Years in practice
Community Psychology Reclaimed grew out of more than 20 years working in NHS mental health services.
About
Psychology rooted in lived experience, justice and community
Community Psychology Reclaimed is a social enterprise working to address the root causes of distress through psychological knowledge, lived experience, and community action.
We bring together psychological knowledge, lived experience, and community solidarity to support trauma recovery and build healthier, more connected communities.
Our work is grounded in feminist, anti-oppressive practice. We believe that much of what is described as individual mental health difficulty is shaped by social and political conditions — including inequality, violence, and systemic injustice.
After 20 years in NHS mental health services, we made the decision to build something different. Despite witnessing how state provided healthcare has been eroded in the UK, we remain committed to healthcare that is free at the point of delivery. We want to be part of building the vision of what just and equitable healthcare looks like.
Our Story
From individual therapy that locates problems within individuals, to a broader vision of recovery
Listening differently
Recognising survivorhood and oppression reveals how much wisdom, resilience, and insight is held by those who are struggling most in our current systems.
Giving up unjust professional power
The See Me Before The PD group has been foundational in developing our mission and our vision.
Working collectively
Collaboration with activists and organisers and socially aware artists expanded what meaningful psychological work could look like.
Drawing on a visionary framework
The Power Threat Meaning Framework provides language for understanding distress beyond diagnosis and recognising that power shapes our life experiences. We draw on the PTMF and ally with community organisers to rebuild from the ground up.
Digging where we stand
We're creating this organisation to be part of a mycelial network. Alongside other justice-informed services developing across the country and around the world, seeking liberation for all people.
What We Believe
Core principles that shape our work
Distress is not just individual
Emotional suffering is often rooted in social, economic, and political conditions.
Lived experience is expertise
The leadership of those who have survived trauma and adversity is essential to this work.
Recovery is collective
Healing does not happen in isolation. Community, connection, and shared understanding matter.
Inequality shapes wellbeing
Patriarchy, racism, and economic injustice have direct effects on mental health and care.
How We Work
Grounded, collaborative, and accountable to context
A social mission
We work to challenge the pathologisation of women and minority genders' experiences of distress, and to promote trauma recovery and community wellbeing. Rather than focusing only on individual coping, we create space to understand how harm is produced — and how it is experienced collectively.
Led by lived experience
Our work is shaped by people with lived experience of trauma, survival, and recovery. We aim to place this experience at the centre of leadership, not at the margins.
Co-production in practice
We work collaboratively with individuals, communities, and organisations. For us, co-production means working alongside others as equals — recognising the multiple stories that make up our shared reality and creating spaces for learning, reflection, and action.
Anti-oppressive practice
Our approach is rooted in human rights and social justice. We recognise that psychological services can sometimes reinforce the very inequalities they aim to address, and we work to challenge those patterns.
Who We Work With
Individuals, communities, and organisations affected by trauma and inequality
- Survivors of sexual abuse and gender based violence
- People of the Global Majority impacted by rising racism
- LGBTQIA+ communities facing homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism
- People with visible and invisible disabilities, navigating an ableist society
- People navigating economic inequality facing challenges such as food insecurity and a punitive benefits system
- Community organisations and grassroots groups representing those facing systemic oppression
Looking Forward
Toward individual recovery and collective change
Community Psychology Reclaimed exists to reclaim more humane and equitable ways of responding to distress as communities — ways that recognise our interconnectedness and the realities of the world we live in.
We are committed to developing approaches that support both individual recovery and collective change.