Dr Alice Bennett is a Registered Psychologist at HMP Frankland and has worked in the Prison Service since 2006, mainly within discrete units for those who are considered high-risk in high secure prisons. Outside of the prison walls, Alice engages in research and is a journal reviewer. She advocates practitioners publishing work as well as promoting co-working between academia and practice. Dr Rachel Worthington is a Registered Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Rachel has with over 20 years’ experience of working with clients inprisons, secure psychiatric ..read more

Professor Jo Clarke, PhD., is an internationally acclaimed academic and expert on resilience, and founder of the Petros organisation. Jo learned her craft working as a psychologist in the prison service for over 20 years. She is a regular speaker and trainer, nationally and internationally, on the subject of individual and organizational resilience, and has authored a number of chapters and papers on the subject. Committed to life-long learning, she remains abreast of current research and developments in the area and with her dedicated team, strives to continually develop evidence-based interv ..read more

Dr. Catherine Booth joined HM Prison and Probation Service in 1997. During her career she has worked with men, women and children in custody and currently works in HMPPS North West Psychology Services. Cath has been involved in the management of serious incidents in prisons for over 20 years as a practitioner and trainer. She acts as a Silver and Gold negotiation advisor (NA) and is involved in training prison officers and psychologists to become negotiators and negotiation advisors, respectively. Cath completed her doctoral research in exploring the experiences of prison officer negotiators ..read more

Dr. Lucy Johnstone is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and worked in Adult Mental Health for many years. She has written and lectured widely on critical perspectives in mental health theory and practice. She is a lead author of the 'Power Threat Meaning Framework' (2018). Dr. Jo Ramsden is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for Yorkshire Humberside Personality Disorder Partnership. Jo was a contributor to the Power Threat Meaning Framework, and has led the way in supporting its application to forensic settings. Key references: The PTMF website, with the main PTMF documents ..read more

Fiona Williams is a Psychologist with over 30 years of experience in HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).  She is the Head of Interventions Services, a team of specialist staff who are responsible for the design of accredited programmes.  Her remit also includes responsibility for accredited programmes staff training and the quality assurance of all programme delivery across over 200 prison and probation delivery sites. Rosie Travers leads the evidence based practice team in HMPPS. This is a small team of staff dedicated to bringing the best available evidence into our every ..read more

Jane Read has over 25 years experience of working within the High Security prison estate.  In that time she has worked in the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder Programme (DSPD) and was closely involved in the development of the assessment & treatment models for this programme. For 15 years Jane was the director of psychological services at HMP Wakefield and since January 2018 she has been the clinical Framework Progression Lead for the Directorate of Security. In 2023 Jane was awarded an OBE for services to prison and the community. Debbie Marsh is has worked as a psychologist ..read more

Professor Huw Williams is a professor of Clinical Neuropsychology. He has pioneered research focusing on traumatic brain Injury in those involved in the criminal justice system, and neuro-rehabilitation and crime. He and colleagues have shown that a substantial number of people in contact with the law have traumatic brain Injuries. Findings have influenced screening and assessment for TBI nationally and internationally, contributing to changes in the UN Convention on Rights of the Child for enabling better support for those with neurodisability to lessen risk of criminalisation. He is a co-fou ..read more

R. Karl Hanson, Ph.D., C.Psych., is one of the leading researchers in the field of risk assessment and treatment for individuals with a history of sexual offending. Originally trained as a clinical psychologist, he was a researcher and research manager in the area of corrections and crime policy for Public Safety Canada between 1991 and 2017. Dr. Hanson has published more than 175 articles, including several highly influential reviews.  He is the lead author of the Static-99R, STABLE-2007, and ACUTE-2007 risk tools, which are widely used for assessing the risk and needs of individuals wit ..read more

Martine Ratcliffe has worked as a forensic psychologist for HM Prison and Probation Service for 20 years. She’s currently the national diversity and inclusion (D&I) lead for the Psychology Services Group. Her passion for D&I has been amplified through her work with men, women and children in custody and from personal experience as a mixed-race woman working within HMPPS. Dr Tansy Warrilow is a clinical psychologist at Rampton High Secure Hospital. She has introduced innovative techniques within her practice to address sources of cultural bias for clients. Lawrence Jones is a consu ..read more

In this special mini-series of the Forensic Psychology Podcast, Sally and Kerensa talk to people who work as psychologists across the five directorates of the prison service, to get an idea of what their jobs entail and the environments they work in. Rebecca Ministro and Harriet Chapman both work in the directorate that covers prisons in Wales. For more information about careers in prisons, visit https://jobs.justice.gov.uk  ..read more