Marion is a qualified Special Needs teacher and worked in the learning disabilities sector for 15 years in Coventry and Warwickshire. She has worked in the mental health field for the last 13 years as an expert by experience. Initially employed by Coventry Health Authority and Social Services to work with service users, she wrote and delivered “Training for Trainers” packages and facilitated mental health awareness training to a wide variety of organisations, including schools, universities, mental health teams and the police. She then went on to set up and manage the Big Issue office in Coventry, working with homeless and vulnerably housed adults.

In 1998 she secured funding to set up Krysalis, which is still the most prominent user led support group in Coventry, and during this time worked in America with service users and organisations in Wisconsin on the further development of user groups.

She joined the organisation “Keepwell” working with Ron Coleman as a senior trainer in 2000 where part of her remit involved working in community mental health teams in Birmingham as a Voices and Self Harm user consultant, working directly with individuals and their key workers planning pathways to recovery. She project managed and provided support and supervision to the individuals involved in the running of “Start on Success” the self referral out of hours group at Stratford Road Mental Health Resource Centre in Birmingham.

From 2003 – 2006 Marion was project manager of the training organisation, “Changing Futures”, based in Birmingham. Funded by the Department of Health, the organisation has spread recovery knowledge and person centred approaches to a range of mental health organisations across England through training, consultancy and development work. In conjunction with University of Central England, Marion has worked on the international Leonardo project, and has spent time in Italy and Germany developing international mental health courses for nursing students. Most recently, Marion’s work has been in developing recovery and person centred planning tools with workers and service users in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Marion is the co-author of the THRIVE Approach to Mental Wellness and the THRIVE Assessment and Planning Tool, written with Mike Smith, with whom she also founded Crazydiamond Training and Consultancy (see website below).


For more info on the THRIVE Approach to Mental Wellness click here

For more info on Crazydiamond Training and Consultancy click here