Achieving the highest standards in mental health service solutions

Speaker Biographies

Christine A. Padesky Ph.D.

Christine A. Padesky, Ph.D., is considered one of the leading cognitive therapy presenters in the world, appreciated for her depth of knowledge, compassion, and good-humoured warmth. She has presented over 350 workshops to more than 35,000 professionals throughout North America and Europe. Her clear, organized and compelling presentations integrate theory, empiricism, and creative clinical innovations.

Co-Founder in 1983 of the Center for Cognitive Therapy in Huntington Beach, California, Dr. Padesky is a Distinguished Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology award from the California Psychological Association, the Aaron T. Beck Institute for Cognitive Studies 2007 award for Excellence in Contributions to Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, and the 2007 Aaron T. Beck Award from the Academy of Cognitive Therapy for her enduring contributions to the field. The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies voted her the Most Influential International CBT Therapist and her best selling client self-help manual, Mind Over Mood, the most influential cognitive therapy book of all time.

Dr. Padesky is co-author of six books translated into 18 languages (Collaborative Case Conceptualization, Mind Over Mood, Clinician's Guide to Mind Over Mood, Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders (1st and 2nd editions), and Cognitive Therapy with Couples). She publishes written and CD/DVD training materials for mental health professionals (www.padesky.com) as well as cognitive therapy resources for the public (www.MindOverMood.com). Dr. Padesky is a featured therapist in three award-winning educational films and provides consultation to mental health professionals worldwide.

Dr Mike Smith RMN, B.Sc(Nurs) MA PhD

Dr Mike Smith is a freelance worker in mental health and is the director of crazydiamond He has held executive posts within the NHS and non Government sector in the UK.

He is the author of many publications in mental health including the workbooks working with voices, working with self harm, working with survivors of sexual abuse ,psychiatric first aid in psychosis and more recently the THRIVE approach to wellness and the TAPT recovery tool. Mike has also contributed to and devised a number of national television and radio programmes on mental health, many about the normality of psychotic experiences.

Mike was awarded the Bethlem & Maudsley 750th anniversary award for the advancement of mental health care and also is a former holder of the “Nurse of the year” title for the United Kingdom.

Mike has worked as a consultant for the WHO in a number of countries developing community based and owned mental health services and has written widely on the process of recovery from mental illness and the relationship between trauma and psychotic experiences.

Katherine Berry Ph.D.

Katherine Berry Dr Berry is a clinical lecturer at the University of Manchester and a Clinical Psychologist at Greater Manchester West Mental Health Foundation Trust. Dr Berry’s PhD was in attachment theory and psychosis.

Her PhD work involved developing a measure of attachment styles for use with this group which has greater clinical utility than existing measures. It also involved investigating associations between attachment, interpersonal problems, therapeutic relationships and psychotic symptoms. Dr Berry has a number of publications in peer reviewed journals related to attachment theory and psychosis.

She is currently involved in research to assess whether services meet patients' attachment needs, attachment relationships with voices and attachment relationships with psychiatric teams. In addition to carrying out research, Dr Berry’s work as a clinical psychologist in psychiatric rehabilitation services enables her to help psychiatric staff develop formulations of their relationships with patients using attachment theory concepts as well as using attachment theory in her clinical work.

Professor Karina Lovell

Professor Karina Lovell Professor of Mental Health in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University of Manchester.

Her programme of research has focussed on alternative, accessible and innovative forms of service delivery for common mental health problems.

She continues to work in both primary and secondary care settings as a CBT therapist. She has published widely in the both academic and professional journals. She is a past president of the BABCP and is also a patron of the National Phobics Society.

Professor Nick Tarrier

Professor Nick Tarrier Professor Nicholas Tarrier is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist in MMHSCT.

He has been involved in clinical research since 1974 and practiced clinically since 1979. The majority of his research has involved the development and evaluation of cognitive behavioural treatments and he is well known for his work in psychosis and psychological trauma.

He has published over 200 papers in peer reviewed journals and written or edited 9 books, most recently he edited: Case Formulation in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: The treatment of challenging and complex clinical cases (Routledge.).

He carried out one of the first major clinical trial of CBT in the treatment of PTSD. He has specialized in research and treating PTSD and psychological trauma since 1990 and he currently runs a psychological trauma clinic at Wythenshawe Hospital.

He was recently the recipient of The MB Shapiro Lecture award of the Division of Clinical Psychology, British Psychological Society 2007 (‘A late career award for clinical psychologists who have achieved eminence in the profession and have had a significant impact on the knowledge/practice of British clinical psychology’) and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Trailblazer award 2008 ('To honor lifetime achievements in conducting and mentoring research').