Introducing our D19 course lead: Emily Mercer

Emily Mercer leads our new post-qualification training for psychotherapists wishing to specialise in trauma work.

As a new academic year gets underway, we are delighted to introduce the course lead for our new training in Complex trauma: the Tavistock model (D19), Emily Mercer.

A social worker and psychodynamic psychotherapist, Emily has worked in the Tavistock Trauma Service since 2020 and now occupies a senior role, drawing on over two decades of experience in the field of trauma.

We asked Emily to tell us a little about her professional background, what drew her to the Tavistock and Portman and D19 training in particular, and what she hopes incoming and future trainees will take from the course.

How did you get started in your career?

I initially trained as a clinical social worker in Canada and started my career over 20 years ago as a sexual assault counsellor and doing crisis interventions. This was my introduction to the field of trauma and as I developed in this role, I knew I wanted to specialise in this area. I was fortunate to find a Master’s training where I could focus on trauma, and this included a clinical placement in a trauma clinic. I developed a special interest in working with trauma and addiction concurrently while working for several years in an addictions service as an addictions therapist, alongside developing and leading a programme for women with addiction issues and complex trauma who experienced sexual abuse. Since then, I have had the opportunity to do trauma work in a variety of settings – including community agencies, mental health hospitals, the NHS and private practice, both in Canada and the United Kingdom. I have also gained extensive experience in programme and service development within these settings. I joined the Tavistock Trauma Service in 2020, where I am now Senior Psychotherapist.

What drew you to The Tavistock and Portman, and to the Tavistock Trauma Service in particular?

I chose to complete my psychodynamic psychotherapy training at The Tavistock and Portman because of its reputation for delivering quality clinical services and education. The teaching and supervision that I received was excellent, so I was not disappointed. I got to know the Trauma Service during that training, and I was drawn to it because the treatment model aligns closely with the way I work. The service is grounded in psychoanalytic thinking but uses a multi-modal approach which is needed when working with complex trauma. While trauma is often thought about in terms of the impact on patients’ internal world, the external world is also held in balance. This focus on the external world includes an understanding that trauma is political because it happens within a social context where some people are privileged, and others are oppressed. The Trauma Service approach embodies a lens of intersectionality as it is at the heart of trauma-informed work, and this helps us to consider some of these complexities.

What attracted you to take up the role of D19 course lead?

Throughout my career, I have been aware of the significant need for formal, in-depth clinical training beyond short CPD courses or a few lectures in a larger clinical training. Developing such a course has been a career ambition of mine so I was thrilled when I heard about the prospect of the new Complex trauma: the Tavistock model (D19) training, and the course lead role. Developing the course with Jo Stubley has been a creative and fun endeavour, and I am proud of the outcome. I look forward to our first cohort joining us this Autumn.  

Why do you think the course is important now?

There has always been a need for training like Complex trauma: the Tavistock model (D19), however there hasn’t been an acknowledgment of this need. Now, understanding of the significant impact that trauma has on individuals, families, communities and society, and of the need for specialised, trauma-informed treatment, is growing – along with demand for this kind of specialised training.

The development of this course has come out of a recognition that treatments grounded in a medical model can be re-traumatising, and there is growing evidence of a need to adapt the traditional psychoanalytic stance to work with traumatised individuals for similar reasons. Unfortunately, many training courses cannot give sufficient emphasis to trauma and therapists leave feeling that they lack the expertise or skills needed to do this work. This course offers sound clinical training to work as a trauma therapist within a psychoanalytic frame and addresses a gap in training that currently exists.   

What do you hope the first cohort of participants will take from the course?

I hope the first cohort of trainees will be able to take full advantage of all that the course has to offer – from the robust academic programme to the placement in our award-winning Trauma Service. There will be many learning opportunities beyond what is required on the course, and I hope they will find it invigorating. I also hope they will feel the warm welcome extended by the course team and team members in the Trauma Service. We are looking forward to them joining.  

What are your ambitions for the course in the longer term?

We are on track for the course to become accredited with a kitemark by the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), which will qualify therapists as Trauma Therapy Practitioners. We are also considering ways to use aspects of the course to support practitioners overseas. This is a truly unique training, and my ambition is for the course to become the go-to clinical training when psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychotherapists want to specialise in trauma.