Psychology

Become an Expert by Experience – Support Psychology Education & Research

We are eager to work with members of the public who have lived experience of accessing or receiving mental health services, or of supporting others to access/receive these services. We refer to these individuals as Experts by Experience (EbE).

EbE’s are hugely important to what we do. Their involvement gives our students, trainees, staff and researchers a stronger understanding of the needs and views of people who are living with mental ill-health and are accessing mental health services. EbE’s can have a positive, lasting impact on teaching and research, which in turn, can make a real difference.

Lived experience influence

Initiatives and activities enable people with lived experience to shape and develop our work; this includes what is prioritised and how it is planned, delivered and evaluated. In other words, people are influencing decision-making. This could be, for example, through completing a survey, taking part in a focus group, contributing to decision-making on an Advisory Group or one-to-one advisory involvement with a Trainee, interview panel membership, or leading a project; being members of Student Staff Liaison Committees, or final assessments, Viva panels, and much more.

All our Experts by Experience are compensated for their time.

Here are just a few of the many benefits current and previous EbE’s have reported from sharing their experiences:

  • Feeling valued, respected, and heard
  • Improved confidence and skills’ development
  • Personal satisfaction, empowerment, and hope
  • Building new relationships through meeting others with similar experiences
  • Gaining experience that can support future employment opportunities

At Psychology, University of Exeter, and its linked networks, there are several ways for Experts by Experience (EbE) to get involved with us: 

The Lived Experience Group (LEG)

(Based at the Clinical Doctorates and Post-Graduate Research Portfolios (DClinPsy/PGR))

The Lived Experience Group (LEG) can be described as a more formal ‘membership-type’ group of individuals with lived experience of mental ill-health and their supporters who come together to share their thoughts, advice, and lived experience, often on a one-to-one basis. Their involvement is invaluable in shaping research, post-graduate training, and policy. These individuals are recognised as ‘experts by experience’ (EbE).

LEG group members often work with staff and Trainees – particularly in their Major Research Projects – who are on the Doctor of Clinical Psychology programme. This programme sits within the DClinPGR (Doctorates in Clinical Post Graduate Research) portfolio, which offers other doctorates and apprenticeships for professionals working in psychology. LEG EbE are expanding their involvement across the portfolios as the group develops.

What are the benefits of joining the LEG?

As well as those benefits in the introduction above, being a member of the LEG:

  • Helps people contribute and feel connected to their communities 
  • Is an opportunity to offer skills, knowledge, and experience
  • Increases feelings of empowerment and self esteem
  • Improves understanding of mental ill-health, including the impact of mental health on carers, family, and friends
  • Gives something back by helping students and Trainees in their education
  • Challenges stigma and the cultural attitudes towards mental ill-health, and those experiencing mental ill-health
  • Raising awareness of the needs of particular communities                                                             

Benefits to researchers:

Lived experience research in mental health is research that illuminates the perspectives and experiences of people who live with mental health issues and is conducted either by researchers with their own lived experience or in collaborative research teams that include people with lived experience.

Lived experience researchers are increasingly adopting leading roles in conceptualising and conducting research in mental health.

The Health Research Authority (HRA) and the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) have stated that lived experience involvement in research contributes to:

  • Making research more relevant to the people it is trying to help
  • Can be particularly helpful in conceptual development and crafting participant recruitment criteria and outreach
  • Better quality research by enhancing methodological sensitivity, data accuracy and validity of results
  • Improving the experience of participating in research
  • Communicating findings to participants and the wider public. For more information and examples of ‘putting people first’ in research, please see the HRA best practice guide in conjunction with the UK Shared Commitment to Public Involvement in Research

If you are a person or a supporter of someone with lived experience of mental ill-health, and you feel you are in a good place currently, and confident to share your experiences within a group, or with a research student in a project setting, please contact us via one of the emails below.

LEG Consultation group meets every two months in hybrid format (online via MS Teams or Zoom and with members in a room together), for maximum of two hours to talk through research student presentations, involvement opportunities, and LEG involvement issues.

The LEG regularly liaises with other lived Experience groups across the University. If we don’t currently have opportunities, or if we’re not currently recruiting for new members, we can put you in touch with other groups, including Cedar Lived Experience.

The LEG aims to recruit approximately twice a year, depending on involvement needs identified. It is likely Spring 2025 will be the next recruitment ‘window’.

* If you are interested in becoming a LEG EbE, please do fill in our Expression of Interest EbE eform, which also gives more information about the role:

https://forms.office.com/e/VEWXrTW0SM

*For staff/Trainees – if you are seeking EbE involvement in your areas of DClinPsy/PGR/Portfolios, please do complete the eform, thank you: https://forms.office.com/e/kQtik5zzna

Who can I contact to find out more?

Phil Ruthen is the LEG Coordinator. Phil works part-time, and aims to monitor mail when possible outside his core hours.

Phil Ruthen (p.ruthen@exeter.ac.uk)

Associate Lecturer - Lived Experience Co-ordinator  
DClinPsy/Portfolio and Clinical Education Research and Development (Cedar)

The LEG Team can be reached at leg-dcpgr@exeter.ac.uk

Cedar Lived Experience

Cedar is one of the UK’s largest providers of training in psychological practice and therapies. 

We deliver training to mental health practitioners at all levels, both in the NHS and private practice. Find out more.

Cedar EbE involvement takes a slightly different form to the more formal membership-style Lived Experience Group (LEG) based at DClinPsy/PGR. Cedar EbE involvement is evolving toward a more networked, or larger panel-like structure, often seen in similar organisations e.g. NICE, MIND etc

As an EbE at Cedar, your experiences and expertise will support the development of our training curriculum, and research. This will help to shape future therapists and enhance psychological therapies across the UK.

Here are a few examples of how EbE’s support Cedar’s education work:

  • Providing guidance to students, trainees, teaching and support staff, and researchers, based on their own experiences and challenges
  • Contributing to the planning, development, evaluation, and delivery of training programmes, ensuring they are relevant, effective, and compassionate
  • Helping to identify gaps in service provision and advocating for changes in policy and practice
  • Supporting quality control by sharing their views
  • Attending meetings and giving their thoughts on existing Cedar, and University processes 
  • Helping to ensure equalities, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and accessibility are always priorities

If you are interested in becoming a Cedar Expert by Experience, please do fill in our Expression of Interest EbE eform, which also gives more information about the role.

For staff – if you are seeking EbE involvement in your areas of Cedar, please do complete the eform, thank you.

Contacts: 

Harriet Keers-Stribley (she/her)  
E: Cedar-EDI@exeter.ac.uk
Project Co-ordinator -Cedar EDI, EbE & Adult CBT Training Portfolio

Phil Ruthen
E: CedarLivedExperience@exeter.ac.uk
Associate Lecturer - Lived Experience Co-ordinator  
DClinPsy/Portfolio and Clinical Education Research and Development (Cedar)

CYP Network South West

The CYP (Children and Young People’s) South West Community of Practice is a collaboration between the University of Exeter and over 20 service providers and commissioning bodies of children and young people’s mental health services. 

The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP-IAPT) programme is about transforming child and adolescent mental health services to make them better for young people and their families. An essential part of this is ensuring that young people and families are involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of services.

Please click here to find out more about what we do, as well as how you can get involved in our work.

Main website: CYP SW Network 

Or, please do get in touch with us at Cedar:

Contacts: 

Harriet Keers-Stribley (she/her)
E: Cedar-EDI@exeter.ac.uk 
Project Co-ordinator -Cedar EDI, EbE & Adult CBT Training Portfolio

Phil Ruthen
E: CedarLivedExperience@exeter.ac.uk 
Associate Lecturer - Lived Experience Co-ordinator  
DClinPsy/Portfolio and Clinical Education Research and Development (Cedar)
 
Visit the CYP Network website 

Learning to Live with Depression

This publication was generated by members and friends of the Lived Experience Group in the hope that the thoughts in it might help you too: Leg booklet

For further information on depression and services available locally please contact :

Our stories

One of our goals in the Lived Experience Group is to raise awareness of depression as well as help provide support for those who suffer from depression or other mood disorders. Towards that aim, we have recorded the stories of some of our members to share. Click on the links to watch the videos.