Insight CBT Partnership

Insight Directors

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• Prof. Doug Turkington

  Having trained in the cognitive therapy of depression and anxiety disorders, I then applied these principles when working with David Kingdon to patients with acute and chronic schizophrenia.

  Contrary to the classical principles of my training the psychotic patients mostly were able to engage and work with me and seemed to find the process reassuring and at times enjoyable. I was then approached to consult on the Insight Project which was initially proposed as a purely psycho-educational approach.

  The organisers were persuaded that CBT was likely to be more effective and agreed to deliver this in a ten day training format as part of a randomized effectiveness trial. It was thought at the time that only expert therapists could deliver CBT to people with psychosis. However, it struck me how well the nurses were able to learn the CBT intervention and how much patients and carers could derive from it.

  The results were very positive with enduring results on insight, negative symptoms and relapse. The nurses who learned the approach appeared to be energised and found greater job satisfaction. The highly powered insight trial data were included in the NICE meta-analysis which lead to the recommendation of CBT as an evidence based treatment for schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

  A number of publications have ensued along with manuals and books. We have presented workshops around the world but we always lacked an implementation vehicle. The Insight Partnership is such a launchpad for CBT training for all mental health professionals. The website is an Aladdin’s cave of CBT Psychosis treasure.

• Jeremy Pelton

  After realising that my initial career choice (civil engineering) wasn’t pushing my buttons I was introduced to nursing as a nursing assistant back in 1982. Initially I worked in a small cottage hospital which was an annex to one of the old ‘asylums’ where I soon settled in and loved it!

  I started training in 1983 and qualified in 1986 and then cut my teeth in an acute admission ward and acute day hospital where I first came into contact with talking therapies.

  In 1990 I moved into the community and for the next 9 years led a team of nurses working with patients with Schizophrenia and their carers and this is the area I grew to love and where I wanted to develop. I initially trained in Psycho-social Interventions and during that course was introduced to cognitive behavioural therapy for schizophrenia. I travelled to London to complete an initial course with Hazel Nelson before successfully being accepted on the first MSc COPE course at Manchester University where I was fortunate enough to be taught by Gillian Haddock, Nick Tarrier, Christine Barrowclough, Adrian Wells, Andrew Gumley and John McGovern.

  As well as working within my own Trust I believed and worked hard on developing partnerships with both non-statutory and voluntary agencies such as Rethink (then National Schizophrenia Fellowship), the Salvation Army, Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sisters of Mercy. During this time recognised the importance of working with such agencies and how they could both complement and add to the care from the local mental health teams.

  In 1999 I had already begun to meet with Doug Turkington and was talking about how CBT for schizophrenia could be implemented in the North East of England – I then responded to an advert in the Nursing Press and ended up being the lead therapist on Insight into Schizophrenia randomised control trial which was being led by both Doug and David Kingdon with Caroline Geraghty managing the implentation of the field study and its 6 sites. The rest as they say is history!! The trials and subsequent publications both changed the way I worked with patients and their carers but also the way I wanted to disseminate these skills across mental health workers. I have now worked with Doug, Dave and Caroline for over ten years and recently forming the Insight CBT Partnership has allowed me to get involved with the dissemination of CBT not only in the UK but also around the world.

• Prof. David Kingdon

  Psychology and psychiatry have always been fascinating and reading Freud (yes … honest), Laing and others before medical school led me straight to psychiatry ... and out again. It was profoundly frustrating to find that patients’ life experiences were seen as essentially irrelevant to their problems.

  However a junior doctor post, on my way to general practice, led to a different and much more positive outcome - talking with people with interesting, sometimes puzzling, experiences seemed something worthwhile to do.

  Research started in Nottingham with Peter Tyrer, initially on neurosis using medication, self-help and CBT. There was no-one with any experience of the latter so I became the expert. The techniques seemed to translate well across to those with psychoses and working as a consultant in Nottinghamshire, UK, I adapted them over the 80s and then started writing and researching this application. A pilot study with Douglas was the start and then further funded studies followed (see evidence section of the website). Papers began to get accepted after initial difficulties (Doug added the necessary jargon to professionalise the initial one). Books have followed.

  In the meantime there was a stint in the Department of Health working on, e.g. ‘Health of the Nation’ and developing the Care Programme Approach, Medical Director in Nottingham and then the move to University of Southampton in 1998. CBT for psychosis continues to thrive with new applications, cultural adaptations to Asia, US and the UK and continuing work on implementation.

  The invitation to join with Douglas, Jeremy and Caroline to further promote the Insight methodologies and its benefits is an exciting and promising opportunity for us all.

• Caroline Geraghty

  I started my professional career as a nurse specializing in high dependency work in the Accident and Emergency setting. I however found the 'set way' of doing things somewhat frustrating and looked for a way of working that would give me more scope to affect the delivery of health care.

  This lead me into the world of managing large businesses in Nurse Advisory and Clinical Research Work, which I found very rewarding particularly when our redesigned services and newly created specialist nurse roles were taken up by the NHS infrastructure. I was then asked to take on the challenge of managing and delivering the Insight research study which is where I met Douglas and David, and made one of the best decisions of my working career by recruiting Jeremy Pelton as the lead therapist!

  This introduced me into the world of Psychiatry and opened my eyes as to just how much can be done to improve the lives of the seriously ill if you give health care professionals the skills to enable them to engage with these patients and their carers effectively. Helping Doug, David and Jeremy to further spread the word regarding Insight and its benefits was an opportunity not to be missed.

  So I find myself managing a business full of passion and dedication that is embodied in Doug, David and Jeremy coupled with a fantastic set of products to sell and have a lot of fun along the way – a lucky lady.

Keynote speakers

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• Tony Morrison

  Tony Morrison is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Manchester University and a pioneer and leading researcher in the field of CBT for psychosis. His particular areas of interest include early intervention, formulation, trauma in psychosis, generation of homework exercises, metacognitive therapy in psychosis and stigma reduction through a variety of normalising approaches.

Insight Trainers

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• Sara Tai

  BA (Hons), MSc, D.Clin.Psy.
  Lecturer in Clinical Psychology & Hon. Consultant Clinical Psychologist
  School of Psychological Sciences
  University of Manchester

  Sara Tai is a lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Manchester and honorary consultant clinical psychologist for Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. She has worked as a senior clinician within community mental health services for people with severe and enduring mental disorders and also early intervention psychosis services. She is an experienced practitioner, trainer and supervisor of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for people with complex problems and their families.

  Her research focuses on the science and practice of CBT, cognitive theory and cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis and bipolar disorders, early intervention and the prevention of psychosis, bipolar disorders and mood-swings. She has published in international peer-review journals and is the author of several book chapters. She has presented her research at major international conferences, and in the print and broadcast media. She is currently involved in research on psychological interventions for psychosis in Texas, Philadelphia, Illinois, Beijing and the UK.

• Alison Brabban

  Alison works a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the Early Intervention and Psychosis service in Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.

  Beyond her day to day clinical work she has a keen interest in promoting the implementation of psychological therapies for psychosis. Last year she was on the NICE group developing the revised Schizophrenia guideline. She also chairs the National Institute for Mental Health (England) Psychosocial Interventions Implementation Group. Alison has a special interest in CBT for Psychosis and lectures on this both nationally and internationally. She was given a visiting senior lectureship at Harvard University Medical School in 2006 and last year was awarded a scholarship to the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy in Philadelphia.

• Ron Siddle

  Consultant Psychologist & Clinical Lead
  Cumbria A-MAZE (Early Interventions) Service

  Ron started working in the health service as a mental health nurse in 1977. He worked in a number of hospital based posts before making the switch to community work. After completing his CBT training, he became involved in research work as a therapist on a number of studies exploring CBT and schizophrenia.

  Ron's current post involves the training, supervision and support of a team of mixed mental health professionals who are implementing CBT in emerging psychosis.

  He has extensive experience in spervisions,training and skills development and has published a number of peer reviewed articles and book chapters dealing mainly with psychosis and psychological treatments.