. Ultimately, I wanted to extend my knowledge and research about how multiple adversities hinder autistic men’s capacity to change in the context of perpetrators programmes and how these can be developed and/or adjusted to be more responsive to neurodiversity.

There were many things that I learned. I learned that autistic people commonly experience anxiety more profoundly than non-autistic people; that feelings of (even slight) uncertainty can be compounded by absolute thinking; that anxiety can be driven by a sense of feeling ‘less than’ neuro-typical people; and that masking (to fit in with neurotypical people) can be exhausting and may result in increased anxiety and, ultimately, distress and panic. I learned that self-calming strategies could mitigate anxiety in stressful or unfamiliar situations but that such activities might be inaccessible, forbidden, and/or not socially tolerated. What this suggests, firstly, is the need for much wider understanding of neurodiversity in society. But, crucially, it suggests that much more can be done to reasonably adjust domestic violence perpetrator programmes so that they are more responsive to autistic men’s sensory, emotional, and relational needs and learning. There is no ‘one size fits all’ and so responses should be individualised. It might also involve simple messaging rather than complex programme material and concepts, and flexible programme structures for those who are unable to engage in group work environments. I would add that the needs of the whole family should be central to any intervention involving autistic people, particularly when families chose to stay together and/or child contact will be the motivation for programme engagement.   

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Bethan Pell did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

My background as a former Independent Domestic Violence Advocate gave a realistic insight into the impact of domestic violence and abuse on children and young people, igniting a desire to contribute to relevant, impactful research in this area. While developing my doctoral proposal, I recognised the value of creative and visual methodologies as an alternative way for children and young people to articulate, express and represent experiences and feelings. I wanted to learn more about how I could use these methods in my proposed research with potentially vulnerable, child participants.

I was therefore delighted to be awarded VAMHN Early Career Researcher Bursary and used it to attend the Social Research Association’s ‘Creative Methods in Qualitative Research’ Online Training Course. The course involved two interactive half day workshops, which took place online over zoom. It covered a range of topics including: the theoretical underpinnings of creativity in qualitative research; practical and ethical considerations when using creative and visual methods; creativity throughout the lifecycle of research and the role of the researcher within this.

The course was extremely valuable in developing my knowledge, experience and skills in several ways. Most importantly, I developed my understanding of existing theoretical frameworks and paradigms in creative and visual research methods, improving my ability to apply theory-practice links when selecting, using and analysing these. The workshop activities provided opportunities to experiment directly, helping me to gain a critical understanding of the practical and ethical considerations involved during implementation. They also highlighted the participant experience and enhanced my appreciation of creating representations and embodying their experience through visual metaphors.

I was surprised by the possibilities of using creative and visual methodologies in all aspects of the research process, from conception to dissemination. The course really tried to encourage us to push the boundaries and get creative and I have developed practical ideas in relation to this, which I am excited to try out! I loved interacting and engaging with other like-minded researchers – sharing our ideas and insight throughout the course to consolidate learning. Furthermore, online delivery of the course revealed how some of the methods could be adapted remotely, a particularly welcome bonus when considering the current climate!

I am extremely grateful to VAMHN for the opportunity to attend this course, where I have strengthened my knowledge, understanding and experience of using visual and creative methodologies. I hope to use this learning to strengthen my intended doctoral study research proposal. 
 

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Clariza Saint George did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

​Realist Evaluation (RE) is a framework in which the researcher aims to identify the contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes of interventions, theories, and policies. This course teaches researchers how to synthesise their data and collect thematic elements in accordance with realist evaluation principles. Thematic elements are not always apparent and can often overlap with other themes within the text or dataset. Being able to distinguish and clearly identify these themes will allow the researcher to sufficiently convey and report their findings in a comprehensive manner suitable for final reports, presentations, and even publication. This course also demonstrated various ways for researchers to display their data visually to show relationships between the identified and coded thematic elements. The practical application of these techniques bolsters the credibility of the researcher’s final write-up by further clarifying the methodology used to obtain the results. Being able to practice the techniques learned during the four-day course in collaboration with other realist evaluation researchers helped to refine the skills gained during the training. 

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner @EmilieWildman did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

I recently attended Managing Challenging Interviews, a two-day, online training course delivered by researchers from NatCen Social Research. I wanted to attend this training before beginning data collection for my qualitative PhD study, which explores the experience of violence and aggression towards family carers from service users with severe mental health conditions. Given the potential vulnerability of the participants I will be interviewing and the potentially sensitive material we will be discussing, I hoped this training would help to develop my skillset and increase my confidence in my abilities to navigate potentially challenging interviews. 
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The two days consisted of a mix of theory-driven and practical sessions. I learnt many new skills and techniques to facilitate conducting productive interviews with a range of different types of participants, and to respond flexibly to potentially challenging situations that may be encountered during interviews. It was helpful to consider what constitutes best practice when conducting interviews, and how to manoeuvre through difficult situations when they arise.

I found the practical sessions particularly valuable, as these provided a space to have a go at implementing these skills and techniques through scenario-based roleplay. Additionally, playing the role of the participant as well as the researcher enabled me to experience and appreciate the various dynamics at play during the interview process. Receiving feedback on my interviewing style from the trainers and course attendees, was also very insightful.

Throughout the training, it was great to listen to and learn from the experiences of the trainers and the other course attendees. The diversity in our professions, expertise and perspectives made group discussions thought provoking and enriched my overall learning experience.

I am incredibly grateful to the VAMHN for providing me with funding to attend this course, which has been invaluable in helping me to prepare for conducting interviews.

I will be beginning data collection with confidence in the interviewing skills I have developed and in my ability to implement these.
 

As an independent researcher in South West, I investigate the intersection of arts and heath. By lived experiences and experiences of other individuals living with illnesses, I focus on personal stories of those individuals and am interested in the concept of Person- Centered Care, that acknowledges the patient as someone to engage as an active partner in their own care and treatment.
 
This is why I was genuinely delighted to be awarded the VAMHN Early Career Researcher (ECR) bursary to finance one-week research mission at the Durham University.
 
Researchers at the Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University had recently launched the platform ‘Understanding the Voices’ with a rich network of partners and a wealth of resources available for use.
 
My main research question was how the production and distribution of such stories can be part of highly interactive and supportive that could enable healthcare professionals, carers and patients to develop their own stories and narratives. The research mission aimed at supporting on the integration and use of stories within healthcare development programmes; researching into the uses and applications of digital stories in healthcare quality improvement and as reflective tools in healthcare education.
 
Upon my return, I re-affirmed my belief in person-centred care, in the sense that patients are persons who are more than their illness. Within this framework, any provision of care should emanate from the patient’s experience of his/her situation, as well as his/her individual conditions, resources and restraints.
 
It is important for policy makers to understand that patients must be recognised to become a partner in health care. The starting point is to listen to the patient’s narrative, that along with other examinations, forms the basis for a health plan. Such a plan should be underpinned by relationship ethics and the equal value of all human beings and highlight the importance of respectfully LISTENING to the patient, as well as planning and following up care and treatments TOGETHER.

I was delighted to be awarded the VAMHN Early Career Researcher (ECR) bursary to attend the Trauma Summit in Dublin. The Summit was set to bring an array of international experts in the field of trauma recovery to discuss how to bring hope, healing and renewed life for the next generation. However, lockdown measures have thrust in-person scientific conferences onto virtual platforms (including mine). So, I was intrigued to experience the pros and cons of virtual conferencing on ECRs careers.
 
I am currently pre-PhD and my aims for attending this conference was to use the Summit to overcome the NIHR’s reported reasons for not being a successful PhD fellowship candidate. Those include a lack of ownership and feeling like the proposal came from your supervisor(s), gaps in supervisory teams, and insufficient dissemination plans. Therefore, I hoped to (1) learn what the current theories, techniques and practices were to treat/heal trauma (2) identify research gaps/assumptions specific to trauma caused by abused (3) network with international clinical and research experts to fill gaps in my supervisory team (4) note the real world challenges in theory practice gaps to develop an action-based dissemination strategy.
 
The learning was just as superb as an in-person conference with no technical glitches despite 1.5 thousand attendees logging in from around the world. The emerging themes included: how lockdown measures have impacted client’s symptoms and therapy practices, how talking therapies alone are no longer enough but physical techniques encompassing the body is imperative for wholistic healing and recovery and exploring a social justice approach to trauma treatment when it is caused by intergenerational, systemic abuse. Therefore, my aims to learn and identify were more than achieve online.
 
The online summit was adapted to include nine live keynote presentations and six pre-recorded workshops. During the keynotes you could anonymously pose questions to the speaker that would be voted by the other attendees. The questions with the highest votes were addressed. Whilst this was a practical solution the questions ECRs posted were never asked. Nearly every question that was answered was practitioner led. This was a disadvantage of the conference as the theory practise gaps unless explicitly note in the keynote was quite hit and miss.
 
The biggest ‘con’ of online conferencing is the networking element. A researcher’s calendar is already often overcrowded and these conferences are the prime opportunity to establish new as well as nurture old long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that can pay you back in dividends throughout the course of your career (particularly at the beginning stages). This is where the power of Twitter comes in. With no online way of networking option, I took to the Summit’s Twitter handle and followed the keynote and workshop leaders that interested me and made sure to tweet them about their talks. Likewise, I followed the conference tweets and followed/retweeted/ the attendees whose comments sparked my interest. Whilst not quite same as in-person networking I still managed to strike up potential research collaborations for the future.    
 
My reflections of virtual conferencing in a lockdown world would be to be proactive in your attendance. Write down beforehand what you’d like to get out of the conference. Keep a journal of your personal and professional research reflections to look over after the conference and get on Twitter and use that as a platform to facilitate networking.

Tony Slattery is a brave man. Brave to allow cameras and documentary makers to follow his journey into consulting rooms, to watch raw and intimate moments, to chart an unfolding story. Inevitably, there must be moments that we didn’t see, details which were edited out. So this review can only be based on what was included as visible narrative.

This moving documentary began explicitly with the question of diagnosis. Tony outlined his long struggles with mental health, but searching for an answer about what was wrong. The premise of the documentary was that if diagnosis was unclear, then treatment would be unclear. In essence, this programme was asking, ‘what is wrong with Tony?’.

There was a review of notes, of his history and symptoms, and debates about whether there was a missed diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There was a layering of presenting issues – talent and fame, overwork, alcohol misuse, cocaine, sleep deprivation, elated mood, slipping into mood swings, paranoia, depression, isolation and his feeling of stasis. 

The language used in the narrative was interesting – strikingly medical. We were led through a story which searched for ‘diagnosis’; ‘treatment’; and at points, made references to a ‘diagnosis lurking there’ or Tony being ‘suspected’ of having bipolar disorder. Several times, Tony mentioned waking up angry, and it wasn’t clear why; no-one appeared to pursue it.

Eventually, there was a question about Tony’s past, and whether it could be linked to his problems. When Professor Ciaran Mullholland enquired about Tony’s past, the scene was incredibly powerful. Tony spoke bluntly, relating a shocking experience, with the burst of someone who’d been waiting years and years to speak about what had happened to him. He disclosed that he’d suffered sexual abuse by a priest when he was 8 years old. This appeared to be the first time that any link had been made between childhood sexual abuse and his mental state; that the ‘symptoms’ could be seen as efforts to cope with abuse and its aftermath. Tony had already disclosed to his long term partner, Mark; but it was clear that Mark was taken aback by Tony’s stark words in the consultation. Abuse can have profound effects upon people, and it can take decades to feel able to speak about it.

What was especially saddening was that it appeared as though no clinician had asked him about abuse before. It was heartbreaking to hear Tony trying to digest that abuse could have harmed him, using terms like ‘self-indulgence’ when he was speaking about it. These comments are a window into the pressures on victims not to speak up, perhaps particularly for male victims within a society that promotes self-reliance and silence around men’s health. His partner, Mark, quietly pointed out how often Tony referred to his traumatic past, more than Tony realised.

For me, Tony’s story reinforced the importance of routine enquiry (Read et al., 2007; Read & Bentall 2012), foregrounding the issues around disclosures of non-recent abuse (BPS, 2016) and the need for trauma informed responses in mental health services (Sweeney et al, 2016). I was disappointed by the absence of a clinical psychology voice in the programme. 

Tony disclosed and there was almost passing reference to talking therapy for trauma. But his story of trauma appeared to slip away. Even as Tony mused on whether he was drinking to avoid other issues, he was redirected – in a somewhat didactic conversation - to reduce alcohol.

There was a chance for this documentary to match Tony’s bravery – to move to ‘What happened to Tony Slattery?’

The apparent sidelining of his trauma was startling. For all of us, it is our personal stories which make us who we are. It is under-recognised trauma which may explain ‘medication resistance’ for a number of people within mental health services. Drugs can dull pain, but they don’t rewrite the meaning of that pain. That is where talking is medicine.

Watch the programme now 
Dr Khadj Rouf, Consultant Clinical Psychologist 

Khadj is Chair of the BPS Safeguarding Advisory Group, and works for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a survivor of child abuse and has also published resources from a personal perspective. Find more about her and her work in our archive.

References

• Read, J., Hammersley, P., & Rudegeair, T. (2007) Why, when and how to ask about childhood abuse.  Advances in Psychiatric Treatment,(13), pp. 101–110 doi: 10.1192/apt.bp.106.002840
• Read, J. and Bentall, R.P. (2012) Negative childhood experiences and mental health: theoretical, clinical and primary prevention implications. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, pp.89-91.
• Sweeney, A., Clement, S.,  Filson, B. & Kennedy, A. (2016) Trauma-informed mental healthcare in the UK: what is it and how can we further its development?", Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. 21 Issue: 3, pp.174-192

Recommended reading 

• BPS (2018) Safeguarding Children and Young People: Every Psychologists Responsibility 
• BPS (2016) Guidance on the Management of Disclosures of Non-Recent (Historic) Child Sexual Abuse    

If you have been affected by the issues in this article, please see sources of support:

• ​NSPCC 
• National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) 
• The Truth Project - see also our interview with Rebekah Eglinton
• Rape Crisis England 
• The Samaritans

Working with Adults in the Context of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse course at Goldsmiths University, I have a more holistic understanding how to best support people who experience abuse and how to ethically conduct research in this field. The course explored relationship, community and societal factors that contribute to abuse with an emphasis on the impact trauma plays in the lives of those who experience abuse. There was an emphasis on spiritual abuse during this short course than normal, and I’m thankful to gained insight on this specific area that is not often discussed within the domestic violence and abuse field. There were speakers from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish services who gave detailed insight how religion is manipulated by abusers and how detrimental this type of abuse is on victims and the family system. The interconnectivity of faith and abuse was crucial to learn about as faith can be an important aspect of survivors’ lives and by not avoiding conversations about it can hinder their recovery.

​As a PhD student with a keen interest in this area, this course was helpful in building my understanding of the key challenges regarding how to best support domestic violence and abuse survivors. ​

Have a read below to see what our ECR bursary winner Bridget Steele did with her award money. To find out how you can apply to our ECR Bursary Scheme click here.

In January 2020 I had the honour of presenting at the 2020 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Strategies conference in New Orleans. This conference was focused on effectively responding to and preventing sexual violence and mental health concerns at higher education institutions with evidence-based information and programming.

I presented findings from a systematic review and meta-analyses I conducted, exploring the risk factors for male perpetrated sexual violence at higher education institutions. Sexual violence prevention is becoming an increasing priority for schools given the prevalence of this type of violence in these settings and the profound impact it has on student mental health. Through this conference I engaged with those working on sexual violence prevention and response initiatives and data collection at higher education institutions throughout North America.   
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To hear and learn about the barriers that staff and administration face to create a safe and healthy environment for their students was impactful. I believe that it is essential to have my research informed by the experiences of those working on and directly impacted by sexual violence prevention and response initiatives in educational settings, especially as I begin to examine the UK context, where the body of evidence is limited when compared to the US. I am grateful to have received the VAMHN Early Career Researchers Bursary which allowed me to have this incredible learning experience and networking opportunity.