Summary

I  work part-time as a Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow at the  University on the Professional Doctorate in Forensic Psychology. I also work as a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist with offenders with identified  mental health challenges. 

My career has previously included working in both medium and maximum security settings for the Ministry of Justice, and also in low, medium and maximum  security psychiatric establishements such as Broadmoor Hospital. Within these  roles I have  specialized in the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders and  worked extensively with those holding a diagnosis of personality disorder and psychopathy. I have also held community roles as a consultant in  a substance misuse service and also a homelessness Service, worked as an expert witness in court/parole board hearings  and mental health tribunals, and worked directly with the police to develop initiatives  to address local areas of identified need. 

I have co-authored a book on  'Forensic Psychology: Theory, Research, Policy and Practice' which received the British Psychological Society Book Award 2018 for Textbook of the Year. I am presently working on a book on  rape with the same co-authors. 

I am currently conducting research  alongside colleagues in the Faculty of Humanities in the area of Chemsex and have a research interest in the impact of shame  in the therapeutic encounter with offenders.

Biography

I have historically held senior academic posts at other Universities, including  Canterbury Christ Church Universtiy, alongside honorary posts at the University of Surrey, University of Portsmouth and Canterbury University.

I was appointed as a part-time Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Portsmouth in  2018 where I have been invovled in developing and delivering the Professional Doctorate in Forensic Psycholgoy.

In addition to this I have  approximately 35 years as a registered Clinical and  Forensic Practitioner  Psychologist. I have worked across all levels of secure service provision from maximum , medium, low secure services to community work,  including specialist work in substance misuse and homelessness services. I have held Consultant and Lead positions for many years and have had repsonsibility for  service development and provision in a range of  work environments.

Research Interests

I am interested in research that is likely to positively impact on current practice in the provision of services for those with psychological and emotional  challenges, often described as mental health/mental disorder, who come into contact with the criminal justice  or secure psychiatric system

My current research interests include:

• Shame and violence
• The impact of shame in the therapeutic encounter with offenders
• Chemsex
• Adolescents, marginalisation, loneliness and trajectories of  offending
• Excluded and marginalised adolescents accessing school farms, city farms and their impact
• Resilience in the practitioner in clincial forensic work

Teaching Responsibilities

I teach primarily on the Professional Doctorate in Forensic Psychology programme with an emphasis on  clinical practice. This includes, anmongst other areas,  teaching about risk assessment, assessment and intervention work. I also contribute to the  MSc in Forensic Psychology programme on the Theory into Practice element of this Masters programme.

Media Availability

I am happy to answer emails from the media on my research, and am aware of the need  to respond to journalists in a timely manner. Please contact me directly  at  yvonne.shell@port.ac.uk.