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Meet the BADth Team
Rachel Lambie (Executive Director: Children and Young People Lead )
rachellambie@badth.org.uk
Rachel joined the Executive Committee in September 2022 and has been working as a Dramatherapist in education and the NHS since qualifying in 1998. She completed an MA whilst working with young adults in an Eating Disorder unit in 2001 and continued to focus on mental health with children and young people ever since. Rachel founded Nessie in ED CIC in response to need in 2015 (https://nessieind.com/), which supports the mental health of children and young people, working systemically with parents, professionals in education whilst remaining child centered. Rachel is a qualified supervisor (Alderian), MBACP, BADth and is HCPC regisitered. Rachel is currently working on a Professional Doctorate at ARU exploring young people's conceptualisation of Mental Health - a participation project. She is a passionate Dramatherapist who believes in what we do and is looking forward to supporting our Association as an Executive Director.
Heather Williams (NHS Lead)
heatherwilliams@badth.org.uk
Heather was co-opted onto the Executive in March 2023. She has been a qualified dramatherapist for 14 years, the last 5 she has been the lead of a Children's & Young people's Creative Arts Therapy Service at Croydon NHS, where they support children and YP with life limiting/threatening and/or chronic conditions and siblings (before and after death). Part of her role is to offer staff support when children are facing end of life. During the first wave of the pandemic Heather was redeployed to ICU, alongside the patient and family support she continued to offer support to staff and ran reflective practice sessions/drop in sessions to help staff manage the traumatic situations they were faced with. The trust suggested Heather trained as a Schwartz facilitator in order to have an accessible model to offer across the Trust and to continue the support she had started.
Natasha Hargrove (Executive Director and Trust Funds Co-ordinator)
natashahargrove@badth.org.uk
Natsha was elected on to the Executive Committee at the AGM in 2022. Natasha is Head of Services at A Mind Apart where she has worked for 15 years both as a facilitator and a manager. A Mind Apart is a theatre and education company that works with disadvantage people from all back grounds. Natasha believes the performing arts are a tool for change and has worked on projects such as 'Always an Alternative', an integrated arts and theatre project that worked with school in high-risk areas to open up the discussion on knife crime. Natasha delivered workshops to those most at risk or who had already experienced knife crime and used theatre of the oppressed techniques to empower them to have a voice. Natasha is neurodiverse and passionate about everyone having access to the arts. She is fascinated by the link between the mind and body.
Debbie Oyewole (Executive Director: Mental Health and Mentor Lead)
debbieoyewole@badth.org.uk
Debbie Oyewole is now an Executive Director after interning for the executive committee for a year. She qualified as a Dramatherapist from Anglia Ruskin University in 2018. Debbie has taken over the Mentorship committee and is happy to match you with a Mentor or Mentee in the membership. Debbie is also a point of contact for your emotional/Mental Health concerns, both personally or in the workplace. Debbie is an experienced CBT informed Mental Health Practitioner and Line Manager for the Mental Health support teams in the NHS, merging the gap between NHS and Education for Mental Health. Debbie is passionate and has a special interest and experience working with children and young people in Mental Health. She is a member of ‘Christians in Arts therapy’ and advisory committee member for ‘Bennu’. Debbie is a content creator on YouTube providing content about Mental health, titled ‘LOVEHEALS’.
Sienna Forrester (Executive Director: Wellbeing Officer & BAME Communities Lead)
siennaforrester@badth.org.uk
Sienna qualified as a dramatherapist in 2019 and joined the BADth Executive in January 2022. Sienna is supporting BADth's Executive by focussing on the well-being of the committee/subcommittees and providing a model for dramatherapists who struggle with feeling 'not good enough'. Sienna is passionate about breaking generational curses/trauma patterns, encouraging young people to find healthy ways of expressing themselves and providing a path for voices of BAME people. She co-host's a podcast 'Dtherapyspace' and runs a holistic beauty suite, using her skills in dramatherapy, drama, massage and beauty to support positive mental health, self-love and self-care. Sienna also works across a range of SEN colleges and schools and works for charities across the UK.
Rosie Leach (Strategy Consultant)
rosieleach@badth.org.uk
Rosie is an HCPC Dramatherapist, with training from Roehampton (MA Dramatherapy 2022) and through Psyche and Soma - Soulmaking through the Sesame Approach (Prof Cert’ 2019). Rosie works as an Arts Therapist with adults experiencing persistent physical symptoms, and older adults with dementia and complex mental health needs at East London NHS Foundation Trust. Rosie has experienced a varied career journey, including community arts production and gardening; debt advice casework and management; and socially engaged research and training. Rosie is passionate about advocating for Dramatherapy as a healing modality, and promoting holistic approaches to health that integrate physical and mental health.
Abigail Nelson (Operations Manager )
abigailnelson@badth.org.uk
Abigail Nelson is a newly qualified dramatherapist, graduating from Roehampton University in 2022, based in Edinburgh. Abigail is passionate about creating opportunities for people to connect with themselves and their creativity, with others, and with nature. She runs three-day creative wellness retreats, monthly wellness walks, dramatherapeutic workshops, public creative events and provides dramatherapy for a community mental health and arts charity. Abigail is also passionate about knowledge sharing, and has been a Visiting Lecturer at Queen Margaret University on the MSc Dramatherapy course.
John Hazlett Dickinson (International Representative)
johnhazlettdickinson@badth.org.uk
John represents and promotes BADth at meetings of international Dramatherapy organisations and related international meetings and events. He reports to the Chair and the BADth Executive when appropriate. John was a member for the BADth Executive from 2011 and Chair from 2013 to 2016 and re-elected as Chair in September 2019. He stood down in August 2021. John worked in professional theatre as a director and maker, including six years with the pioneering Belgrade Theatre in Education Team. He has a Masters in Drama and Movement Therapy from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. He was a member of the core training team on the Exeter based MA in Dramatherapy for three years. He is a Graduate of The Institute of Developmental Transformations, an embodied encounter based improvisation method that originated in the United States and pioneered by Dramatherapists. It is now practiced as a therapy and art form throughout the world. John works in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Greece and Romania.
Christiana Iordanou (Co-Editor, The Dramatherapy Journal)
christianaiordanou@badth.org.uk
Dr Christiana Iordanou is an HCPC-registered Dramatherapist and a BADth member since 2019. She holds two MSc degrees (MSc Sport & Exercise Psychology, Loughborough University UK; MSc Developmental Psychology, Lancaster University, UK) and a PhD in Psychology from Lancaster University. She qualified as a Dramatherapist in 2008 and has 15+ years clinical experience with children, adolescents, and adults in several mental health settings (public and private). Since 2018, she has been working as a Lecturer in Psychology and Mental Health at the University of Kent. She has been in the editorial board of the Dramatherapy journal since 2019 and in 2023 she took over the role of Co-Editor. She has written several articles and book chapters on topics such as the use of artistic means in children’s eyewitness recall, dramatherapy with traumatised children, and supervision. She is passionate about promoting the work of the journal and supporting/mentoring authors.
Jean-Francois Jacques (Co-Editor, The Dramatherapy Journal)
jfjacques@badth.org.uk
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Sarah Corcoran (Bookkeeper)
finance@badth.org.uk
Sarah is an experienced bookkeeper with many years’ experience working with statutory agencies, charities, small to medium size businesses and individuals. Sarah specialises in Xero and Sage accounting software and has qualified as a Certified Xero Advisor. She is currently undertaking her AAT Accountants course with the aim that one day she can offer clients Bookkeeping and Accountancy services.
Natalie Newman (Finance and Administration Assistant)
natalienewman@badth.org.uk
Natalie joined BADth in June 2021 and has has over 8 years bookkeeping and admin experience. Natalie has many skills, namely honesty, excellent time management, and great communication skills.