Some of my areas of interest include:

• Food insecurity and foodbank use. My PhD focuses on whether the introduction of fresh fruit and vegetables into food banks can improve service users’ psychological wellbeing,
• Infant feeding. My current public health research investigates the experiences of parents who struggle financially to formula feed their babies due to the Cost of Living Crisis.
• “Personality disorders”, particularly the process of diagnosis – who receives this label, how, and why? Click here for information on BPD and the debates surrounding the label.
• Perinatal mental health (related to pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood). I began my research career examining how women with severe mental illness decide whether to take mental health medications in pregnancy. I have helped expectant and new parents navigate the perinatal period in both the NHS and the charity sector – I’ve even delivered a few babies in my time!
• Criminal justice. I worked as a probation officer and team manager for almost a decade before moving into research. I believe that most crime, along with substance misuse, arises from a traumatic background. I take a trauma-informed, person-centred approach, seeing people as individuals with a complex life history rather than as “offenders” in need of punishment.