Peter Harper

Peter is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has extensive experience as a clinician, therapist, trainer and supervisor, both in the United Kingdom and abroad. Peter originally trained in South Africa and his heritage has had a strong influence on his multi-cultural awareness and the importance of co-creation. He worked in South Africa for nearly ten years, in voluntary and statutory agencies, and prior to arriving in the UK, ran a private practice and was consultant to various children’s residential treatment units. In the UK he worked for more than 25 years in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services within the National Health Service and was the Professional Lead for Child Psychology and Allied Disciplines in Northamptonshire. He continues to offer supervision, has a training input on various doctoral training programmes for clinical psychologists, and consults to a group of Children’s Residential Homes. His primary interests include strengths-based and preventive approaches to mental health and wellbeing; parenting and attachment; children who are looked after away from home; supervision and training; and integrative approaches to therapy. Humbled by the resilience of many young people who, despite adverse life experiences, manage to bounce back, Peter’s more recent work (together with Val Payne and in association with Action for Happiness) has focused on the development of the Keys to Happier Living Toolkit for Primary Schools, a resource for teachers to teach children the skills for emotional wellbeing and resilience. Peter is a member of several professional bodies, is an Associate Member of the British Psychological Society and has written various articles and chapters on working therapeutically with children and young people, as well as co-editing “Promoting the Emotional Well-being of Children and Adolescents and Preventing Their Mental Ill Health”. Peter is passionate about helping to create a kinder more caring society, and enjoys sharing random acts of kindness. He is an active member of Action for Happiness. The December 2017 Kindness Calendar he created in association with Action for Happiness was downloaded by nearly 2 million people.