About the Team

Clare Shaw BA (Hons), MA, PGC

Clare's own background is in personal experience of self-harm. her work is informed and motivated by the belief that direct personal experience is one of the best sources of knowledge, as recognised within policy - for example the National Service Framework for Mental Health, Department of Health, 1999.

As a result of her experiences of self-harm and of using services, Clare became deeply involved in service-user initiatives. She was the founder member of STEPS, a self-help support group for women, and was instrumental in the creation of the Merseyside Multi-Agency Self-Harm Strategy.

Motivated by her deep personal commitment to improving services for people who self-harm, Clare developed her interest and knowledge through academic research and was awarded an MA with Distinction in Applied Women's Studies. Informed by her extensive personal and theoretical knowledge of self-harm, Clare has worked as a teacher and trainer for over ten years. She has provided training to staff in services which include: social services; NHS Trusts; education; housing; drug and alcohol related services; youth services; and criminal justice related services. She has also worked as a visiting lecturer within several universities including Liverpool John Moore's and Salford University; and has spoken and facilitated workshops at many regional and national conferences, including the 2001 Mind National Seminar on Self-Harm.

Clare is currently employed as a sessional trainer with Inequality Agenda, a national body which provides training to staff working with women with mental health problems. She also works as a sessional trainer within the Leeds Mind self-harm training project, which provides training to staff working within a wide range of services.

Clare has written and published extensively on self-harm and related issues. Her publications include: "Shouting at the Spaceman - a conversation about self-harm" in "New Approaches to Preventing Suicide: A Manual for Practitioners" Duffy, D. and Ryan, T. (eds) (2004) Jessica Kingsley Publishers, UK. She also recently co-authored a chapter on self-harm and harm- minimisation practice published in "Beyond Fear and Control" edited by Sam Warner and Helen Spandler (2007).

Through her work in all of these areas, and as a result of her deep personal commitment, Clare is widely recognised as one of the leading voices within the field of self-harm.

Clare is also a popular and critically acclaimed poet and performer of her own work - for further details see www.clareshaw.co.uk