UK Trauma Council Insight Series: Complex Trauma: Thinking about Autism

Georgia Pavlopoulou

Georgia is a neurodivergent academic who has a PhD in Developmental Psychology and Mental Health. She is the Founder of the University College London (UCL) Group in Research in Relationships and Neurodiversity and is an AT-Autism Associate Consultant. She is using a combination of behavioral, phenomenological and participatory techniques together with a developmental approach to understand social determinants of autistic mental health through autistic people’s personal accounts (stress, belonging, loneliness, low mood, family experiences). Georgia has 20 years’ experience working with autistic people and their family members and has felt the benefits of involving them at the heart of clinical and educational decision making. She is currently a Medical Research Council (MRC) co-investigator in emotional regulation and depression prevention in autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a trainee UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) psychotherapist.

Georgia has led national and international short courses for mental health practitioners working in educational and NHS systems with young people with atypical development. Georgia has been nominated for the David Cottrell ‘Education of CAMH Professionals’ Award 2020 and 2021 and won the UCL Impact Award 2021 and UCL Professional Award for her work with East Londoners to tackle stigma, inequalities and mental health with and for autistic adults. During the pandemic, she co-authored reports that have been cited by the Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU), which informed the government's new autism strategy 2021–2026.

Alexis Quinn

Alexis Quinn is a former schoolteacher, professional athlete and author of two books: her ground-breaking memoir, 'Unbroken, and Autistic & Expecting, a guide for autistic parents to be'. Alexis speaks on neurodivergence, trauma, restraint, and mental well-being. She is a psychotherapist, works as Manager of the Restraint Reduction Network and is mother to two neurodivergent children.

For the live training segments, we'll be using Zoom. Ensure your system meets Zoom's system requirements before enrolling. Test your equipment at Zoom.us/test before the training to address any technical issues. 

For self-guided learning, materials, and homework, we'll use Blackboard Learn. It's compatible with most devices. For optimal access, use Google Chrome. 

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