Gwen Adshead

Gwen Adshead
Gwen Adshead delivering a Gresham College lecture in February 2015
Born (1960-09-14) 14 September 1960
Christchurch, New Zealand
Education
OccupationsPsychiatrist, Psychotherapist

Gwen Adshead (born 1960) is a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist who has worked for the NHS for nearly three decades. She currently works as a consultant at Broadmoor Hospital. She has published hundreds of research papers and is a Sunday Times bestselling author.[1]

Early life

Gwen Adshead was born on 14 September 1960 in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the age of 11, she flew alone to England to attend Cheltenham Ladies' College as a boarder.[2]

Education

Adshead qualified in Medicine in 1983. She then trained in general and forensic psychiatry at St. George's Hospital.[3] She became an elected member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1987, and in 2005, she was made a fellow.[4]

Adshead holds a Master's degree from King's College London in Medical Law and Ethics, where she took an interest in responsibility, moral reasoning, and psychiatric illness.[5] She also holds a Master's of Science degree in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University.[6][7] She is also a qualified member of the Institute of Group Analysis[8] and is has trained in basic mentalization-based therapy.[7]

Adshead has been awarded two honorary doctorates by St. George's Hospital Medical School in 2016 and 2024.[7]

Adshead trained as a psychotherapist after her psychiatric training because she wanted to spend more time talking with her patients.[9] The field of forensic psychotherapy helped in bringing together Dr. Adshead's interest in psychology and law together.[9]

Career

Clinical work

From 1996, Adshead was a consultant at Broadmoor Hospital, working as a consultant forensic psychiatrist and later, as a consultant psychotherapist with violent offenders.[4]

In 2013, Adshead served as the Jochelson Visiting Professor at The Law and Psychiatry Division of Yale School of Medicine.[4] She also served as a Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at Gresham College from 2014 to 2017.[10] During this time, Dr. Adshead was also a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Ravenswood House, a medium security unit for treating individuals with violent behaviours and severe mental health matters.[4][11]

Adshead has also acted as an expert witness in different cases and, in March of 2021, she was doing most of her work with family courts.[9]

Adshead has spent nearly three decades working for the NHS.[12] As of 2024, she works part time in the NHS, with a focus on forensic psychotherapy, as a consultant in a high secure hospital and in a women's prison.[13] She has spent her career trying to understand the psychological mechanisms that result in violence and life threatening behaviours toward other individuals.[4]

Research

Over the course of her career, Dr. Adshead has authored hundreds (325) of academic articles and book chapters.[14] Her articles have been published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, and Medicine Science and the Law.[14] Her research includes topics in psychological mechanisms of violence,[15] professional ethics,[16][17] and attachment theory[7][18] in forensic settings.[14]

Adshead has co-edited several academic books, including Ethical Issues in Forensic and Mental Health Research.

Books

Adshead has published several books.[7]

Adshead's book A Short Book About Evil was published 28 April 2015.[19] The writing of the book was supported by a Jerwood Award, received in 2012.

In February of 2026, Dr. Adshead wrote an article for The Telegraph regarding her book Unspeakable: Stories of survival & transformation after trauma.[20]

The Guardian reviewed The Devil You Know, describing it as a compassionate and insightful exploration of violent offenders' stories. The review notes that Dr. Adshead draws on her extensive clinical experience to present deeply human and thought-provoking accounts of patients' lives.[21]

The Times described Dr. Adshead's upcoming book, Unspeakable: Stories of survival & transformation after trauma, as a deeply human exploration of trauma, highlighting her use of clinical experience to present survivors' stories.[22]

Media Appearances

Adshead has appeared on several radio programmes including:

She has appeared on podcasts including:

  • August 2022, Zeinab Badawi's podcast – discussing why she thinks compassion should be used with people that others consider to be evil.[27]

She has also been interviewed by several publications including:

  • 2014, British Medical Journal.[11]
  • 2025, Church Times, Adshead – discussing her perspective that "evil" it's not a diagnosis and emphasizing the importance of understanding violent behaviour through clinical and social context rather than simplistic labels.[28]

Awards

Adshead has received several awards for her work, including:

  • 2012, Jerwood Award to support the writing of A Short Book About Evil, which was published 28 April 2015.[19]
  • In 2013, Dr. Adshead was honored with the Royal College of Psychiatry's President's Medal for her work in ethics in mental health.[10] The Devil You Know, which she co-wrote with Eileen Horne, was shortlisted for Best Nonfiction at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards.[29] Additionally, in 2024, Dr. Adshead was named one of five honorary fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.[30]

Personal life

Adshead is the mother of two boys.[31]

Adshead is a Christian and enjoys singing as part of a choir.[2]

Bibliography

Books

  • Adshead, G., Eastman, N., Fox S., Latham, Whyte, S., & Williams, H. (2012) Forensic Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. ISBN 978-0-19-882558-6
  • Adshead, G (2015). A Short Book About Evil. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84905-054-8
  • Horne, E. & Adshead, G. (2021). The devil you know: Encounters in forensic psychiatry. Scribner. ISBN 978-1-9821-3480-8
  • Adshead, G (2025) Four Questions About Violence: Insights from a Forensic Psychiatrist. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-39509-5
  • Horne, E. & Adshead, G. (2026). Unspeakable: Stories of survival & transformation after trauma. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-38525-6

Articles

  • "Brain blood flow in anxiety disorders - OCD, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder on 99mTcHMPAO single photon emission tomography (SPET)" [32]
  • "Psychiatric staff as attachment figures - Understanding management problems in psychiatric services in the light of attachment theory" [33]
  • "Life after homicide: accounts of recovery and redemption of offender patients in a high security hospital - a qualitative study" [33]

References

  1. ↑ "Gwen Adshead". Faber. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Desert Island Discs - Castaway: Dr Gwen Adshead". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Gwen Adshead". Journal of Ethics in Mental Health.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dr Gwen Adshead". Gresham College. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  5. ↑ "Gwen Adshead". Journal of Ethics in Mental Health.
  6. ↑ "Forensic Psychiatry Chambers". Forensic Psychiatry Chambers. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gwen Adshead: Attachment, Personality and Interventions". Oxford Psychotherapy Society. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  8. ↑ "West London forensic psychiatrist is BBC Reith Lecturer for 2024". West London NHS Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 "Interview: Gwen Adshead, forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist". Church Times. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  10. 1 2 "The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion". University of York. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  11. 1 2 Adshead, G. (June 2014). "Gwen Adshead: Posing as a florist". BMJ. 348 g3643. doi:10.1136/bmj.g3643. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 24899652.
  12. ↑ "C&W Agency". cwagency.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "Four Questions About Violence: Forensic psychiatrist Gwen Adshead announced as BBC Radio 4's Reith Lecturer for 2024". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Gwen M.J. Adshead". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  15. ↑ Adshead, Gwen (March 2011). "Same but Different: Constructions of Female Violence in Forensic Mental Health". International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. 4 (1): 41–48. doi:10.3138/ijfab.4.1.411 (inactive 19 May 2026).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of May 2026 (link)
  16. ↑ Adshead, Gwen (2019). "Putting Minds Together: Commentary on the Interface of Ethics and Psychiatry". Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology. 26 (3): 191–193. doi:10.1353/ppp.2019.0029. ISSN 1086-3303.
  17. ↑ Johal, Harleen Kaur; Kendall, Kathleen; Adshead, Gwen; Deshpande, Mayura; Fenwick, Angela (25 November 2024). "Walking a tightrope: ethical tensions in managing severe self-harm in a forensic mental health unit for young people". The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology. 36 (2): 247–263. doi:10.1080/14789949.2024.2428188. ISSN 1478-9949.
  18. ↑ Adshead, Gwen (14 January 2010). "Becoming a caregiver: attachment theory and poorly performing doctors". Medical Education. 44 (2): 125–131. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03556.x. ISSN 0308-0110. PMID 20653846.
  19. 1 2 "RSL Jerwood Award Announced". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  20. ↑ Adshead, Gwen (21 February 2026). "Life after a helicopter crash: How three survivors dealt with the trauma". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  21. ↑ Kellaway, Kate (23 May 2021). "The Devil You Know by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne review – hope for the worst of humanity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  22. ↑ O'Keeffe, Alice (20 February 2026). "Does talking really help us get over trauma?". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "Dr Gwen Adshead Transcript - Desert Island Discs". podcasts.musixmatch.com. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  24. ↑ "The Interview: Gwen Adshead: Getting inside the minds of murderers". BBC. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  25. ↑ "The Reith Lectures - Five things I've learned from working with violent perpetrators". BBC. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  26. ↑ "The Reith Lectures: Gwen Adshead - Four Questions about Violence". BBC. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  27. ↑ "Gwen Adshead: Getting inside the minds of murderers". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  28. ↑ "Evil and the criminal justice system — an interview with Dr Gwen Adshead". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  29. ↑ "Ngaio Marsh Awards 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  30. ↑ "West London forensic psychiatrist is BBC Reith Lecturer for 2024". West London NHS Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  31. ↑ Urwin, Rosamund (2 July 2012). "There's evil in all of us, says Broadmoor doctor Gwen Adshead - London Life - Life & Style - London Evening Standard". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  32. ↑ Lucey, J. V.; Costa, Durval C.; Adshead, Gwen; Deahl, Martin P.; Busatto, Geraldo; Gacinovic, Sveto; Travis, Michael; Pilowsky, Lyn S.; Ell, Peter J.; Marks, Isaac M.; Kerwin, Robert W. (1997). "Brain blood flow in anxiety disorders". British Journal of Psychiatry. 171 (4): 346–350. doi:10.1192/bjp.171.4.346. ISSN 0007-1250. PMID 9373423.
  33. 1 2 Adshead, Gwen (January 1998). "Psychiatric staff as attachment figures: Understanding management problems in psychiatric services in the light of attachment theory". British Journal of Psychiatry. 172 (1): 64–69. doi:10.1192/bjp.172.1.64. ISSN 0007-1250. PMID 9534835.
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