CONSULTANTS
Mirjam Klann Thullesen
Mirjam works as a Consultant and expert witness in legal cases related to human trafficking. Her specialism lies in assessing potential victims of trafficking and in producing trafficking identification reports as well as offering front-line interventions to survivors of trauma related to gender-based violence. She has worked in a variety of professional capacities, including support/casework, advocacy, crisis counselling and long-term psychotherapy. She has mentored other professionals, provided training and advised on best practice in working with refugees and asylum seekers. Mirjam lives in London where she also works as a registered Psychotherapist in private practice whilst conducting research for her Doctorate in Psychology.
Dr Eleanor Cross
Eleanor is a clinical psychologist who has expertise in complex trauma arising in human right’s violation, persecution and war. She has provided several IP reports to the IHAT investigation team as well as IP compliant reports within the UK justice system. She previously was employed at The Forced Migration Trauma Service, which is a specialist NHS service that assess and treat migrants following traumatic events. She is currently employed at the Traumatic Stress Clinic.
Dr Abby Seltzer
Abby is an accomplished psychiatrist experienced in producing IP compliant medico-legal reports. She was a senior psychiatrist and policy advisor at Freedom from Torture (formerly The Medical Foundation). She has provided clinical expertise to torture survivors in a variety of locations and is a recognised expert in her field
Dr James Underhill
Dr James Underhill was previously at the Traumatic Stress Clinic in London and currently works as a consultant for Medicines Sans Frontiers based in Syria and Turkey and has significant international experience.
Dr Sharon Doherty
Dr Sharon Doherty is a consultant clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist and trauma specialist. She has extensive NHS-based experience of working therapeutically with survivors of human trafficking, torture, gender-based violence and other human rights abuses. She is experienced in providing expert psychological reports to inform asylum, and conclusive trafficking decisions, and in working closely with legal colleagues to advise on special measures for vulnerable adults. Since 2011 she has worked in partnership with the TARA Service, Glasgow, to provide early psychological assessment and treatment for female victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. She was also involved in consultations with the Home Office during its’ review of the National Referral Mechanism in 2014, and in the Scottish Government’s Justice Committee’s consultation on the Human Trafficking (Scotland) Bill in 2015.
She provides training to NHS, statutory and third sector agencies on providing trauma-informed and culturally–relevant services. She also lectures, on an invited basis, on the clinical psychology doctoral training courses at Edinburgh and Glasgow University, and on the Global Mental Health MSc at the University of Glasgow.
Dr Doherty’s research interests include head injury and cognitive functioning in asylum seekers, psychological recovery following human trafficking, and the impact on interpreters of interpreting in mental health settings.
She has expertise in CBT including mindfulness-based approaches, EMDR, Narrative Therapy and ACT and is currently based with the COMPASS team, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Psychological Trauma Service.
Dr Jennifer Hall
Dr Jennifer Hall is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (HCPC 27345) who has specialised in working with children, young people and families who are fleeing conflict and human rights abuses, both at Freedom from Torture (formally Medical Foundation for the Treatment of victims of Torture), working in the Children, Young Persons and Family team and in NHS CAMHS. Dr Hall has worked therapeutically with refugees and asylum seekers who are survivors of torture for the past four years, having worked with this client group both internationally in East Africa and in the UK. She provides supervision and training for staff and organisations working with this client group in the UK and in conflict zones, and is actively involved in global mental health link to set up and develop psychological services in Uganda, where she lived and worked within the government-run mental health services for a period of two and a half years.
Dr Hall has undergone further training in psychological therapies for trauma (including EMDR, NET and CBT) and has published in peer-reviewed academic journals, with her main research area being how to adapt psychological therapy and clinical supervision for working with people from different cultural backgrounds. She acts as an expert witness for immigration courts through writing medico-legal reports for children, young people and adults, both with Freedom from Torture and Medical Justice.