Shiraz Farrand

Trustee: President

Shiraz is an EMDR Consultant and accredited CBT therapist working in the NHS primary care and private practice. She is an approved EDMR Recent/Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (RTEP/GTEP) trainer and sits on the RTEP/GTEP Executive International Committee.

Her special interest is in scaling up trauma treatment and is currently involved in research projects with humanitarian organisations in Low and Middle Income countries.

Shiraz is responsible for coordinating the work of Trauma Aid UK in line with its core mission to facilitate the development of EMDR in underserved communities by providing free training and supervision.

Graeme Craik

Trustee and Treasurer

Graeme is a qualified accountant and has been operating at a senior level for over thirty years within the public sector. Within local government he has worked in local government within the finance and social work departments as well as the contracting arm of three local authorities. In addition, he has worked in schools, colleges, housing and a charitable trust.

He is a Trustee and Treasurer for Trauma Aid. Although Graeme is an accountant, he claims to have a sense of humour.

Matthew Wilcockson

Trustee: Hon. Secretary

Matthew is an EMDR therapist, consultant and facilitator working in the National Health Service and higher education, with a specialist interest in working with non-English speakers.

He is chair of the EMDR refugee special interest group. He has been an EMDR therapist for 15 years, and also a CBT therapist. He has volunteered as a supervisor and facilitator for Trauma Aid and its predecessors for 8 years.

He occasionally conducts research, particularly related to refugees and therapeutic processes.

Michael Tidbury

Trustee: Membership; Web site; Event Registrations; News Updates

Michael retired in 2017 after twenty years as a psychotherapist.

He ‘discovered’ EMDR in 2004 when he was studying for his MA and ADIP and never looked back. He said: “If only EMDR had been discovered earlier just think of how much suffering could have been prevented”.

He first joined Trauma Aid UK as a Trustee in 2010.

Michael looks after our Web site, News Updates, Memberships, Event registrations and the VSR.

Sarah Toms

Trustee

Sarah is a consultant Attachment and Trauma Therapist and has worked in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (NHS) and private practice for 25 years. She has training in both adult and child EMDR and training in child and family specific protocols; Theraplay and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy. She is also a qualified Occupational Therapist and has a special interest in sensory processing. She uses sensory processing strategies in her treatment of children with developmental trauma to help them improve their capacity to regulate.

Her special interest is in the impact of early life trauma on development. She has trained teachers, social workers and parents, helping them to understand the impact of early trauma and sharing strategies to help.

Her role in Trauma Aid is both as a Trustee and to develop workshops to assist therapists working with children and young people who have had their development interrupted by trauma events.

Jane L. Ireland

Trustee

Professor Jane L. Ireland is a Forensic Psychologist, Chartered Psychologist, and Chartered Scientist. She holds a Professorial Chair at the University of Central Lancashire and is violence treatment lead within a high secure forensic mental health hospital and EMDR supervisor for secure services for an NHS Trust. Jane is an elected academy fellow of the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences and fellow of the International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA). She holds a docent at Abo Akademi University, Finland and a Visiting Chair at University of Technology Sydney.

Jane is currently academic lead for the Ashworth Research Centre (ARC), an NHS centre for forensic clinical research, based within Mersey Care NHS Trust. She publishes widely in the area of mental health and trauma, with a focus on supporting those who find it challenging to obtain trauma informed therapies. Jane is an EMDR UK Consultant with a strong focus on promoting the value of trauma informed services, increasing access to all who require this, and the continued professional development of professionals working in this area.

Jane’s extensive professional experience has fitted her ideally for advising the Executive Committee on our governance, ethics and adherence to our charitable objectives.