Welcome to the Mental Elf. This website will help you find just what you need to keep up-to-date with all of the important and reliable mental health research and guidance.

Our team of mental health experts post blogs every week day with short and snappy summaries that highlight evidence-based publications relevant to mental health practice in the UK and further afield.

All of our blogs are free to read. This is important because our vision for this website is to facilitate a democratic conversation between patients, clinicians, researchers, carers, policy makers, health and social care professionals and others. It’s vital that this discussion takes place in a public space so we can learn from each other.

Our bloggers give their time for free and they are all really keen to contribute because they shared our ethos for clearly communicating evidence-based research to anyone who is interested. This website is very much a group effort.

We scour over 500 sources of evidence (journals, databases, websites) every week, to find key guidance, systematic reviews and other high quality research and reports that will help make your practice more evidence-based. The selection process has no input from any external bodies, publishers, sponsors or commercial organisations.

No bias, no misinformation, no spin, just what you need.

Who started the Mental Elf?

The blog was started by André Tomlin in May 2011. André’s an Information Scientist and has worked in mental health since the late nineties, formerly at the University of Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Mental Health and since 2002 as MD of Minervation Ltd an evidence-based healthcare consultancy based in Oxford.

After  2 very successful years of blogging as the Mental Elf, André decided to invite colleagues to join him as contributors to the site. It’s great to involve a wide range of people in this venture, to bring in a fresh perspective and their considerable knowledge and clinical experience.

How is the Mental Elf funded?

The National Elf Service website, which contains the Mental Elf and a number of other elves covering topics from dentistry to social care, was set up by Minervation Ltd. The Founders of Minervation (André Tomlin and Douglas Badenoch) are also Founders and Directors of the National Elf Service. The website is self-funded and receives no money from the pharmaceutical industry or other commercial organisations. We feel that it is important we remain independent from any commercial organisations who work in mental health.

In 2012, we received a small research and development grant from the UK Government to carry out the market research to get our website fully tested and launched.

Does the Mental Elf make money?

All of the National Elf Service blogs (including the Mental Elf) are free. That will always remain so. Contributors are not paid for their blogs, and we only work with people who have no conflict of interest.

However, it costs money to run the website. We generate revenue from Membership. Our members enjoy the added benefits of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) system within the National Elf Service website. This is aimed at students and professionals who need to keep up to date with the latest research in a way that can be linked to their CPD. The CPD system has been built with significant investment from Minervation and is run as a business. We sell individual and institutional subscriptions to this website and our clients include universities, charities, the NHS and local authorities. An institutional subscription includes bulk access to our CPD membership area as well as consultancy support from our team. Find out more by reading our publicity leaflet.

We also generate revenue from consultancy services that we provide to the NHS, charities, universities, professional membership bodies and mental health networks. Our consultancy services include live reporting from mental health events (#BeyondTheRoom) and producing bespoke digital content (e.g. podcasts, videos).

Our plan is to build this business so we can grow the website and include other health topics in our list of elves.

Is the National Elf Service ever paid for content?

No. We do not accept commissioned articles, and we do not work with authors who have a conflict of interest with the paper in question.

Who writes for the Mental Elf?

We have an ever-expanding team of people who contribute to the site. The group includes senior clinicians and researchers, health and social care professionals, academics, service users, students, information scientists and carers.

We’re adding to our network of writers all the time, so find out more if you’re interested in getting involved yourself.

1. Clive Adams, Chair of Mental Health Services Research and Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group at the University of Nottingham
2. Sally Adams, Lecturer in Health Psychology at the University of Bath
3. Syeda Akther, Research Assistant, QMUL Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry
4. Lia Ali, Consultant Psychiatrist for Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
5. Eva Alisic, Psychologist and Research Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia
6. Ahmed Al-Shihabi, Medicine Student at University College London
7. Rachel Allan, Practice Leader for The Royal Mencap Society
8. Rob Allison, Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
9. Lucía Almazán Sánchez, Medical Student at King’s College London
10. Murtada Alsaif, Pharmacist
11. Ian Anderson, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester
12. Steve Appleton, Managing Director, Contact Consulting
13. Golnar Aref-Adib, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at UCL and Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
14. Louise Arseneault, ESRC Mental Health Leadership Fellow, Professor of Developmental Psychology at King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience
15. Douglas Badenoch, Director of Minervation Ltd
16. Joe Barnby, Research Assistant, University College London
17. John Baker, Chair of Mental Health Nursing at the University of Leeds
18. Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health
19. Jonny Benjamin, Mental Health Campaigner, Film Producer, Public Speaker, Writer and Vlogger
20. Laura Bennett, Research Assistant for the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme (LeDeR) at University of Bristol
21. Clara Belessiotis, Core Trainee in Psychiatry at East London Foundation Trust
22. Kathryn Berzins, Research Fellow in mental health at the School of Healthcare, University of Leeds
23. Victoria Betton, Director of mHabitat
24. Vishal Bhavsar, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellow in Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry
25. Catherine Bird, Research Assistant at The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
26. Lisa Bortolotti, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham
27. Helen Bould, Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
28. Lucy Bowes, Associate Professor in Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
29. Simon Bradstreet, Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow
30. Rachel Brand, Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow at Phoenix Australia: Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, The University of Melbourne
31. Josefien Breedvelt, Research Officer, Mental Health Foundation
32. Gerome Breen, Psychiatric Geneticist, King’s College London
33. Simon Brett, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner & MSci student at the University of Reading
34. Amy Broadbent, Research Assistant, Cambridge
35. Matthew Broome, Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
36. Mark Brown, Development Director of Social Spider CIC
37. Stefan Brugger, NIHR Academic Clinical Research Fellow at UCL
38. Martin Brunet, GP from the Binscombe Medical Centre
39. Kjetil Gundro Brurberg, Researcher in the Division of Primary Care and Clinical Procedures, Norwegian Knowledge Center for Health Services in Public Health, Oslo, Norway
40. Jennifer Burgess, Academic Clinical Fellow in General Adult Psychiatry in Newcastle
41. Lisa Burscheidt, Assistant Librarian at North East London NHS Foundation Trust
42. Peter Byrne, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at the Royal London Hospital
43. Alastair Canaway, Research Fellow, University of Warwick
44. Krysia Canvin, Independent Health Services Researcher
45. Victoria Carlisle, PhD Student, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
46. Sarah Carr, Associate Professor of Mental Health Research at Middlesex University, Independent Consultant at Sarah Carr and Associates Ltd
47. Brant Cebulla, Development Director for the Vitamin D Council in California, USA
48. Emma Cernis, Research Assistant, Oxford
49. Iain Chalmers, Coordinator, James Lind Initiative
50. Sarah Chapman, Knowledge Broker at UK Cochrane Centre
51. Paul Christiansen, Lecturer at the University of Liverpool
52. Andrea Cipriani, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford; Editor in Chief of Evidence-Based Mental Health
53. Natasha Clarke, PhD Student at the University of Liverpool
54. Alys Cole-King, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Spokesperson on Suicide and Self harm, and the Clinical Director of Connecting with People
55. Elizabeth Collier, Lecturer in Mental Health at the University of Derby
56. Jennifer Collom, Research Assistant, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London
57. Dean Connolly, Student at University College London
58. Nicola Coop, Assistant Psychologist
59. Mick Cooper, Professor of Counselling, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

60. Samuele Cortese, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant Child Psychiatrist at Solent NHS Trust

61. Elana Covshoff, Programme Manager, SHRINE
62. Marie Crabbe, Research Assistant, Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust
63. Jake Crawshaw, PhD candidate at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London
64. Byron Creese, Research Psychologist, University of Exeter
65. Ioana Cristea, Associate Professor at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca and a Research Fellow at the University of Pisa, Italy
66. Jazz Croft, PhD candidate, Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol
67. Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Salford
68. Emily Currell, MSc Student at University College London
69. David Daley, Professor of Psychological Intervention and Behaviour Change at the University of Nottingham
70. Sasha Danilina, PhD Student at University College London
71. Suzanne Dash, Graduate-Entry Medicine Student at the University of Oxford
72. Geoff Davies, Trainee Clinical Psychologist, University of Surrey
73. Kelly Davies, Lecturer in Mental Health, University of York
74. John M Davis, Professor of Psychiatry and Research Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago
75. Jennifer de Bayer, Research Coordinator, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Oxford University
76. Derek de Beurs, Senior Mental Health Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL)
77. Caroline De Brun, Knowledge and Evidence Manager, Public Health England Knowledge and Library Services
78. Angharad de Cates, Psychiatry Registrar and Honorary Research Fellow at Warwick Medical School
79. Jill Domoney, Clinical Psychologist and Researcher, Section of Women’s Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
80. Ailsa Donnelly, Lay Chair of the PRIMER group
81. Muna Dubad, PhD Student, University of Warwick
82. Jay Duckworth, PhD Student, University of Liverpool
83. Thalia Eley, Professor of Developmental Behavioural Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London
84. Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Professor at Exeter University
85. Michelle Eskinazi, MSC Student at University College London & Core Psychiatry Trainee at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
86. Norah Essali, Medical student, University of Kalamoon, Syria
87. Pete Etchells, Senior Lecturer in Biological Psychology, Bath Spa University
88. Katie Evans, Head of Research and Policy at Money and Mental Health
89. Alison Faulkner, Survivoer Researcher and Trainer in Mental Health
90. Mina Fazel, Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Oxford University Department of Psychiatry and Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
91. Matt Field, Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool
92. Caroline Fiennes, Director, Giving Evidence
93. Saoirse Finn, Network Co-ordinator, Arts Health Early Career Research Network
94. Meg Fluharty, Research Assistant, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
95. Andrés Fonseca, Consultant Psychiatrist, CEO of Health eLiving Partnership, Honorary Lecturer at UCL
96. Tamsin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Exeter
97. Alexander Foster, Research Worker in Global Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
98. Una Foye, Research Officer, Mental Health Foundation
99. Suzi Gage, Lecturer in Psychology and Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool
100. Linda Gask, Emerita Professor of Primary Care Psychiatry at the University of Manchester
101. Lina Gega, Reader in Mental Health at the University of York and Hull York Medical School
102. Clarissa Giebel, Researcher and PhD student, PSSRU, University of Manchester
103. Patricia Gillen, Head of Research and Development for Nurses, Midwives and AHPs/ Lecturer at the Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) and Ulster University
104. Maria Giorgalli, Student, MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London
105. Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, Artist, Midwife and Birth Activist
106. Guy Goodwin, Professor of Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Oxford
107. Sophie Graham, Medical Student, Newcastle University
108. Amy Green, Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Bristol
109. Ellen Grimas, PhD Student, Imperial College
110. Ian Hamilton, Lecturer in Mental Health in the Department of Health Sciences at York University
111. Terry Hanley, Senior Lecturer in Counselling Psychology, University of Manchester
112. Ben Hannigan, Reader in Mental Health Nursing in the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University
113. Keir Harding, Occupational Therapist, Cynnwys (together), the personality disorder service in Cardiff
114. Amanda Harris, Psychologist and Director of the Australian Child & Adolescent Trauma, Loss & Grief Network
115. Judith Harrison, Welsh Clinical Academic Training Fellow, Cardiff University
116. Camille Hart, Psychiatric Trainee Doctor, Queen’s University, Belfast
117. Suzan Hassan, PhD Student at UCL Primary Care and Population Health
118. Helge Hasselmann, Research Masters Student in Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences at Maastricht University
119. Simon Hatcher, Full Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Ottawa
120. Joseph Hayes, Clinical Training Fellow, UCL Division of Psychiatry
121. Laura Hemming, PhD Student, University of Manchester
122. Sarah Hetrick, Associate Professor in Youth Mental Health, University of Auckland
123. Jessamy Hibberd, Chartered Clinical Psychologist
124. Kerrie-Anne Ho, PhD Candidate, University of New South Wales, Australia
125. Chris Hollis, Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham and Consultant in Developmental Neuropsychiatry with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
126. Mark Horowitz, Training Psychiatrist from Australia who is completing a PhD at King’s College London
127. Maxine Howard, PhD student at University College London
128. Dochka Hristova, Project Coordinator for the National Elf Service
129. Samei Huda, Consultant Psychiatrist, Pennine Care, Manchester
130. Liz Hughes, Professor of Mental Health at University of Huddersfield and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
131. Neil Humphrey, Professor of Psychology of Education and Head of the Manchester Institute of Education at the University of Manchester
132. Jane Iles, Clinical Psychologist working in CAMHS and Research Associate at Imperial College London
133. Udita Iyengar, Project Manager in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
134. Pamela Jacobsen, Clinical Psychologist and NIHR Research Fellow at King’s College London
135. Benjamin Janaway, Psychiatry trainee and Science communicator
136. Alex Jarram, PhD student at University College London
137. Sameer Jauhar, Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Institute of Psychiatry
138. Sam Jee, Research Associate at the University of Manchester
139. Sonia Johnson, Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry at UCL, Director of the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit
140. Susie Johnson, Recent Graduate from Bristol University
141. Mandy Johnstone, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Edinburgh
142. Andrew Jones, Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool
143. Ian Jones, Professor of Perinatal Psychiatry at Cardiff University, Director of the Welsh National Centre for Mental Health
144. Jonathan Jones, PhD Psychology student at the University of Exeter
145. Mona Jones, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, AnDY Research clinic, University of Reading
146. Dan Joyce, Clinical Lecturer at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, Junior Doctor in general adult psychiatry
147. Joe Judge, Clinical Psychologist, Hamilton Psychological Therapies Team, Lanarkshire, Scotland
148. Dafni Katsampa, Research Assistant, UCL Division of Psychiatry
149. Eleanor Kennedy, PhD Student at Bristol Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
150. Patrick Kennedy-Williams, BPS Chartered and HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist, Co-director of Psychology Oxford
151. Roxanne Keynejad, Clinical Research Training Fellow in the Section of Women’s Mental Health at King’s College London
152. Olivia Kirtley, Research Assistant, University of Glasgow
153. Pooky Knightsmith, Speaker, Lecturer, Trainer, Author and Vice Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition
154. Sarah Knowles, Research Fellow, NIHR School for Primary Care Research
155. Stanley Kutcher, Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health and the Director WHO Collaborating Care in Mental Health Policy and Training at Dalhousie University and IWK Health Centre in Canada
156. Jennifer Laidlaw, PGY-5 Resident in Psychiatry, University of Toronto
157. Danielle Lamb, Programme Manager of the AD-CARE study at the UCL Division of Psychiatry
158. Nicky Lambert, Director of Teaching and Learning Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine at Middlesex University
159. Alex Langford, Psychiatrist, Oxford
160. Jennifer Lau, University Lecturer at the University of Oxford. Director of the Researching Emotional Disorders and Development (REDD) lab
161. Sharon Lawn, Professor, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Australia
162. Keith Laws, Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Hertfordshire
163. Kirsten Lawson, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist and Clinical Lead for Liaison Psychiatry Services at Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust
164. Caroline Leah, Senior Lecturer and Social Worker based at Manchester Metropolitan University
165. William Lee, Clinical Associate Professor (Reader) in Psychiatry at Plymouth University
166. Simon Leigh, Health Economist at Lifecode® Solutions and Nexus Clinical Analytics, Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool
167. Douglas Levinson, Director of the Stanford University Program on the Genetics of Brain Function in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
168. Gemma Lewis, University College London
169. Michelle Lim, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at Swinburne University of Technology, and Head of the Social Health and Wellbeing Laboratory
170. Bryn Lloyd-Evans, Senior Lecturer in the UCL Division of Psychiatry
171. Maria Loades, Senior Lecturer/Clinical Tutor, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme at the University of Bath
172. Karina Lovell, Director of Research and Professor of Mental Health, University of Manchester
173. Colleen Loo, Professor of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia
174. Raluca Lucacel, PhD Student, Cluj Napoca, Romania
175. Maartje Luijten, Assistant Professor, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
176. James MacCabe, Reader in the Epidemiology of Psychosis at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
177. Lucy Maddox, NHS Clinical Psychologist, Lecturer and BSA Media Fellow
178. Sarah Man, Staff Nurse, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit
179. Sammy Man, Clinical Psychologist
180. Farhana Mann, Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow at University College London and Specialist Registrar (ST6) in General Adult Psychiatry in North London
181. Warren Mansell, Reader in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester
182. Elena Marcus, Research Assistant at the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and University College London
183. Joanna Martin, PhD Student at Cardiff University
184. Steven Marwaha, Reader, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick
185. Lisa Marzano, Associate Professor in Psychology at Middlesex University
186. Timothy Matthews, Postdoctoral Researcher, King’s College London
187. Olivia Maynard, Research Associate, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at the University of Bristol
188. Edel Mc Glanaghy, Clinical Psychologist with NHS Forth Valley and a Research Fellow at Edinburgh Napier University
189. Sarah McDonald, Clinical Psychologist
190. Iain McDougall, Specialist trainee in General Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Belfast
191. Carla McEnery, Provisional Psychologist and PhD candidate, Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
192. Paula McFadden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Ulster University
193. Andrew McIntosh, Professor of Biological Psychiatry in the University of Edinburgh Division of Psychiatry
194. Kwame McKenzie, CEO of Wellesley Institute
195. John McGowan, Director and Academic Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Scheme at the Salomons Centre for Applied Psychology, Kent
196. Kate McLaughlin, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington, USA
197. Peter McMurray, Psychiatry Core Trainee working in the Southern Trust in Northern Ireland
198. Chris Miller, Research Assistant at the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
199. Kathryn Mitchell, Core Psychiatry Trainee working in the Belfast Trust, Northern Ireland
200. Emma Molyneaux – Postdoctoral Researcher in the Section of Women’s Mental Health at King’s College London and works for the Mental Health Policy Research Unit
201. Mark Monaghan, Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at the University of Loughborough
202. Stephen Moore, Inpatient Psychiatrist in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, Northern Ireland
203. Paul Morrison, Psychiatrist and Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, KCL
204. Nuala Morse, Lecturer in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester
205. Michelle Moulds, Professor and PLuS Alliance Fellow, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia
206. Claire Mokrysz, PhD Student, University College London
207. John Moriarty, Research Fellow, University of Belfast
208. Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol
209. Monisha Nahar, MSc Student, UCL
210. Akshay Nair, Wolfson Clinical Research Fellow, University College London
211. Josephine Neale, Trainee Psychiatrist in North London
212. Natalie Nelissen, Research Fellow at mHabitat
213. Rosalyn Nelson, Assistant Psychologist, North Wilts Memory Service, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
214. Jill Newby, Senior Lecturer, MRFF/NHMRC Career Development Fellow and Research Director of the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney
215. Nicola Newhouse, Researcher at Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford
216. Claire Niedzwiedz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health at the University of Edinburgh
217. Peter Norton, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and Director of the Monash FEAR Clinic
218. Aileen O’Brien, Reader in Psychiatry and Education & Dean for Students at St George’s University of London
219. Elly O’Brien, Information Scientist, London
220. Siobhan O’Neill, Professor of Mental Health Sciences at Ulster University
221. Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Consultant in Public Health in Bradford & Airedale and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds
222. Chris O’Sullivan, Mental Health Foundation
223. Michael Ostacher, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine
224. Dennis Ougrin, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience
225. Gozde Ozakinci, Health Psychologist and Lecturer in health psychology at the University of St Andrews
226. Geoff Page, Research Fellow, University of York
227. Laurence Palfreyman, Assistant Psychologist in South London
228. Harry Palmer, Programme Coordinator, Mental Health Research Programme, Veterans and their Families (UK), Centre for Mental Health
229. Carmine Pariante, Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
230. Jennie Parker, Senior Researcher at the McPin Foundation
231. Christopher Pell, In-patient General Adult Psychiatrist at the Susan Carnegie Centre in Angus, Scotland for NHS Tayside
232. Elvira Perez Vallejos, Associate Professor Digital Tech for Mental Health, University of Nottingham
233. Serap Pinar, Biomedical and Molecular Science Research (M.Sc) from King’s College London
234. Vanessa Pinfold, Co-Founder & Research Director at the McPin Foundation
235. Alexandra Pitman, Senior Clinical Lecturer in the UCL Division of Psychiatry and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
236. Rudiger Pittrof, Consultant in Sexual and Reproductive Health, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
237. Belinda Platt, Post-Doc at the LMU University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
238. Rob Poole, Professor of Social Psychiatry, Bangor University
239. Inês Pote, Research Officer for the Early Intervention Foundation
240. Amy Price, Trustee of the ThinkWell charity where she leads the PLOT-IT (Public Led Online Trials-Infrastructure and Tools) project
241. Paul Ramchandani, LEGO Professor of Play in Education, University of Cambridge
242. Matt Ravenhall, Final year Biology student at the University of York
243. Stefan Rennick-Egglestone, Digital Research Specialist, University of Nottingham
244. Laoise Renwick, Lecturer at the University of Manchester
245. Shirley Reynolds, Director of the Charlie Waller Institute and Professor of Evidence Based Psychological Therapies at the University of Reading
246. Thomas Richardson, Principal Clinical Psychologist at Solent NHS Trust
247. Abi Rose, Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Liverpool
248. Diana Rose, Professor of User-Led Research, Head of Section and Co-director Service User Research Enterprise (SURE), King’s College London
249. Rachel Rowan-Olive, Mental Health Service User/Survivor, Illustrator, and graduate student at Birkbeck, University of London
250. Sarah Rowe, Lecturer on the MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences and MSc Mental Health Sciences Research, UCL Division of Psychiatry
251. Tobias Rowland, Academic Clinical Fellow, University of Warwick
252. Katharine Sacks-Jones, Director of Agenda
253. Emma Saddleton, Research Worker and part-time MSc student at the Institute of Psychiatry, London
254. Tatiana Salisbury, Lecturer in Global Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
255. Paul Salkovskis, Director of the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Oxford Centre for Cognitive Therapy
256. Christopher Sampson, Health Economist at the University of Nottingham
257. João Santos, Research Associate and Data Manager, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester
258. Leela Sathyaputri, Undergraduate Research Assistant at the University of Iowa
259. Martyna Sawicka, Data Collection Coordinator, Arizona Twin Project at Arizona State University
260. Heike Schroder, Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Queen’s University Management School
261. Ava Schulz, Postdoctoral Researcher on the OPTIMAX project
262. Susanne Schweizer, Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscienc
263. Lucas Shelemy, PhD Researcher, University of Reading
264. Andrew Shepherd, Doctoral research Fellow at the University of Manchester and Higher Trainee in Forensic Psychiatry
265. Hilary Shepherd, MSc Dementia student at University College London
266. Luke Sheridan-Rains, Research associate in the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, UCL Division of Psychiatry
267. Lucy Simons, Research Fellow at NIHR MindTech Healthcare Technology Cooperative, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham
268. Megan Skelton, PhD student in the Emotional Development Intervention and Treatment Lab (EDIT Lab) at King’s College London
269. Mark Smith, IAPT Clinician working for Steps2Change and independent Psychotherapist Trainer
270. Francesca Solmi, Research Associate, Division of Psychiatry, University College London
271. Andrew Sommerlad, PhD Fellow, University College London
272. Sophie Stammers, Research Fellow on Project PERFECT at the University of Birmingham
273. Emily Stapley, Research Fellow in the Evidence Based Practice Unit at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and UCL
274. David Steele, Junior Doctor with an interest in psychology, psychiatry and public health
275. Becci Strawbridge, Mental Health Research, IoPPN, King’s College London
276. Caroline Struthers, Education and Training Manager for the EQUATOR Network
277. Shuichi Suetani, Psychiatrist at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research & Queensland Brain Institute
278. Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University
279. Irene Sutcliffe, Lived experience expert
280. Rebecca Syed, Researcher, King’s College London
281. Edward Sykes, Senior Press Manager and Head of Mental Health & Neuroscience, Science Media Centre
282. Danny Taggart, Academic Director, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Essex
283. Marcus Tan, Academic Clinical Fellow at Plymouth University School of Medicine
284. Andrew Thompson, Clinical Health Psychologist, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
285. Rupert Thurston, Junior Doctor working in General Adult Psychiatry in the West Midlands
286. Caroline Tomes, Public Health Specialty Registrar currently working in Cambridge
287. André Tomlin, Founder and Managing Director of Minervation Ltd and the National Elf Service Ltd
288. Anneka Tomlinson, Clinician and Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
289. John Torous, Director of the Digital Psychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
290. Solomon Towuru, Lecturer in Mental Health, University of Derby
291. Derek Tracy, Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Clinical Director for crisis, inpatient, and rehabilitation services at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
292. David Turgoose, Clinical Psychologist, Attachment and Trauma Team at Great Ormond Street Hospital
293. Alison Turner, Head of the Evidence Analysis team within the Strategy Unit at NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
294. Alan Underwoord, Specialist Clinical Psychologist
295. Raphael Underwood, PhD candidate at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
296. Noortje Uphoff, Research Fellow, Cochrane Common Mental Disorder, University of York
297. Rachel Upthegrove, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Birmingham
298. Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
299. Kathryn Walsh, Research Associate at the University of Birmingham
300. Joanne Wallace, Graduate Entry Medical Student at The University of Warwick
301. Michael Walton, PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University
302. Jingyi Wang, Research Associate, UCL
303. Fiona Warner-Gale, Joint Director of Associate Development Solutions Ltd
304. Andrew Watson, Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh
305. Sarah Watts, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Clinical Lead with the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust South Staffordshire IAPT teams
306. Jasmin Wertz, PhD Student, Kings College London
307. Simon Wessely, Chair of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences (IoPPN), King’s College London
308. Danny Whiting, Forensic Psychiatrist and NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow with the Forensic Psychiatry Research Group at the University of Oxford
309. Michael Wigelsworth, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester
310. Lucy Willetts, Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Accredited CBT Therapist
311. Sarsha Wilson, Research Assistant at the NIHR Oxford Cognitive Health Clinical Research Facility
312. Emma Wincup, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Law at the University of Leeds
313. Katrina Witt, Research Fellow with the Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford
314. Stephen Wood, Professor of Adolescent Brain Development and Mental Health at the University of Birmingham
315. Emma Yapp, Research Assistant in the Section of Women’s Mental Health in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London
316. Fabio Zucchelli, Sport and Exercise Psychology MSc student

Groups who have blogged

In addition to the individuals who blog for us, we sometimes publish blogs written by groups of people. These are often written as part of a training session or introduction to blogging; sometimes by students, sometimes by health professionals or academics. Here are some of the groups who have written Mental Elf blogs:

1. CAMSTRAND Conference delegates
2. Centre for Affective Disorders, King’s College London
3. Child and Adolescent Mental Health MSc, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
4. Clinical Mental Health Sciences MSc, University College London
5. EQUATOR Publication School
6. Mental Health Studies MSc, King’s College London
7. NPNR Conference delegates
8. PenCLAHRC: NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) South West Peninsula
9. Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health MSc/PGDip/PGCert, King’s College London

Contact us if you’d like André Tomlin to teach blogging and social media in your institution.

Who decides what evidence is included on the website?

We scour over 400 databases, journals, websites and other feeds to bring you the best available mental health evidence.  Items are selected using an evidence-based inclusion criteria to ensure they are relevant to UK practice and based on high quality research, policy and guidance.

The selection process has no input from any external bodies, publishers, sponsors or commercial organisations.

We critically appraise the material we find using the CASP critical appraisal checklists.

Press coverage

• Profile: André Tomlin. BJPsych Bulletin, April 2018.
• André Tomlin: Mental Elf Guru. The Lancet Psychiatry, January 2016.
• Keeping up to date with reliable mental health research: the Minervation white paper. Douglas Badenoch and André Tomlin, 19th May 2015.
• Keeping up to date with mental health research. André Tomlin, The Guardian, 15th Apr 2013.
• Treating mental illness in the digital age. Pete Etchells, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb 2013.
• The Mental Elf. Royal College of Psychiatrists useful resources, eNewsletter, Sep 2012.

Are there more elves for different health topics?

We are adding to our National Elf Service all the time.  Check out these other elves:

• The Child Elf
• The Commissioning Elf
• The Dental Elf
• The Diabetes Elf
• The Education Elf
• The Learning Disabilities Elf
• The Lifestyle Elf
• The Musculoskeletal Elf
• The Social Care Elf
• The Stroke Elf

Contact us if you’d like to discuss collaborating on an elf in your field of interest.