Safeguarding

Dr Lisa Oakley is an associate professor in the school of psychology at the University of Chester.  She is Chair of the Safeguarding Advisory Group. 

Lisa's work focuses particularly on safeguarding within faith and other related contexts and she has written on and researched a range of areas including spiritual abuse, safeguarding adults and safeguarding children and young people in the international context. 

Dr Khadj Rouf is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist working in adult mental health services in the NHS. She is the Past Chair of the Safeguarding Advisory Group, and has previously been a member of the BPS's Child Protection Working Group.

Khadj has written professionally regarding mental health issues, both for clinicians and the public. She has a longstanding interest in the social determinants of health, parental mental health and the wellbeing of children and young people.

Anne Peake is an Educational Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She has worked in joint Education/Social and Health posts in Liverpool, the London Borough of Haringey, and Oxfordshire.

Her professional areas of interest are:

• Safeguarding children and young people
• children who are Looked After/Adopted
• Autism
• Self Harm

She works in a Local Authority special school for children who have severe anxiety, autism, and attachment difficulties. She is an Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board trainer.

Noreen is an Occupational, Counselling, Health and Coaching Psychologist. 

She is a past Chair of the Crisis, Disaster and Trauma Section, where she organised a conference on Safeguarding Children involving policing, charities and youth organisations. She is Deputy Chair of the Occupational Psychology Division and responsible for Professional Development. She is a member of the Task and Finish Supervision Group.

Noreen works with the Police and Social Services in providing psychological support and training for Safeguarding, Child Protection and Public Protection Teams. She has published papers and guides for the College of Policing on Psychological Surveillance for officers and staff working with abuse victims.

Noreen has delivered training and support for safeguarding teams in the Home Office, Youth and Humanitarian Organisations.

Being a member of the BPS Safeguarding Committee is an opportunity for Dr Rachel Happer to bring 20 years of working within the field of abuse and trauma to the discussion.

Currently, she is a Senior Clinical Fellow at The University of Edinburgh and her research and clinical interests focus on abuse, trauma and institutional dynamics. She is the former Head of the National Confidential Forum, where she was appointed by the Minister for Mental Health to lead a team acknowledging historical abuse in the institutions of Scotland.

Since qualifying as a Clinical Psychologist in 2001, Rachel has focused her work on the impact of sexual abuse and sexual violence on adults, children and their families.

She is the author of Survive & Thrive-Under 18's, a psychoeducation course for complex trauma in young people and co-author of the NES Trauma in CAMHS e learning module.

She has represented DCP-Scotland at the Cross-Party Group for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse. She has strong links with survivor groups and is committed to working closely with those with lived experience to ensure their voices are represented with authenticity.

Rachel is currently Director of the University of Edinburgh Centre for Psychological Therapy Research & Training and is helping to shape the work force of the future in a culture of trauma informed practice.

Megan Taylor has a psychology BSc with 20 years experience working in mainstream education as a Safeguarding specialist and Senior Mental Health Lead, with training in Domestic Violence, ASD, attachment, and social and emotional difficulties.

Megan also has clinical experience of CAMHS Neurodevelopmental Service including assessments and formulation of diagnosis for ASD and ADHD.

Megan has extensive Human Resource management experience and is due to commence ILM Executive Coaching and Mentoring training and Occupational Psychology MSc.

Megan has a keen interest in learning from research and serious case reviews to improve professional safeguarding practice in order to protect children from harm and safeguard professionals when working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

The Safeguarding Advisory Group recently discussed a piece of work which a committee member had been involved in.

This innovative piece of work developed as a collaboration between survivors, researchers and practitioners following a conference at the Tavistock Clinic in 2022.

The creation of the zine is part of a shared endeavour to break silences around child sexual abuse.

This resource is now freely downloadable as a PDF, hosted by Bristol University:

• Breaking Silences: Survivors, researchers and practitioners speak about Child Sexual Abuse.

It is hoped that this resource will be helpful to practitioners, activists and survivors alike.

The creative format of the zine allows high impact messages to be conveyed rapidly, and has a further reach than more traditional formats of providing psychoeducation.

The creators hope that the zine may help people to feel less alone, and create more space for conversations about trauma informed services and proportionate and just help for victims and survivors of abuse.

As well as a potential resource for victims and survivors, it lends itself to helping with trauma informed training to staff.

It is also suitable to share with commissioners and stakeholders to highlight the urgent need for enhanced pathways for those affected by child sexual abuse.

Please feel free to distribute the resource.

Khadj Rouf and Lisa Lord, the authors of this article, propose that multi-agency training around responding to non-recent abuse needs to become routine for qualified staff and all trainees in services.

It is recommended that this is built into mandatory safeguarding training, and becomes part of continuous professional development for all healthcare staff.

• Disclosures of non recent sexual abuse - training colleagues on how to respond

This article discusses how important it is to pay particular attention to issues of clear, compassionate and honest communication going forward as part of the landscape of safety culture in our work and in our organisations. the conceptual framework of the Safety Triad, originally applied in secure psychiatric settings.

• Communication: the missing wedge in the decision making model

This article explores the conceptual framework of the Safety Triad, originally applied in secure psychiatric settings.

The framework can be utilised beyond that of secure services and seek to aid our thinking and reflection about safer systems in safeguarding.

• Safety, Systems and Safeguarding During Covid-19

Dr Kathryn Lloyd-Williams, a Clinical Psychologist working in Older People's Mental Health, reflects upon the impact of Covid-19 on those working in health settings this year and explores the different experiences and perspectives of health workers within the health and social care systems.

• The Unit of Trust: reflections of the impact of Covid-19 on team cohesion

Members of the DCoP Black and Asian Counselling Psychologists' Group submitted their letters and responses to the killing of George Floyd.

• The Psychologist - Standing Against Racism

Members of the Safeguarding Group discuss various issues and experiences raised by the current pandemic.

• The Psychologist - There Are Many Narratives Happening Simultaneously, Not One Simple Story

Anne Peake, Chartered Psychologist and member of the Safeguarding Advisory Group, addresses the question of how to safeguard the most vulnerable children at a time when trust in schools has been shaken.

• The Psychologist - A Safeguarding Commitment to Rebuild Trust