Charlotte Walker

I’m Charlotte, I’m a postgraduate researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Surrey, and I provide consultancy services to academics, managers and clinicians in mental health.

I have over a decade of experience working as a researcher in the fields of mental health and criminology. Some of my areas of interest include:

  • “Personality disorders”, particularly the process of diagnosis – who receives this label, how, and why? My current research is focussed on the sexual relationships in people with a diagnosis of “borderline personality disorder (BPD)” and will involve interviews with people living with this diagnosis. Click here for information on BPD and the debates surrounding the label.
  • Perinatal mental health (related to pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood). 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.
  • Commissioning and delivery of statutory mental health services, particularly Community Mental Health Teams, Home Treatment and Crisis Resolution Teams, and inpatient units. I am interested in how these services are developed and staffed and who is able to access them.

The common theme in my research is elevating the voice of the service user, challenging power structures which maintain a hierarchy in which “end users” of mental health and criminal justice systems are at the bottom. My current research seeks to elicit service user priorities, and make recommendations for improvements in care, and this typifies my approach to academia. I deliberately chose only to undertake research which I feel will make a tangible difference to the lives of those on the receiving end of statutory services. Click here to see how I embed these principles in my consultancy work.