The Transformation Seminars are a series of free seminars open to the public. This ground-breaking series brings together some of the most eminent thinkers in child and family mental health in the world. Chaired by Professor Peter Fonagy, Chief Executive of The Anna Freud Centre, these multidisciplinary talks cover a wide variety of subjects, such as social prescribing; belonging and our sense of place; and how neurocognitive and genetic research can improve our understanding of environmental risk. We want a new conversation about mental health, and we’d like you to be part of it. Come and join us and help us take the discussion on mental health into new territory.
You can find our recorded Transformation Seminars on our video wall below and on our Soundcloud Transformation Seminars playlist. To keep informed of upcoming events as they're released, please join the free Anna Freud Learning Network.
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Is there a suicide crisis in young people?
In this talk, Professor Louis Appleby will ask: what are the figures on suicide and self-harm?; what are the stresses that suicidal young people are facing?; how important is social media?; and what impact has Covid had? And, behind the alarming headlines, are we seeing a more suicidal generation? This event took place on 28 June 2022.
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The synergies of transforming society for a safer climate and healthier minds
Dr Emma Lawrance considers the interdependencies between climate change, climate action and mental health, and encourages participants to use the power of imagination and active hope to work for a safer, healthier, fairer future. This event took place on 13 July 2022.
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When will life return to normal after the pandemic?
In this talk, Professor Danny Dorling looked at how people in Great Britain have responded to the various waves of the pandemic in terms of their fluctuating sense of how long it will take their life to return to normal, or if they think it ever will. This event took place on 12 May 2022.
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Can we make prevention in mental health really work?
Professor Paul Ramchandani discusses some of the hard truths and challenges we face if we are to make prevention a reality. Including, but going well beyond the child and adolescent mental health system. This event took place on 2 November 2021.
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Whiteness as pathology shifting the location of disturbance to dismantle social inequality
In this seminar, Guilaine Kinouani, award-nominated writer of the blog racereflections.co.uk, argues that to address widespread social inequality we need to both redefine what mental health is, and pay much closer attention to Whiteness and its implications for society. This event took place on 28 September 2021.
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From language to laughter and back again
Sophie Scott, Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, examines why social networks are critical for human wellbeing. This event took place on 20 July 2021.
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Childhood trauma and the brain
Professor Eamon McCrory describes how childhood trauma, in the form of abuse and neglect, can lead to alterations in the brain. This event took place on 10 March 2021.
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Me and my Markov blanket
Professor Karl Friston discusses how the physics of selfhood can lead to the kind of interactions that underwrite interpersonal exchange and possibly selfhood. This event took place on 17 February 2021.
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Social relationships and their impact on mental health and wellbeing
Professor Louise Arseneault discusses social relationships and their impact on mental health and wellbeing. This event took place on 19 January 2021.