Who we are

Dr Roman Raczka BSc MSc DClinPsy AFBPsS CPsychol is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist working as the Consultant Lead Clinical Psychologist for Central London Community Health (CLCH) NHS Trust where he is the CLCH Trust Head of Psychology and the Inner London professional lead for Clinical Psychology

Roman has previously worked in a number of London NHS Trusts as well as having an academic appointment at Royal Holloway, University of London, and visiting lecturer in the London Clinical Psychology training courses.  

Roman has had a number of leadership roles in the BPS including Chair of the Division of Clinical Psychology, DCP England Lead, and DCP London Chair.

He was the DCP representative on the BPS Covid Co-ordinating Group and Chaired the COVID Adaptation to Practice sub-group leading on the development of a number of COVID publications.

Roman has over 30 years of working as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS and his clinical areas of special interest include, adults with intellectual disabilities and complex needs including challenging behaviours, Autistic Spectrum disorders, offenders with intellectual disabilities, as well as the development of third wave cognitive behaviour therapies with people with intellectual disabilities.

Roman’s research interests are varied and has had a number of journal articles published. 

Dr Laura Dean is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist working for the Institute of Work Psychology based at the University of Sheffield. She also has an academic appointment at Birkbeck, University of London. She is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and has over twenty years of HE teaching and psychology practice experience.

Laura is a member of the Division of Occupational Psychology, Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers of Psychology, and Register of Qualifications in Test Use.

Dr Carol Cole MA (Hons), MSc; PhD, AFBPS is a chartered psychologist and has been a member of the BPS since she was an undergraduate at the University of Glasgow.

Following completion of her doctorate and clinical training at Birmingham University she worked as a clinical psychologist before becoming a change management consultant with the NHS and head of health at the Office for Public Management.

She then established a successful consultancy in organisation development, applying the principles and practice of psychology to enhance the effectiveness of organisations, teams and individuals.

She has worked in the UK, Europe, the USA and the Middle East with clients from the public, private and not for profit sectors.

Having developed a particular interest in board effectiveness and governance, she has built a portfolio of trustee and non-executive roles.

These have included chair of an NHS Trust, vice chair of Deafness Research UK, vice chair of the Royal Air Force Museum and a trustee at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.

She currently chairs the country’s oldest mental health charity, Together for Mental Wellbeing, is on the board of Age UK, where she chairs the People Committee, and sits as an independent member of the Remuneration Committee at the University of Roehampton.

She was a visiting fellow at both Templeton College, Oxford, and at the Kings Fund, as well as an associate of the National School of Government. 

Dr Natalie Lancer is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist. As well as a Trustee, she is Chair of Senate, Chair of the Division of Coaching Psychology and the host of the BPS podcast, The Coaching Psychology Pod. She applies the evidence base from her own research and Coaching Psychology to help driven people achieve their goals in a realistic, practical and human way in her coaching programmes. 

Natalie is a scholar-practitioner which means that as well as coaching clients and supervising other psychologists, she also conducts research, as an Honorary Researcher at Birkbeck, University of London and is a Master’s and Doctoral supervisor at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. She uses this research to inform her practice and disseminates it to others through peer-reviewed publications. In 2016, she co-authored ‘Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring’ with David Clutterbuck and David Megginson (Routledge).

Professor Patricia Hind is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. She is a Trustee of the BPS and Chair of the Education and Training Board. She has been a member of the BPS since she was an undergraduate at Leeds University, where she was Chairman and co-founder of the first Undergraduate Psychology conference in March 1972.

She holds a master’s degree in industrial/Organisational Psychology from the University of Hull and a PhD from the University of Leeds which examined the complexities of managing volunteers. Her career led her to City University where she designed, developed and obtained accreditation for the MSc in Organisational Psychology.

Her expertise in in Leadership and Executive Development. As a scholar practitioner she is Professor of Leadership and Management Development and currently senior adjunct faculty and researcher at Ashridge Executive Education, part of Hult International Business School. She has been a visiting Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, leading a project on developing Sustainable Leadership in SME’s. Additionally, Patricia has a wealth of experience in accreditation and external examination at undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels.

She has wide ranging expertise in helping national and global clients to develop their leaders for organisational and personal success and has published extensively on related topics.  Patricia is the author and co -author of several books, the latest of which examines the impact of the pandemic on working relationships She has a consultancy company offering both personal and organisational development services.

She is also an Independent Governor at Plymouth Marjon University where she is Deputy Governor, Chair of the People and Organisational and Remuneration committees and is Deputy Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee. Patricia is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Justice of the Peace and a Freeman of the City of London.

Professor Carol McGuinness is Professor Emerita at Queen’s University Belfast. She is a Chartered Psychologist, member of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology, the Cognitive Section, and the Northern Ireland Branch.

She graduated from University College Dublin with a 1st class honours BA psychology degree in 1972, and an MA in 1974. She received her PhD from Queen’s in 1979, where she has worked for most of her professional life, teaching and researching.

She has been a passionate advocate for teaching psychology, both locally in Northern Ireland and UK wide, and was awarded a National Teaching Fellow in 2000 (the first year the fellowships were awarded).

With a background in cognitive psychology, Carol's research has a strong educational focus. Her work on designing interventions to enhance children’s classroom learning and evaluating early years interventions has a sharp policy/impact focus, being influential in several educational systems, as well as specifically informing changes to statutory curriculum requirements in Northern Ireland.

Carol has been an active member of the BPS since she was a postgraduate and has worked with many different membership networks and working groups. For example, she was Chair of the Special Group for the Teaching of Psychology in the 1990s and Vice Chair of the Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology (now DARTP). She chaired the BPS Working Party on A-level Psychology (2003), edited Psychology Teaching Review (1999-2004), and was an elected ordinary member of the Psychology Education and Public Engagement Board for two years in 2012.

More recently she has been Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the BPS (2010-2016) where she worked closely with the leads of local BPS divisions to influence public policy. She continues to act as policy co-ordinator on the NIBPS committee. 

Carol first became a Trustee for the Society in 2017 when she was appointed as Chair of the Education and Public Engagement Board.  She stepped down when that Board was discontinued. In 2020 she was appointed as Chair of the newly created Member Board.

Professor Tony Lavender’s training in Clinical Psychology was at the Institute of Psychiatry and Doctorate from Kings College London (1977-1979).

He has played a leading role in workforce development nationally with the Department of Health, British Psychological Society, National Institute of Mental Health and NHS Digital.

He has published extensively on services and therapies for people with psychosis and personality disorder, workforce planning, the history of clinical psychology and more recently anorexia.

He held roles as Dean of a large Faculty and then Pro-Vice Chancellor (covering research, internationalisation, sustainability and equality and diversity) at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Prior to this he directed the Clinical Psychology Programme (at Salomons) for 21 years, most of this time employed within the NHS until the Programme moved into the University.

He retired in December 2016 but continues, as an Emeritus Professor, to maintain an active involvement in reseach, mentoring, organisational consultancy, and workforce planning.

He is currently a member of the Division of Psychology (DCP) Executive and chairs the DCP Workforce and Training Group.

He is a member of the BPS’s Practice Board and chairs the Practice Board’s HCPC Working Group, and is also a member of the NHSE/I/HEE National Psychological Professions Workforce Advisory Group.

Dr Adam Jowett CPsychol AFBPsS is a Chartered Psychologist and an academic within the School of Psychological, Social Sciences at Coventry University. He is also an Associate Editor of the journal Psychology & Sexuality.

Following completion of his PhD, Adam was a Research Fellow at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and since 2012 he has been at Coventry University as a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Head of School.

Adam has also been Course Director of a BPS accredited MSc Health Psychology programme and has served on the committees of several BPS Sections, including as Chair of the Psychology of Sexualities Section. He is also a member of the Division of Health Psychology and the Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section.

David Carew is an elected trustee of the BPS and an experienced Occupational and Organizational Psychologist with practitioner and senior leadership experience gained across several public, private and non-government organisations in the UK, Europe and the United States.

He obtained his BA and MA in Psychology from University College Dublin and an MSc in Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck College, University of London, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour in the Faculty of Business and Management at Cranfield University.

Prior to joining Cranfield University his most recent appointment was as at the UK Department for Work and Pensions where he held the role of Chief Psychologist and Head of Profession working in policy development and operational delivery.

Previously he has worked in human service organisations in various roles, prisons, and in the development of employment services for underserved groups.

David is a Chartered and Registered Occupational Psychologist, a former Chair of both the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) Division of Occupational Psychology and the BPS Qualification in Occupational Psychology Board.

Presently he is deputy Chair of the BPS Qualifications Committee and is a former Health and Care Professions Council panel member.

His professional interests include developing leaders in the psychology profession, widening access to the profession and diversity, equality and inclusion policy and practice.

Before retirement from the NHS, Julia ran an innovative community child psychology service for many years that she had developed from scratch. She was involved at a senior management level at the Trusts she worked in. Julia was also closely involved in the training of clinical psychologists, both in teaching and supervision.

Following that, Julia was a member of the National CAMHS Support Service, including a period of being the East Midlands Lead. This service was established jointly by the last Labour Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health to work with services and commissioners on improvement programmes for NHS CAMHS services.

Julia was a Specialist Advisor with Care Quality Commission for a number of years, taking part in many inspections.

Within the BPS Julia has been particularly involved in the DCP Faculty for Children, Young People and Families, including being the conference organiser and the Chair. She has been on the DCP Executive in a number of roles: Child Lead, Acting Chair, Vice Chair and, currently, Lead for Communications and Publications. She has also represented the BPS in external fora, e.g. the Coalition Government’s Task Force on Child Mental Health which produced ‘Future in Mind’.

Jon has held a series of senior HR Director roles within a variety of commercial organisations. These include Diageo, InterContinental Hotels and most recently Barclays Bank.

At Barclays Jon held a global role responsible for culture change and organisation development.

Jon began his corporate career at Mars Confectionery and has worked in the UK and the US.

Jon is now consulting independently on culture, change management, senior team effectiveness and leadership development.  

Matthew Howell has held a number of senior leadership roles within a variety of commercial organisations as well as professional bodies.

These include Deloitte, RSM, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and most recently the British Medical Association (BMA) where he was the Deputy CEO.

At both RICS and the BMA Matthew led the organisations to support their focus on adding value to existing and new members.

With a background in international marketing, Matthew brings a commercial perspective and focus on how organisations can grow sustainably.

Kevin was appointed Trustee in April 2023.

Kevin has 30 years’ experience in senior finance roles in professional practice and public company finance, including healthcare businesses, serving as both Audit Partner and Chief Financial Officer.

Kevin is Chairman of Marlowe plc, a leader in business critical and regulatory assurance services, including occupational health.

Kevin is a qualified accountant and has a degree in modern languages, which has helped him work extensively overseas.

Our CEO, Sarb Bajwa, joined the society in April 2018.

Over the years, Sarb has worked in the aid sector, in legal and financial services, and the energy industry.

He has continually sought to contribute to the overarching goals of each organisation while also leading these various professional membership bodies through a variety of challenging national and international political environments.

Driven to promote and support positive growth and development in all aspects of the society's work, his goal is to ensure the BPS continues to make a meaningful and positive contribution to the world.

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Diane Ashby joined the society in March 2019 to lead the BPS Change programme.

She started her career in retail and worked in store management for Marks and Spencer and a number of senior roles in The Body Shop.

She has experience in both the private and public sector and has managed a diverse set of customer-facing services including contact centres, shops, warehouses, libraries, highways operations and waste services.

She has also driven a number of major transformational change programmes, implementing new operating models, business systems, process improvements and cultural change.

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Mike Laffan joined the society in July 2006.

Prior to joining the society, he worked in operations, IT, and auditing in a number of commercial, retail, and entertainment organisations, including Bupa, Eurostar, Granada, and Mecca Leisure.

Mike leads the underlying operational services of the society, which includes IT Services, buildings management, security, data protection, and health and safety.

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Rachel Dufton joined the BPS in September 2018.

As Director of Communications and Engagement she has responsibility for all internal and external communications and stakeholder engagement.

Rachel has worked in senior communications roles for a range of high profile professional bodies, charities and regulators across the health sector.

She led communications functions at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the children’s charity Ambitious about Autism, and the Royal College of Nursing where she won several UK and international awards including the Chartered Institute of Public Relations ‘Outstanding In-House Team of the Year’.

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Debra Malpass joined the BPS in January 2020.

She leads the research, insight & knowledge management function and oversees the Research and Impact team, the Practice Guidance Team and the History of Psychology Centre.

She has a Ph.D in psychology and a wealth of experience as an academic researcher having worked in psychology departments in the UK and USA for over a decade.   

Prior to joining the BPS Debra worked as a researcher at AQA, the UK’s largest exam board. In this post she carried out mixed methods research with 14-16 year olds.

She also designed GCSE, A-level and vocational qualifications and carried out statistical analysis to set exam grade boundaries every summer.

Debra also led the Research and Analysis team at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, where she pioneered the use of machine learning, behavioural insights and randomised controlled trials to regulate the legal market.

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Paly Bassi joined the society in December 2020.

She started her career leading the operational performance of a large retailer within the Midlands. Paly focussed on turning loss making retail branches into profit making within a short period of time.

This sparked her passion within turnaround and accounting, as she moved into practice at PwC. Providing advisory services to organisations in troubled financial situations, across different industries, working in both the public and private sectors including the NHS.

Paly has commercial and leadership experience within the Banking and Retail sectors where she has provided commercial analysis and insight, financial reporting and forecasting. Paly enjoys influencing and challenging business decisions and stakeholders to maximise business profit.

Paly has been a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants for over 10 years and has been awarded fellowship status.