Gavin Cullen

Nurse Lecturer, Edinburgh Napier University

Gavin Cullen (MSc, BSc, RMN, Fellow of the HEA) works in the area of mental health practice and has done so for 30 years. Gavin worked as a Mental Health Nurse in clinical practice for 25 years. This included 20 years specialising in child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) practice, and 16 years employment as a Senior Charge Nurse. As a charge nurse, Gavin helped set up two new NHS CAMH services, including an inpatient unit. Having trained in cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy and a number of family-based approaches, his experiences leading nurses in a busy inpatient service led Gavin to become interested in the potential use of mindfulness and compassion-based approaches not just for patients and carers, but for staff well-being too. Gavin completed an MSc in Mindfulness Studies with Aberdeen University in 2010 which involved Mindfulness Association teacher training. He has also trained extensively in Compassionate Mind Training with Paul Gilbert and colleagues. He moved to working as a nurse lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University in 2018. He is currently three years into a five-year PhD study involving a feasibility trial of Compassionate Mind Training for first-year mental health student nurses.