Dr Gemma Trainor

Gemma is Associate Professor in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Salford. Previously she held the post of Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Liverpool John Moores University having earlier spent over 3 years as a lecturer and researcher at Kings College, London.

Clinically, she has over 30 years direct experience of working with young people and adults with complex mental health difficulties. Up to Summer 2016, Gemma was Nurse Consultant and clinical lead for a Tier4 CAMHS day service and outpatient service with GMW NHS Foundation Mental Health Trust in Manchester. Here she specialised in working with young people who self-harm.

She has also spent over 20 years as an active researcher. In 2001 she completed her PhD thesis, evaluating a group treatment for self harm which she co-designed. She has been a lead clinician of this promising treatment in 3 large multi-centre randomized controlled trials (Australia and UK) investigating outcomes, transferability and cost-effectiveness. She has published this research and other work in peer reviewed journals and books and has presented the findings at several national and international conferences.

Notably, Gemma is a co-editor and author of 3 chapters of a well received book “Helping Children and Young People who Self Harm -An introduction to self-harming and suicidal behaviours for health professionals”. She continues to actively publish with current interests in transgender issues, the impact of social media on young people’s mental health and suicide risk among the nursing profession.

In 2021 and 2022 she was chair of the RCN Children and Young People’s Staying Healthy Forum which has over 4500 professional members.

Between 2019 and 2022, she was an invited member of the NICE Guideline Development Committee on the management, treatment and prevention of recurrence of self harm, representing mental health nursing interests for children and young people. The NICE Guideline was published in September 2022.