I founded Converge in 2008 and acted as its director until my retirement in 2024. Converge is a project working in collaboration with the university and the NHS. Its aim is to offer educational opportunities to adults who use mental health services. Converge aims to make the privileges and pleasures of higher education accessible to people who are often marginalised from mainstream society. More details may be found on the Converge webpage.
Before working as an academic, I trained as a psychiatric nurse and dramatherapist and ran a charitable organisation working with people with learning disabilities. I have a particular interest in theatre work with people who use mental health services and in working closely with local NHS mental health providers. I am a performing member of Playback Theatre York, a theatre company which performs throughout the North of England.
I have a long-standing concern for equality in education, a belief in the role of education as an emancipatory force, and a conviction in the impact of teaching and researching through and within practice. It is these convictions, tested through research informed practice, that have animated my work and go a long way to explain the success and reach of Converge, the organisation I founded in 2008.
My current practice is the culmination of a long-standing concern for equality in education, a belief in the role of education as an emancipatory force, and a conviction in the impact of teaching and researching through and within practice. It is these convictions, tested through research informed practice over the last 20 years, that have animated my work and go a long way to explain the success and reach of Converge, the organisation I founded in 2008.
In my work through Converge I aim to make the privileges and pleasures of higher education accessible to people who are often marginalised from mainstream society.
I teach on the MA Applied Theatre course at York St John University.
I have two main areas of research: playback theatre and the theory and practice of mental health and education.
Playback theatre is an international practice in which members of an audience are invited to tell personal stories which, are then ‘played back’ by actors and musicians. I have published a series of articles and a book exploring the ethical and performative issues this practice raises. I am a performing member of Playback Theatre York.
Converge is a longitudinal practice research project which uses action research, peer research and reflective practice to explore the efficacy of situating arts and mental health programmes in a university context. Through iterative cycles of practice-as-research my colleagues and I have sought to understand the unfolding impact of adopting an educational model in mental health and how creative methodologies may enhance genuine participation.
My research interests include an investigation into the impact of courses in theatre offered to mental health service users at the university, a study into the use of Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA) material in a local hospice (funded by the YFA) and an investigation into the lived experience of haemodialysis patients participating in artwork.
