I am an experienced independent international trainer and consultant specialising in innovative ways of supporting people who struggle with extreme states (including ‘psychosis’, ‘dissociation’ and post traumatic reactions). As well as having over 20 years of experience within the adult mental health field, I also have particular expertise in working with children, young people and people in prison who hear voices/see visions.
“Drawing on and sharing her own experiences, Rachel’s workshop on taboo and violent voices provides an insightful and illuminating introduction to topics that are usually considered off-limits. Her honest approach and the stimulating discussion she generated certainly expanded our group’s understanding and empathy for those dealing with such voices.”
Sam Southgate, PhD candidate in sociology, Yale University
If you would like to discuss the options for working with me, please email me at [email protected] for an initial conversation.
The following is an overview of the services I am able to offer:
Bespoke Mental Health Training & Consultancy Packages
Are you part of an organisation that is looking to improve the way it responds to people who are struggling with mental distress or the impact of trauma? Have you recently identified a challenge within your workplace – a situation that has left your staff feeling de-skilled or overwhelmed? Are you keen to promote recovery-oriented practice within your organisation that is more than mere rhetoric, but leads to real change?
Whilst I am able to provide a range of individual courses and workshops, I am particularly interested in developing bespoke packages that are tailor made for your unique circumstances. In my experience, it is these packages that can lead to lasting outcomes and organisational change as they involve the mentoring and consultancy that helps you build on the understanding & skills learnt in the training room and integrate them with your existing practice.
Rachel Waddingham consulted with me and my team in Melbourne, Australia on November the 27th 2013. I am a clinical psychologist and researcher and our team is currently piloting a therapy for young people with voices, visions and other unusual experiences who have experienced trauma and are attending the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC). We are particularly trying to develop a therapy that helps young people to understand their experiences of voices, visions, dissociation, and post-traumatic intrusions in terms of the trauma they have experienced. There is almost no research in this area to date.
Rachel was able to describe to us ways of thinking about and working with young people with voices and visions and trauma based on both her own experiences and her work with young people. This was extremely valuable to us and we are already incorporating her ideas into our therapeutic approach. She was hopeful, respectful and inspiring in the way she described her work. We look forward to continuing to work with her into the future.
Sarah Bendall, PhD – NHMRC / Senior Research Fellow and Clinical Psychologist @ Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Melbourne
Mental Health Training
I am an experienced trainer that can provide a range of courses, including:
- Working with children & young people who hear voices
- Making sense of ‘taboo’ & ‘violent’ voices
- Demystifying dissociation & psychosis (in adults and/or young people)
- Working with people who hear voices in secure settings
- Trauma informed practice
- Mental health awareness – rethinking labelling and diagnosis
- Self harm, trauma and voice-hearing
- Supporting victims of crime who have mental health problems
- Developing Peer Support Groups (inc Hearing Voices Groups)
- Creative ways of working with voices & visions
- Introducing Open Dialogue and Dialogic Practice
- Open Dialogue Foundation Training (with Dialogue (R)Evolution)
Past clients include: Victim Support, Richmond Fellowship of Western Australia, Lifecraft (Cambridge), Liverpool University, University of York, University of Kent, Western Mass. Recovery Learning Community (USA), Montgomery County Dept. of Behavioural Health (USA), Victim Support, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Rachel’s training was incredibly empowering and showed how good therapy works. My name is Erin from CT and I am a therapist. I have always been able to make a powerful connection to my clients, but psychosis has always been tough for me. Rachel taught me to listen and explore what people have to say, which I did just that the day after her training with a young man experiencing these symptoms. The reaction and outcome I got within two sessions of learning about what he deals with, it allowed me to build a good connection with him. Her training was the most helpful training that I have been through thus far in my 8 years of being a therapist. I encourage others to go … I know you will not regret it.
Erin Sheridan, LADC
Conferences
If you are organising a conference or event, please get in touch if you would like me to speak or present a workshop.
Past conferences include: World Hearing Voices Congress (2009-2014, 2023) Maastricht, Nottingham, Savona, Cardiff, Melbourne, Thessaloniki and Paris), Equity & Justice in Recovery (2015, New Haven), Association for Child & Adolescent Mental Health (2014, Darlington & 2015, Bristol), Symposium V ‘Recovery and clinical risk management: An oxymoron’ (Dublin, 2014), Yorkshire Approved Mental Health Professional’s Alternative Mental Health Perspectives Conference (2013, Bradford), Voices: Unlocked (2013, London), Giving Psychosis a Voice 2 (2012, Norwich), World Congress of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (2012, Milan) & Beyond Medication (2012, Bradford).
Media
I regularly speak up in the media around my specialist topics – including my lived experience of someone who hears voices, sees visions and has a whole host of other ‘unusual’ experiences. For more information on this, please see my Media section.
Design, Websites & Consultancy
I specialise in designing and creating print media and websites for progressive mental health agencies. So, if you would like to discuss your needs – please email me. Websites should be more than just static pages you rarely update or think about – they are an opportunity to showcase your organisation’s values and vibrancy. My experience of working with the mental health field helps to ensure that I understand your organisation’s work and am better able to guide you to create a site that reflects this.
Past clients include: Jacqui Dillon, Voice Collective, National Hearing Voices Network, Mind in Camden, Victim Support, First Step Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland & Hearing Voices Network Cymru.
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