This week’s activities (1st June – 8th June, 2016)

Today (Wednesday), I’ll be travelling down to the Royal College of General Practitioners to sign, on behalf of the British Psychological Society, the STOMP pledge. This commits professionals working for people with a learning disability and their loved ones, to take real and measurable steps to stop the excessive use of psychotropic medication. The pledge is supported by various medical Royal Colleges, and will today be signed by – among others – Alistair Burt, Minister for Care Services.

I’ll be returning to Liverpool for regular university business in the afternoon, but also I shall be attending the annual DuncanMemorial lecture, celebrating our city’s tradition of public health and public service.

On Thursday 2^nd June, I’ll again be in London, first to visit the BBC to discuss psychological health and wellbeing in the workplace, and then to go on to the Annual General Meeting of the Wessex Branch of the BPS, where I’ll be speaking on how the British Psychological Society should promote our science, our profession and our values.

Then, on Friday, I’ll be teaching (in Kent) before discussions with colleagues about forthcoming BPS reports on depression (among other things), a teleconference about the plans of the BPS History andPhilosophy of Psychology Section, and a Board meeting of the Trustees of the Joanna Simpson Foundation (thankfully via teleconference).

Hopefully catching up on some sleep over the weekend, I’ll have our regular BPS teleconference first thing on Monday morning. The rest of that Monday (6^th) will be taken up with some university work, some NHS work (with clients) as well as a presentation to Annual Conference of the Liverpool Assistant Psychologists’Group. It’s a remarkable sign of the strength of our profession – just in the city of Liverpool, a conference specifically planned for assistant psychologists can attract 100 attendees.

On Tuesday 7^th June, I will be representing the BPS at a roundtable stakeholder meeting at the BMA (British Medical Association) to continue our work to address the issue of prescribed drugs dependence, before travelling to Oxford to mark the publication of the British Psychological Society’s new Guidelines on Sexual Abuse in Childhood.

Finally (for this week), I’ll be back in London on 8^th June for another BPS launch, this time for our report on the contribution made by psychologists to perinatal (mother and baby) mental health care. Work continues on the 9^th and 10^th June… but more on that later.