Natalie K

I am the founder and CEO of in2gr8mentalhealth, launched in October 2017 and turned into a ltd company in May 2020. It is a company which provides peer support for mental heath professionals with lived experience of mntal health problems, and campaigns publically to destigmatise this position. I am a visiting lecturer to doctoral courses in clinical psychology throughout the UK, offering lectures, workshops and advanced reading seminars on valuing and supporting lived experience of psychological distress in mental health professionals. I speak at conferences on the positioning, stigma and valuing of lived experience in the mental health professions, and discriminating this from 'burnout' manifesting in the individual due to toxic organisational factors. I have spoken at 13 conferences within the psychological professions since 2017, which have included delivering workshops on this subject. I consult to the British Psychological Society and the Association of Clinical Psychologists on psychologist mental health problems, so that lived experience is valued and supported. I have lobbied for and co-written a 'Valuing and Supporting Lived Experience' position statement with a working group at the British Psychological Society for the psychological professions. in2gr8mentalhealth is a Pathfinder site of staff wellbeing good practice conferred by the British Psychological Society and New Savoy Partnership. I identify as a clinical psychologist with lived experience. I believe only a systemic intervention from the power base of grass roots support, which engages the pillars of the mental health scene: professional body, workplaces including NHS Trusts and training institutions, can help shift stigmatised attitudes.