Judy Furnivall

Trauma Consultant

Judy Furnivall is a qualified social worker and organisational consultant. She is currently working as an independent consultant in the child care sector. She was formerly a lecturer at the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland based in the University of Strathclyde. She began her career as a member of staff at Peper Harow Therapeutic Community, progressing to the role of Clinical Assistant Director. Since moving to Scotland, she has worked as a lecturer, researcher, trainer and consultant, with a particular focus on residential child care.

Her passionate belief in the importance of attachment as a foundational theory and approach, in all relational work, underpins her consultancy and training. As well as her interest in attachment she also maintains a focus on the need to adopt an approach to vulnerable children that is informed by a trauma-based perspective but which emphasises the importance of recognising and developing resilience. She is particularly interested in helping workers and carers to use understandings about attachment, trauma and resilience to underpin their therapeutic practice.

She provides training and consultancy on self-harm and suicide and is pursuing that interest at depth by undertaking a PhD at Stirling University looking at the impact and meaning of the suicide of young care leavers. She has a Master’s degree, from the Tavistock Centre, in Consulting and Leading in Organisations: Psychodynamic and Systemic Approaches, as well as the Tavistock Qualification in Consultancy. She is also completing a professional doctorate at the Tavistock focusing on understanding the inter and intra personal dynamics and systemic factors influencing the use of physical restraint in residential child care.

She is currently vice chair of Scottish Attachment in Action, which has a mission to improve the understanding of attachment across the life course and provide training and consultancy to support the use of this in practice. She has been a persistent advocate for the place of love in the care system and was a member of the Independent Care Review Love Group. She is also a member of the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group.