Pat Bracken
Pat Bracken works half time at the University of Central Lancashire where he holds a chair in the new Institute for Philosophy, Diversity and Mental Health. The other half of his working life is spent as a clinician with the West Cork Mental health Service where he is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director.
He trained in medicine and psychiatry in Ireland and in Birmingham.
Between 1987-1990 he worked for the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture on a project in Uganda. His MD degree was awarded for a piece of research that looked at how one village had been affected by war time violence in that country. He has also carried out consultancy work for Save the Children in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nepal.
Pat Bracken also has a background in Philosophy and gained a PhD in this subject from the University of Warwick in 1999.
He co-edited the book Rethinking the Trauma of War with Dr Celia Petty, published in 1998. His own book Trauma: Culture, Meaning and Philosophy was published in 2002. With his colleague, Prof Phil Thomas, he published the book Postpsychiatry: A New Direction for Mental Health in 2005.
Pat Bracken worked with Eleanor Longden, in assisting her in her journey of recovery from hearing overwhelming voices. See "We talked about the voices and my psychiatrist suggested I stop seeing them as a symptom of mental illness", Daily Mail, 07/02/2008 here