Speaker
Baroness Sheila Hollins
Founder and Chair of Beyond Words, Professor of Psychiatry and Founder of the Visual Literacy charity
Biography
Baroness Hollins is a professor of psychiatry and founded the visual literacy charity, Beyond Words more than 30 years ago. She is a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, was President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the British Medical Association and chair of the BMA Board of Science. Baroness Hollins was appointed in 2019 by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to Chair the Oversight Panel to oversee Independent Care, Education and Treatment Reviews of people placed in Long Term Segregation.
Baroness Hollins developed a method of enabling people with learning disabilities to talk about their feelings and understand the world around them using pictures and stories. Through her charitable work, this method is now being used widely by mental health professionals, in primary care, through community book clubs, refugee groups and with children in mainstream and SEND schools.