Speakers

Julie is someone who has used her own mental health journey to encourage others to express themselves through POSITIVE,SAFE,SELF EXPRESSION rather than negative behaviours.

Julie moved to yorkshire from somerset when she was 14 which was a difficult period in her life. Trauma and other life experiences meant that Julie only knew how to express herself through self harm. It wasn't until Julie was reaching her 40’s that everything came crashing down and the final straw was when she was physically strapped to a bed in a mental health facility in Spain.

From this traumatic experience Julie came back to England and after a long wait finally got the therapy that changed her life. Julie was taught the skills of self understanding and recognising why she was the way she was and what the triggers are. Since then Julie has used DBT to challenge all the negative thoughts and feelings that she has. With this insight Julie went to college,then university and studied hard to get to where she is now.

Recently joining the SWYT TIPD and research teams Julie now uses her own experiences and knowledge to support staff to work co-productively and have meaningful service user engagement. Julie has worked and delivered training to various organisations, NHS Staff,Service User groups,Police,Forensic units,Prisons and Acute settings as well as those in the community. Julie has spoken at many conferences over the years regionally,nationally and internationally and is as comfortable talking with managers and commissioners as she is talking with service users, friends and families.

Julie is passionate about making sure that the service user's voice is not only heard but acted upon by working collaboratively alongside staff. At Swyt Julie wishes to continue her journey connecting,listening to and working alongside everyone,staff,service users,carers, volunteers,voluntary organisations and community based groups. There has been a huge shift around involvement for the better over the last 10 years and this is something that can still be built upon. Working together instead of fighting against each other is the chance to do things differently and acknowledge and validate everybodies perspectives.