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London, UK
Friday, 29, March, 2024

Anne Cooke

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Anne is Clinical Director of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology at the Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University. For many years she worked as a consultant clinical psychologist in the NHS, leading psychology services in mental health teams. She was British Psychological Society Practitioner of the Year in 2017, recognising in particular her work to make available good quality public information about mental health. Anne edited and promoted the Society’s major public information report ‘Understanding Psychosis‘ , leading a group of 24 contributors drawn from eight universities and six NHS trusts, together with people who had experienced psychosis. The report attracted significant attention in the UK and internationally. It explores alternatives to the Disease Model Approach to ‘Schizophrenia’, and argues that even the most severe distress and the most puzzling behaviour can often be understood psychologically, and that psychological approaches to helping can be very effective. It exhorts professionals not to insist that people accept any one particular framework of understanding, for example that their experiences are symptoms of an illness, and looks at their implications for how professionals can best help. Anne is also engaged with colleagues in the Discursive of Tunbridge Wells project which aims to open up debates about key issues in mental health via a blog and podcast.