Sarah Atayero

Decolonising Psychology from beyond the academy

Abstract:

Diversity in staff at all levels within the NHS is essential, especially within mental health services. There is evidence of inequality of access to treatment and poor quality of care for service users from BAME groups. Services should reflect the communities that they serve, and whilst only 13 per cent of the UK population belong to a Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnic group, the statistics for ethnicity of staff are much lower than this.

In this talk, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Sarah Atayero (BA, MSc) will explore how the colonial history of psychology contributes to inequalities in mental health treatment for Black people in the UK. By addressing this past and discussing what decolonisation looks like in practice, Sarah hopes to educate and empower the next generation of students, academics and clinicians to champion diversity and inclusion within psychology in order to lead to better outcomes for Black service users.

Biography:

Sarah (BA, MSc) is currently a 1st Year Trainee Clinical Psychologist at Royal Holloway University and a Director of the BiPP Network and organisation that prioritises the advancement and representation of Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in psychiatry and psychology. A former Assistant Psychologist within the NHS’ Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) initiative, she has worked with both adults and young people with a range of common mental health problems. Sarah has campaigned, written and published extensively on the experiences of Black British individuals’ experience of the UK mental health system.