Refocus on Recovery 2025 international conference

Plenary speakers

There will be no parallel presentation sessions at Refocus on Recovery 2025, so all presenters will speak to the entire conference hall. Our plenary speakers are:

Claudia Sartor (Deputy CEO of Global Mental Health Peer Network, keynote speaker for theme 1: The role of lived experience in embedding and supporting recovery)

Claudia is Deputy CEO at the Global Mental Health Peer Network and a global mental health lived experience advocacy leader, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her area of interest is in holistic wellness and recovery and promoting betterment in workplace mental health processes. However, over the past few years, her focus has moved to lived experience and research in global mental health. She runs GMHPN’s Experts by Experience Consultancy Services Unit- a unit that involves only persons with lived experience in the delivery of services and ensures diverse perspectives within required contexts. In addition to the consultancy services, she provides guest lecturing at universities for students and faculty members, worldwide. Lastly, she has contributed to various articles emphasising the importance and value of lived experience expertise across all sectors in global mental health.

Dr Ed Day (Keynote speaker from them 3: Extending recovery beyond mental health)

Dr Ed Day is a Psychiatrist who combines clinical work in the NHS with research and teaching. He specializes in the treatment of drug and alcohol use disorders, and his research focuses on testing novel pharmacological and psychosocial interventions. He was appointed the National Recovery Champion by the Home Office in May 2019.

Brynmor Lloyd-Evans (keynote speaker for theme 2: New perspectives around mental health and recovery)

Bryn is Professor of Mental Health and Social Inclusion in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London. Much of Bryn’s research involves the development and evaluation of social interventions in mental health care or mental health crisis care and the role of community alternatives to hospital admission and detention. Bryn is the co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Mental Health, and co-Director of the BRC Loneliness and Social isolation in Mental Health Research Network. He is the Chief investigator for the Community Navigator study, an NIHR HTA-funded randomised controlled trial of a novel intervention to reduce loneliness and improve health outcomes for people with treatment resistant depression in secondary care.

Bryn is a registered social worker who has practiced in Community Mental Health Teams and forensic mental health supported accommodation.

 

Mike Slade (Professor of Mental Health Recovery & Social Inclusion, University of Nottingham, keynote speaker)

Mike is Professor of Mental Health Recovery and Social Inclusion at University of Nottingham. His main research interests are recovery-focused and outcome-focused mental health services, including Recovery Colleges, lived experience narratives, citizen science, wellbeing, needs assessment and developing measures, e.g. INSPIRE, Camberwell Assessment of Need, Threshold Assessment Grid. He has written over 400 academic articles and published 15 books, including Personal Recovery and Mental Illness (2009), Partnering for Recovery in Mental Health (2014), Positive Psychotherapy for Psychosis (2017), Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health (2017) and Camberwell Assessment of Need, 2nd edition (2020).

His free booklets include Making Recovery a Reality (2008), REFOCUS: Promoting recovery in community mental health services, 2nd edition (2011), 100 Ways to Support Recovery, 2nd edition (2013), The empirical evidence about recovery (2015), The Business Case for Recovery (2017) and Coaching Conversations for Recovery, 2nd edition (2023), all downloadable at researchintorecovery.com. 

Stephanie Hess (Head of Oxfordshire Recovery College)

Stephanie is Head of Oxfordshire Recovery College, which is part of the charity Restore. Stephanie  tutors on a variety of Recovery College courses including personality disorders, trauma and healthy relationships. She is especially interested in the power of storytelling and creative arts to  help us make sense of the past and open up new perspectives on the future. Alongside colleagues and students she was part of setting up Oxfordshire Recovery College’s Library of Life, a collection of video stories about surviving difficult experiences,  which is available to anyone to view online . Stephanie is proud to be co presenting at this Conference alongside one of ORC’s  Lived Experience Storytellers.

Bessie Tiyanjane Nkhwazi (SUCCEED project)

Bessie, an expert by lived experience in mental health, is a Registered Nurse with over 15 years of experience in international non-profit health settings, specializing in HIV, maternal, neonatal, and mental health. Since 2024, she has been actively involved in implementing research on psychosis, focusing on community-based mental health rehabilitation through the SUCCEED project in Malawi, Led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her work explores on mental health recovery that focus on quality of lives improvement, empowerment, and social inclusion. Passionate about transforming lives, Bessie has earned recognition at community level and continues to mentor people with lived experience through research, coaching, and community engagement.

Katie Mottram (Co-Founder of The Elephant Collective)

Katie Mottram has over 25 years’ experience in the mental health field and is passionate about bridging Western mental health paradigms with spirituality.  A founding director of the International Spiritual Emergence Network (ISEN), she advocates for reframing mental health crises as potential opportunities for transformation.

In 2017, Katie launched the global ‘Emerging Proud’ campaign to amplify stories of personal growth through crisis, inspired by her own journey through suicidality and perceived awakening.

Her 2024 heuristic research, Is There Meaning in Madness?, explores integrating transpersonal, transcultural approaches into mainstream care to reduce pathologisation and promote holistic healing.

Katie currently consults for the UK charity Imroc, and is part of the Community Research Team for an NIHR study exploring the Soteria model as an alternative to psychiatric inpatient care in the UK.

Helene Speyer (Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

I am a consultant psychiatrist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Clinical Medicine. As a senior researcher, I focus on shared decision-making, antipsychotic medication, and safe dose reduction strategies. My work is deeply informed by both clinical practice and personal lived experience, which fuels my commitment to patient autonomy and epistemic justice in psychiatry. I advocate for a shift in how we value different forms of knowledge, emphasizing the importance of conceptual competence to foster epistemic humility among clinicians. By recognizing the limitations of our own perspectives and embracing the insights of those with lived experience, we can build more respectful, collaborative relationships in mental health care. Through research, teaching, and public discourse, my goal is to support a paradigm shift toward systems that empower patients as credible partners in their healing journeys.

Sam Robertson

I am the Lead for Patient and Public Involvement in Research (PPI) at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT). I am also a Peer Research Fellow and Theme Lead for Lived Experience Research. Wherever appropriate, I draw on my lived experience of mental health recovery and using mental health services. The subject of my PhD was the development of personal narratives around mental health experiences, and how this process contributes to mental health recovery.  As a qualitative researcher, I have a broad base of interest, including: co-production; ‘insider’ perspectives; focus group facilitation; autoethnography and narrative development – methodologies that offer a voice to underrepresented people in research and challenge existing research paradigms.  In addition to leading on my own research (e.g. Awarded an Individual Development Award by ARCKSS in 2022 for a study exploring Peer Emotional Labour (PEL)). I have growing experience as a PPI and/or peer researcher co-applicant.

Lucy Walsh

I am a Patient Public and Involvement Coordinator at Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust, with extensive experience in mental health and recovery. I was a founding member of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), established over 15 years ago, and have been involved in numerous user-led initiatives. I am passionate about research and committed to embedding lived experience throughout the research process. As a lived experience peer researcher, I am currently undertaking a Master’s in Research (MRes), with a focus on qualitative methods. My research explores the development of the peer support worker role within the NHS. I have co-authored several papers on mental health, lived experience, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), and Recovery Colleges. Following my MRes, I aim to pursue a PhD to further contribute to the evidence base for the peer workforce and continue exploring ways to integrate lived experience into mental health research and care.

Stine Bjerrum Møller

Stine is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark and Head of Research at the Department of Multidisciplinary Traumatreatment in the Mental Health Services of the Region of Southern Denmark. Her research is driven by a strong commitment to integrating the patient perspective in both clinical care and mental health research.

Stine’s work focuses on how individuals recover from trauma and depression, and how psychological interventions can better support this process. She is particularly interested in anger, rumination, and emotional regulation as essential aspects of mental health. Central to her approach is the development of methods and tools that are meaningful for patients and relevant for real-world practice.

She collaborates closely with clinicians, service users, and researchers to bridge the gap between evidence-based treatments and everyday mental health care with the aim of promoting agency, and lives worth living.

Karina Stjernegaard (Ph.D. student with lived experiences & senior consultant)

Karina is a lived experience researcher currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Southern Denmark and PsykInfo, Psychiatric Services Region Zealand. In addition, she works as a senior consultant, specializing in peer support and recovery, and is a member of the GMHPN. Karina takes a critical stance toward the biomedical model of mental distress. She emphasizes the value and deep learning potential inherent in lived experiences and advocates for a shift in focus—from individual labeling and problem-solving to broader structural and relational issues. Her doctoral research explores the experiences of mental health professionals who have lived experience as service users, but who do not work in designated peer support roles. In her presentation, she will examine the social drama that emerges when these professionals possess lived experiences—raising the question: what unfolds when the dichotomy between those labeled “mad” and those considered “normal” begins to dissolve?

Dr. Adi Stern 

Adi is an occupational therapist and mental health researcher, currently a lecturer in the Occupational Therapy Department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Her research focuses on the functional aspects of mental health, with the goal of empowering individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and mental health challenges through innovative, evidence-based interventions. She is also engaged in trauma-informed care research, exploring its potential to support both professionals and service users—by promoting recovery, enhancing resilience, and reducing secondary traumatic stress. Alongside her academic work, Adi currently practices as an occupational therapist in a youth mental health and substance use clinic, providing care for adolescents with complex needs.

Recovery colleges panel

We received lots of high quality abstracts about experiences and research around recovery colleges, and hence the conference will include a panel discussion on recovery colleges. Panel members have been invited, and will be added here, as they confirm their attendance. The panel will be held in the conference hall, addressing all conference attendees.

Yasuhiro (Yasu) Kotera (Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Mental Health, University of Nottingham and Collaborative Researcher at University of Osaka, Japan)

Yasu is an Associate Professor of Cross-cultural Mental Health at the University of Nottingham, and Collaborative Researcher at University of Osaka, Japan. He has authored over 260 peer-reviewed publications exploring how people experience wellbeing across cultures. His work has been widely featured, including appearances on Derren Brown’s Emotional Boot Camp, BBC Radio, Voice of Islam, ABC Radio National-Australia, and China Global Television Network-Europe.

Yasu coordinates the RECOLLECT International Research Consortium, a network of 40 researchers from 35 countries, advancing the cross-cultural understanding of Recovery Colleges as part of the Recovery Research Team. He also leads REACH (Research Ensemble for Advancement in Cross-cultural Healthcare), which supports 46 healthcare and education professionals from 21 countries in conducting innovative research on cross-cultural healthcare.

Currently, Yasu is leading a global study on mental health recovery priorities and forest bathing. His research continues to bridge cultures, fostering global mental health inclusivity and innovation.

Rebecca McNaughton

I have a diagnosis of Treatment Resistant Recurrent Depressive Disorder and describe my experience as living, rather than lived. I have been involved, as a Patient Contributor, with several mental health research studies associated with The Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham, and particularly value the ways in which PPI at the Institute: consistently ensures PPI throughout the research process; a culture of inclusivity; equality ‘in the room’; reasonable recognition of the work undertaken; care and compassion. As someone in the 16th month of a severe relapse (as I write this in the Spring of 2025), I have, as I put it, been “tapped, zapped and drugged” over the last year (experiencing TMS, ECT and countless medications). I am therefore excited to learn more, at the conference, about the role of lived experience in embedding and supporting recovery, new perspectives around recovery and extending recovery beyond mental health. 

Nora Ambord

Nora is a trained nurse with a MSc in Health Sciences from Switzerland. She works at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in psychiatric nursing research, concentrating on outpatient psychiatric services. Her research explores the integration of peer support workers in outpatient nursing and the promotion of recovery-oriented care. For the past four years, Nora has also been actively involved with the Recovery College Bern, where she is responsible for course evaluations, moderates courses, and coordinates the college’s social media presence in co-production.

Sarah Trickett

I have been involved with Recollect 2 since 2020 and this is my first-time being part of a research project. I have a diagnosis of a personality disorder and after spending many years navigating my way through the mental health system I decided to start using my experiences for something positive. This started out as teaching mental health nursing students with a peer support organisation. As my confidence built and I saw that I was making a difference to the next generation of healthcare professionals I took up more opportunities, from service redesign projects in the NHS to being on a patient and public involvement group at Exeter university. I strongly believe in recovery being a personal journey along a sometimes bumpy road, but these experiences are what now feed my passion.

Mariam Namasaba

Dr. Mariam Namasaba is a Research Associate at the Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London. Her research focuses on recovery-oriented mental health research and co-production of services and studies.  She has contributed to projects including the Recovery Colleges Characterisation and Testing (RECOLLECT) and Advance Choice Documents Implementation (ACDI) study, both of which emphasise collaborative approaches to improving mental health services and enhancing research impact.

Mariam holds a PhD. In International Health from the University of Tokyo, where she specialised in mental health research and community engagement.

Jordana Rovet

Jordana Rovet (she/her) is a registered social worker with a Master’s degree in Social Work who specializes in supporting organizations, programs, and healthcare professionals to meaningfully engage individuals with lived and living experience of mental health and substance use challenges. She is a Coordinator at the Collaborative Learning College (CLC), a recovery college at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. Jordana co-chairs the CLC Evaluation Subcommittee, where recovery college students are equal partners in leading the development, design, and implementation of evaluation initiatives. She has co-authored several academic publications focused on the involvement of people with lived experience and co-production. Jordana is deeply committed to advancing systemic change by promoting accessibility, health equity, and the integration of lived experience in all aspects of decision-making.

Holly Harris

Holly Harris is a research professional specializing in co-production, Recovery Colleges, peer support, and participatory-action research. Holly leverages her lived experiences of mental health system encounters and Master’s in Critical Disability Studies to ensure that many perspectives, including lived-experience perspectives, are meaningfully engaged in mental health education, research, and programming. Holly is a Recovery College Research Coordinator at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and is pursuing a PhD in Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies at York University. 

Sophie Soklaridis

Dr. Sophie Soklaridis is a Senior Scientist and Scientific Director at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is the Research Chair, Recovery and Equity-focused Mental Health Education Research. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Vice-Chair of Mental Health and Addictions Equity and EDIIA at the Department of Psychiatry. Her scholarly foci include patients as partners in research and mental health education and the influence of power on academic medicine. 

Simran Takhi

Simran is an early career researcher based at the Institute of Mental Health Nottingham, currently working on RECOLLECT 2 – The world’s largest programme studying the effectiveness of Recovery Colleges. Prior to her first research post, Simran held several of clinical roles, including working as an assistant psychologist within CAMHS. Her step into research was driven by a desire to work toward shaping policy and impacting lives on a wider scale. She is passionate about connecting with stigmatised communities and is an avid writer, having contributed to various online platforms such as National Survivors Network and Brown Girl Magazine.

Christine Ellery

Christine Ellery is the Manager of Community Education and Training at CMHA Edmonton, Alberta, and is a facilitator with the Recovery College. She brings years of frontline experience from working on the distress line and loves creating spaces where people feel heard, supported, and empowered to grow.

 

Kayle Donner

Kayle Donner is a research methodologist and program evaluator at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. Kayle’s work focuses on the measurement and evaluation of mental health education programs, specializing both in advanced quantitative methods and in participatory approaches. Kayle is a co-chair of the Evaluation Subcommittee at the Collaborative Learning College, a recovery college operated at CAMH, where students, facilitators, and CAMH staff come together to collaboratively decide how best to monitor and communicate the college’s activities and impacts in ways that will be authentically meaningful to students.

 

Lightning speakers

As an innovation for 2025, people presenting posters at the conference will also deliver 1-minute “lightning talks” to the conference hall. Information here.

Our lighting speakers are:

Thursday 4th September: Estefania Guerrero, Joy Llewellyn-Beardsley, Michael John Norton, Toni King, Amy Ronaldson, Bryher Bowness, Dinne Skjaerlund Christensen, Kate Quinn, Katja Milner, Laura Asher, Laura Hankey, Lotte Dich Kring, Nikita Nalawade, Sheharyar Hussain, Simran Sahiba Kaur Takhi, Stine Bjerrum Moeller, Yuki Miyamoto, Shrankhla Pandey, Imogen Wells, Henry Whittle, Lea Muldtofte, Elisabetta Scanferla, Sofia Anna Altisent, Bisola Oladele, Catrin Street-Mattox, Natalie Dean

Friday 5th September: Katy Jones, Cecilie Høgh Egmose, Michael John Norton, Toni King, Amy Ronaldson, Estefania Guerrero, Christian Burr, Esther van Loon, Holly Harris, Kelvin Tan, Kristin Berre Ørjasæter, Flora Henderson, Marte Ustrup, Ramona Hiltensperger, Simon Felix, Siw Tønnessen, Xandra Miguel-Lorenzo, Chris Griffiths, Stefan Rennick-Egglestone