Emily Gajewski

Emily has worked for over 21 years as a therapist in the NHS (and privately), helping people move on from even the most severe and enduring emotional difficulties in a wide range of settings, ranging from psychiatric Intensive Care Units to supporting people in their own homes. For many years she was employed as a Lead Occupational Therapist in Sussex where she developed a number of mental health services, working with a wide range of emotional difficulties (including self-harm and psychosis) and also leading on staff development and training. She now works freelance as a therapist, trainer and coach.

For five years she worked with a multi-disciplinary team developing a Specialised Women’s Mental Health Service. The service was based on the results of a research project that fed into the Department of Health’s implementation guidance for Women’s Mental Health services and achieved excellent results working with women with complex needs. It was recently independently reviewed by the Health Care Commission, who commented on its “impressive” quality of work – especially in its pioneering approach to positive risk management of self-harming behaviours. Within this service Emily led on developing Occupational Therapy, creating a drop-in service and integrating human givens ideas into the philosophy.

Emily has published articles on clinical guidance in a variety of journals and contributed a major chapter on her speciality in the book An Idea in Practice: using the human givens approach, which was short-listed for Mind’s Book of the Year Award in 2008. She has also co-authored a self help book based on Human Givens principles ’49 Ways to think yourself well.’

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