Join us for an evening of conversation with author, psychotherapist and YSP trustee, Sue Stuart-Smith.

Sue wrote the bestselling book, The Well Gardened Mind and will be joined by Chair of Creative Wakefield, Steven Michael OBE FRSA, for a public In Conversation talk chaired by psychoanalyst Susie Godsil. Together they will discuss the impact and benefits of nature for our wellbeing, and how creative health can help to build strong and empowered communities.

18.45 – arrival
19.00 – event starts
20.30 – event ends

This event has been kindly supported by Creative Wakefield.

About the speakers:

Sue Stuart-Smith

Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who worked in the NHS for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire before joining the DocHealth service which helps doctors suffering from stress and burnout.

Her bestselling book, The Well-Gardened Mind, was published in 2020 and has since been translated into eighteen languages. The book investigates the many ways that working with nature can transform people’s health and wellbeing.

In collaboration with her husband, Tom Stuart-Smith, the celebrated garden designer, she recently founded The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health which offers resources to local schools and charities and provides opportunities to connect with nature for those who have least access. This not-for-profit initiative is based in an old orchard near their home and includes a unique learning resource called the Plant Library as well as hosting a programme of talks and workshops open to any one interested in nature and gardens.

Steven Michael OBE FRSA

Steven Michael started his career as a registered mental health nurse working in the North East. His career progressed through work in the NHS and charitable sector, occupying clinical leadership and managerial roles, culminating in being CEO of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2014 he was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare. In more recent years Steven has been an Independent Chair of health and care partnerships in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire, as well as chairing Spectrum People, a local charity and ImROC, an international mental health recovery organisation.

Steven is passionate about creativity and the arts in general. He is a fellow of the RSA and his doctoral research concerned sustaining creative innovation in complex human systems. Steven has lived in Wakefield since 2000.

Susie Godsil

Susie Godsil is a Fellow of the Institute of Psychoanalysis and has a psychoanalytic practice in Leeds. She teaches on a variety of professional trainings and is active in the development of psychoanalysis beyond London and particularly in the north.

She has a special interest in the creative process and has been involved in a collaborative relationship with Opera North resulting in several symposia on Psychoanalysis and Opera and other events involving dialogue between artists, performers and psychoanalysts.