I am a Professor of Social Work at the University of York. This blog arises from my work and my reflections upon it. One of its aims is to help to bridge the gap between the academic and practice fields of social work. All views expressed here are my personal opinions and do not represent any organisation which I am affiliated to.
My academic career began at the Institute of Psychiatry in 2002 when I started a Department of Health funded Social Science Fellowship under the supervision of Professor Peter Huxley. Prior to that I worked in a residential home for adults with learning disabilities and as a social worker in a community mental health team with adults with mental health problems. This included performing statutory functions as an Approved Social Worker and undertaking a piece of practitioner research on social exclusion and the use of the emergency civil section of the Mental Health Act 1983.
My main interest is in developing the evidence base for social work to help practitioners become more effective in their work and improve outcomes for the people they serve. This involves practice-based research; intervention development and evaluation; implementation work; and novel approaches to teaching to assist students to embed effective approaches in their practice. My work is at the nexus of practice, research and education in social work.
At the University of York I am Director of the International Centre for Mental Health Social Research. We are a small research group in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work working on studies in the UK and internationally. Incrementally, we are helping to extend knowledge to inform social work practice, predominantly in mental health services, but also beyond.
I regularly speak at regional, national and international seminars, workshops and conferences. I’ve summarised my research and teaching interests on my research and teaching pages. There is a list of my publications here. If you would like a copy of any of my papers behind a paywall, I can supply PDF copies on request. If you would like further information about anything I refer to, or my teaching or research interests, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Some links to relevant pages on the University of York website: