EDITOR PROFILES
Rob Manchester
Rob Manchester is a Mental Health Social Care team manager, AMHP, trainer and writer based in Devon with a professional background in social work. His core interests are in social, critical, relational and rights-based models of mental health care; leadership; and co-production in service development and delivery. Rob has recently undertaken the Foundation course in Peer-supported Open Dialogue, Social Network and Relationship Skills (POD) and is excited by the potential of dialogic practice to transform services in the UK. He is co-founder of The Critical AMHP.
Jill Hemmington
Dr Jill Hemmington leads national qualifying and post-qualifying education and training. She has worked in and managed community mental health services and worked as an ASW and now AMHP. Jill’s PhD, current research and publications relate to AMHP service settings, moral distress and the use of Conversation Analysis to look at Empowerment and Involvement with service users. Jill is a Specialist Lay Member in the Mental Health Tribunal service, an external panel member for a Local Authority’s qualified AMHP reapproval panel and an Education and Quality Inspector for AMHP and BIA programmes for Social Work England.
Louise Blakley
Louise Blakley has led the first research study into service user experience of Mental Health Act assessments alongside working as an AMHP and Mental Health Social Worker. Learning the hard way with different funding sources. Louise has knowledge about research opportunities for social workers (if interested email via website). She is dedicated to co-production and advocating for service user rights. Louise wants to share research findings through training and presently applying for funding for next study to increase service user involvement. Working in a mental health recovery and, in her spare time, involved in national mental health social care research incubator and research studies looking at reducing detentions, alternative crisis support and AMHP teams.
Kevin Stone
Dr Kev Stone is an Associate Professor and Director of Social Work at the University of Warwick. He is a practicing AMHP, qualified BIA and was a university AMHP programme leader. His research interests include the changing landscape of the mental health workforce and the socio-legal effectiveness of mental health legislation. Kev delivers CPD AMHP education and has published widely in these areas, notably the AMHP and BIA Practice Handbooks. Kev is Social Work England’s higher education advisor and chair of the Education and Training Advisory Forum.
Alan Bristow
Dr Alan Bristow is a social worker, AMHP and trainee MPAC with experience in front-line statutory MH settings including the community, inpatient and forensic services in North London. He is currently based in outpatient services assisting those on Community Treatment Orders. His research interests relate predominantly to the intersection between therapeutic practice, psychoanalysis, critical theory and philosophy. Alan obtained his PhD in Lacanian psychoanalysis and its application to Mad Studies/Critical Psychiatry in 2021. His book Paranoid Knowledge: Psychoanalysis and the Interpretation of Mad Writing is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan.