Visiting Professor shares views on mental health

20 January 2010

Professor John Hall speaks during the BU Professorial Inaugural Lecture Series.

Students, practitioners and members of the public came together to hear one of BU’s newest Visiting Professors speak about the history and changing approaches to mental health during a lecture at the University’s Talbot Campus.

Professor John Hall, a clinical psychologist and Professor of Mental Health at Oxford Brookes University, delivered his lecture, entitled “Thinking about mental health: past, present and future” as part of BU’s Professorial Inaugural Lecture Series.

The series provides an opportunity for the University and wider community to hear about world-leading research being undertaken by BU academics.

Professor Hall has been involved in the development of mental health services for many years and is well known for his research in psychiatric rehabilitation and his understanding of the history and nature of clinical psychology.

In his lecture, Professor Hall, who was made Visiting Professor of BU’s School of Design, Engineering & Computing in November 2009, explored the ways in which psychological, medical and social concepts of mental health have changed over the past 50 years.

He observed that there have been “enormous positive changes” in the services and interventions available to mental health patients since the 1959 Mental Health Act was implemented. He also claimed that the more people can understand of their own distress, in terms that make sense to them, the more likely they are both to be able to help themselves and to seek help appropriately.

Professor Hall said he was looking forward to taking an active role in the development of BU’s “impressive” MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology course, and using his expertise to support the work of relevant PhD students at the University.