2026 seminar schedule:
Wednesday 25th February 4.00-5.00pm
“The Gold in Our Scars: Kintsugi as an Art Therapy Intervention in Forensic Mental Health”
Speakers: Julie Allan - Art psychotherapist and Dr Andy Cook - Consultant Clinical Psychologist Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Kintsugi, meaning “golden joinery,” is a Japanese art form in which broken pottery is repaired with precious metals. Rather than disguising cracks, it highlights them as part of the object’s history, creating beauty through visible repair. This approach offers a meaningful metaphor for forensic mental health, where individuals often feel defined by trauma, offending, and stigma. Honouring these “cracks” as part of a person’s narrative can support a shift from perceived brokenness toward resilience and renewed identity.
This seminar will explore how Kintsugi can inform art therapy practice in forensic settings. The emphasis on repair parallels art therapy’s ability to externalise internal experiences, regulate affect, and support narrative reconstruction through creative processes. By working with materials that are broken, mended, and transformed, clients can engage with themes of continuity, change, and self‑worth. For those whose lives have been shaped by adversity and marginalisation, Kintsugi‑inspired art‑making offers a powerful, dignity‑affirming framework for therapeutic engagement and psychological integration. Although the talk will discuss Kintsugi as part of an art therapy intervention, it hoped that it will have relevance for practitioners working more widely with service users experiencing psychosis.
Wednesday 25th March 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Dr Lisa Wood: NIHR Clinical Fellow in North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Clinical Associate Professor at University College London
Title tbc.
Wednesday 29th April 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Prof Emmanuelle Peters: Professor of Clinical Psychology and PICuP Director
“STAR (Study of Trauma And Recovery): Effects of a Trauma-Focused therapy integrated with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for psychosis (TF-CBTp) for people with posttraumatic stress and psychosis symptoms.”
Wednesday 27th May 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Prof Lorenzo Pelizza: Associate Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Bologna (Italy).
TBC
Wednesday 24th June 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Maria Ferrara MD PhD, Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, Ferrara University and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Medicine
“Sex differences in psychosis: focus on women's care needs”
*July - August Summer Break*
Wednesday 30th September 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker:Dr. Joanne Hodgekins, Clinical Associate Professor, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia
"The ISRP (Improving Social Recovery in Psychosis) Trial"
Wednesday 28th October 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Shôn Lewis MD FMedSci, Professor of Adult Psychiatry, University of Manchester
"CareLoop digital symptom monitoring system for people with psychosis"
Wednesday 25th November 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Carmen Simonsen, Associate professor, University of Oslo
Title TBC
2027 seminar schedule:
Wednesday 27th January 4.00-5.00pm
Speaker: Nik Nikolić, Principal Pharmacist and Advanced Clinical Practitioner and NIHR Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow
“Role of ADHD in Autistic people with psychosis”