Stephen Briggs is Professor of Social Work and Director of the Centre for Social Work Research. He holds degrees from Cambridge (BA History), Oxford (MSc Applied Social Studies and UEL (PhD). Since qualifying as a social worker in 1977 he has combined an academic career with continuing involvement in practice; he has worked since 1991 in multidisciplinary mental health practice in the Tavistock Clinic’s Adolescent Department. He joined UEL in 1994, became Reader in 2003 and Professor in 2006. His research interests are psycho-socially oriented and psychoanalytically informed. Currently they focus on the following key themes:

• Adolescent mental health
• Psychoanalytic ally informed therapeutic practice with young people,
• Psychoanalytic approaches to suicidality and self-harm
• Research from infant observation and its application to understanding infant mental health
• ‘Practice-near’  research methodologies, including their application to evaluation research in  health and social care.

• Director of the Centre for Social Work Research
• Joint Editor of the Journal of Social Work Practice

• Doctoral Programmes
• PhD and Professional Doctorate supervisions
• MA in Social Work
• Course tutor for:  Relating to self- harm and suicide in adolescence (Tavistock CPD course)  http://www.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/cpd29

Recent and Current Research

Evaluation of the Safeguarding Children’s Rights Initiative; exploring issues of witchcraft and spirit possession in London’s African communities (Trust for London, 2008 – 2011)

Study of referrals to an A&E following an episode of self-harm, a suicide attempt or in a suicidal crisis (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 2009-2011)

Scoping prison health care provision. South East Coast Health Authority (2009-2010)

Studies of Maytree, a respite centre for the suicidal: (Study of potential guest referrals to Maytree Respite Centre, Goldsmiths Charity (2010); Study of outcomes for people staying at Maytree Respite Centre (2008); Evaluation of Maytree - a respite centre for the suicidal. (2005 – 2006):

Mapping and Research of Statutory Learning Opportunities in London. (Skills for Care, 2008)

Scoping mental health social work placements (Skills for Care, 2009-2010)

(See CSWR pages for full details)

Publications

Books

S Briggs 1997 Growth and Risk in Infancy (London, Jessica Kingsley)

S Briggs 2002  Working with Adolescents: A Contemporary Psychodynamic Approach.

                            (Basingstoke, Palgrave.)

S Briggs 2005      Real Life Issues: Addictions. London, Trotman Publishing

S Briggs, A Lemma and W Crouch (eds.) 2008 Relating to self-harm and suicide:

                             psychoanalytic perspectives on practice, theory and research. (London,                 

                             Routledge)

S Briggs 2008       Working with Adolescents and Young Adults; A contemporary

                              psychodynamic approach. (Basingstoke, Palgrave, Second Edition)

Peer-reviewed journal articles (from 2005- )

• J. Wright, S Briggs, J. Behringer.2005 Attachment and the body in suicidal adolescents. 2005 Journal of Clinical and Consulting Child Psychology, 10, 4, 477-491
• S Briggs, J.Maltsberger, M.Goldblatt, R. Lindner, G.Fiedler 2006  Assessing and engaging suicidal teenagers in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Archives for Suicide Research,10,4, 1-15
• S Briggs 2006 ‘Consenting to its own destruction…..’ A Reassessment of Freud's development of a theory of suicide.  Psychoanalytic Review 93, 4, 541-56
• S Briggs, L Webb, J Buhagiar, G Braun. 2007 Maytree: A respite centre for the suicidal: An evaluation. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2007 Vol 28(3) 140-147
• S Briggs, L Webb, J Buhagiar, G Braun, A Trotter 2009 An Evaluation of Maytree, a short-term respite centre for the suicidal; implications for practice and prevention. Suicidologi, Oslo,  ÅRG. 14, NR. 3, 26-29
• S Briggs 2009 Risks and opportunities in adolescence: understanding adolescent mental health difficulties. Journal of Social Work Practice, 23, 1, 149-164
• S Briggs and L Froggett 2009 Editorial, Special issue on Practice-Near Research. Journal of Social Work Practice, 23, 4
• R Lindner and S. Briggs 2010 "Forming Ideal Types by Understanding: Application to the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Suicidal Men" Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/ Forum: Qualitative Social Research (ISSN 1438-5627) Volume 11, No. 2, Art. 12, May 2010
• S Briggs 2010 Time limited psychodynamic psychotherapy for adolescents and young adults. Journal of Social Work Practice, 24, 2, 181-196
• S Briggs and L Lyon 2011 A developmentally focussed time-limited psychodynamic psychotherapy for adolescents and young adults: origins and applications, Revue Adolescence, no.76, 415-434 (Adolescence, 2011, T.29, n°2, p 415-434)
• S Briggs, M Goldblatt, R. Lindner, JT Maltsberger and G Fiedler (2012) Suicide and Trauma; a case discussion (Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy)
• S Briggs and H Hingley-Jones (2012) Reconsidering adolescent subjectivity; a ‘practice-near’ approach to the study of adolescents, including those with severe learning difficulties (British Journal of Social Work)

Book chapters (from 2005-)

• S. Briggs 2005, Psychoanalytic research in the era of evidence-based practice. In Bower M. (ed) Psychoanalytic theory for social work practice. London, Routledge, pages 15-29.
• S Briggs 2008 Postvention: the impact of suicide and suicidal behaviour on family members, professionals and organisations in S Briggs, A Lemma and W Crouch (ed) 2008 Relating to self-harm and suicide: psychoanalytic perspectives on practice, theory and research. London, Routledge
• S Briggs 2010 Suicide prevention and working with suicidal people; the contribution of psychoanalysis in Patrick, M and Lemma, A.  Off the Couch: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Applications London, Routledge
• S Briggs and L Priddis 2010 Feeding difficulties in infancy and childhood: psychoanalytic perspectives in Southall, A (ed)Feeding difficulties in childhood, Oxford, Radcliffe Medical Press, 2^nd Edition
• S Briggs and L Lyon 2012 Time limited psychodynamic psychotherapy for adolescents and young adults, in A Lemma (ed) Developments in the Tavistock, London, Karnac (forthcoming)
• S Briggs and J Behringer 2012 Linking infant observation research and other paradigms in C Urwin and J Sternberg eds Infant observation and Research: emotional Processes in Everyday Lives London, Karnac
• S Briggs 2012 Observation, containment, counter-transference: the contribution of psychoanalytic thinking to contemporary relationship based social work practice in A Briggs, ed, Reflections on the work of Hamish Canham, London, Karnac

Reviewed/published research reports

• S Briggs, L Webb, J Buhagiar and G Braun 2006 Evaluation of Maytree, a Respite Centre for the Suicidal (published by City Parochial Trust, June 2006).
• S Briggs, T McCaffrey, A Mulla J Trigg, A Trotter 2008 Mapping and Research of Practice Learning Opportunities for Social Workers in London. (Skills for Care London)
• S Briggs, L Webb, L Ainscow, H Linford, T McCaffrey Scoping capacity to deliver practice learning for social work students in statutory mental health settings. A research project conducted for Skills for Care by the Centre for Social Work Research
• T McCaffrey, S Briggs, H Linford and A Whittaker 2010 South East Coast Offender Health Project Board Final Report Commissioned by NHS South East Coast Education Commissioning Board Project Sponsor NHS Surrey
• S Briggs, A Whittaker, H Linford, A Bryan, E Ryan, D Ludick 2011 Trust for London Safeguarding Special Initiative: witchcraft and spirit possession 

Psychotherapy treatment manual

L Lyon and S Briggs (2010) Time Limited Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Adolescents and Young Adults

Conferences and seminars organised

2006  Chair of the Organising Committee, 2^nd International Congress; Psychoanalysis and Suicidality. Tavistock Clinic, London 30^th March – 2^nd April 2006.

2006 – 2008: “Practitioner research and ‘practice near’ research methods” (£15k ESRC seminar series competition, with Prof L. Froggett, UCLAN).  

Selected talks and conference papers

• 2004 Turbulence and containment in psychoanalytic work with troubled adolescents. Dutch Psychoanalytic Society Conference. Invited keynote paper. Amsterdam 17^th June 2004
• 2004 Beginning psychotherapy with a suicidal adolescent. Symposium: Psychoanalysis and suicidality, with Dr R. Lindner, Prof, T. Maltsberger, Dr M Goldblatt. 10th European Symposium of Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour, Copenhagen 25-27^th August 2004
• 2005 Suicidality in adolescence: underlying attachment and object relations patterns. ‘Confer’ lecture series: The Psychodynamics of Self Destruction. London, 31/1/05
• 2005 Working with the risk of suicide in adolescents. Keynote Winchester Youth Counselling Service Conference 06/07/05
• 2006 Suicidality in adolescence: generating ‘practice near’ research.  2^nd International Congress: Psychoanalysis and Suicidality, Tavistock Clinic, London, March 30^th- April 2^nd. 
• 2007    Postvention: the impact of suicide and suicidal behaviour on young people, families and organisations. Conference in honour of Prof P Goetze, University of Hamburg, 28 October 2007.
• 2008    The implications of suicidality in adolescence, for self, others (families) and organisations. Tavistock Clinic Scientific Meeting 12 05 08
• 2008    Developmental psychopathology in infancy; a psychoanalytic perspective. University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, 14 06 08
• 2008    ‘I feel better but I don’t know why’: time-limited psychoanalytic psychotherapy for young people who are suicidal. Symposium paper, 12^th European Symposium for suicide and suicidal behaviour, Glasgow, 29 August 2008
• 2008    An Evaluation of Maytree, a short-term respite centre for the suicidal; implications for practice and prevention. 12^th European Symposium for suicide and suicidal behaviour, Glasgow, 29 August 2008
• 2008    Positioning of teenagers towards self-harm: an initial study in a London secondary school. 12^th European Symposium for suicide and suicidal behaviour, Glasgow, 29 August 2008
• 2008   Risks and opportunities in adolescence: understanding adolescent mental health difficulties. Inaugural professorial lecture University of East London, 21/10/08
• 2009    Attachment and internalisation of the mother-infant relationship; the contribution of psychoanalytic infant observation, Symposium with C Urwin and J Behringer,  International Attachment Congress, Barcelona 1^st-3^rd October 2009
• 2009 Mental health, suicide and self-harm in the last 50 years. Adolescence then and now. Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 09/10/09

2010

• S Briggs, L Froggett, H Hingley-Jones Practice Near Research, Symposium, JSWEC Conference, University of Hatfield, 30^th June 2010
• S Briggs Continuities in infant development and parenting processes: the management of
• intimacy, separation and separateness' Symposium paper, World Association of  Infant Mental Health Congress, Leipzig, 30 06 10
• S Briggs, C Urwin, J Behringer, Early interaction, internalisation and attachment: The contributions of psychoanalytic infant observation, Symposium, World Association of  Infant Mental Health Congress, Leipzig, 01 07 10
• S Briggs Processes of transmission in parent-infant relationships for Bangladeshi families in London; illustrations from infant observation, symposium paper World Association of  Infant Mental Health Congress, Leipzig, 02 07 10
• S Briggs, M Goldblatt, R Lindner, JT Maltsberger The traumatic dimension of suicidal behavior: psychoanalytic reflections on clinical practice Symposium presentation, 13^th Symposium of Suicidal behaviour, Rome, 01 09 10

2011

• S Briggs, L Froggett, H Hingley Jones and A Whittaker Practice Near Research, symposium, European Social Work Research Conference 24 03 11
• S Briggs Relating to suicidal behaviour and self-harm in adolescents, Symposium paper, European Social Work Research Conference 24 03 11
• S Briggs Findings from the evaluation of the special safeguarding children initiative: witchcraft and spirit possession. Conference organised by London Safeguarding Children Board and Trust for London 12 05 11
• S Briggs Self-harming behaviour and self-destructive thoughts in Adolescence NScience lecture, London 23 06 11
• S Briggs Reaching a Wider Audience: Combining theoretical paradigms in teaching infant observation: the usefulness of the research perspective. Infant Observation Conference, Tavistock 01 09 11
• S Briggs Relating to Young People and Development in Adolescence, Hounslow Safeguarding Board Conference, 08 10 11
• S Briggs Evaluation findings and their implications for practice. Witchcraft and Spirit Possession in Child Protection. Gathering Perspectives For Informed Practice, Tavistock Centre, London 14 11 11
• S Briggs Rethinking the Adolescent Process: Becoming more adult in the 21st century. Transition to Adulthood conference, Kids Company and the Tavistock Clinic, London 02 12 11

Editor

• Journal of Social Work Practice

Reviewer for

• Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
• British Journal of Psychotherapy
• Australian Social Work
• International Journal of Social Research Methods
• Journal of Advanced Nursing
•  National Institute for Health Research (reviewer for research proposals to Research for Patient Benefit Scheme)
• National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR)
• Book manuscripts (Routledge, Jessica Kingsley)

Member of

• ESRC Peer review College
• National Institute of Clinical Excellence clinical guideline development group: the longer term management of self-harm (2009-2011)

External PhD Examiner

• University of Paris 7
• Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA
• City University
• University of Kent
• Middlesex University

Hertfordshire University