Pauline McAvoy

Trainer

Pauline McAvoy
​Dr Pauline McAvoy is Clinical & Forensic Psychologist and an accredited Dialectical Behaviour Therapist.  She is currently working as a DBT Therapist and Clinical Lead for DBT in Bradford District Care Foundation Trust.

Training Experience in DBT

Pauline first trained in DBT in 2015 having had an interest in the therapy for many years.  Since then, she has completed Intensive DBT training, training for Team Leaders in Promoting Team Adherence, Adapting DBT for Substance Misuse Disorders and the DBT Prolonged Exposure Protocol for PTSD.  She was accredited as a DBT Therapist by the Society for DBT in Britain and Ireland in 2020.  She is currently undertaking training as a DBT Supervisor.  She joined the British Isles DBT Training Team in 2020.

Clinical Experience in DBT

Pauline set up a comprehensive DBT programme for adults in Community Mental Health Services in York & Selby and ran this for 5 years.  She provided guidance to the local Mental Health Providers about DBT adaptations for other populations.  She led a team in developing a DBT online skills training package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  She has developed a brief DBT adaptation for delivery in CMHTs and has trained staff in this in a number of mental health trusts in Yorkshire and the North East.  She has recently taken up post as Clinical Lead for DBT in Bradford and is developing a stepped-care approach to DBT delivery here.

Other Relevant Training and HEI Experience

Pauline became chartered as a Forensic Psychologist in 2000 and completed her Doctoral training in Clinical Psychology in 2012.  She has over 20 years’ experience in the delivery of behaviour treatment programmes and has supervised staff from a range of backgrounds including Forensic and Clinical Psychologists (including those in training), nurses, probation officers, substance misuse practitioners and teachers in both group and individual settings to deliver adherent treatment.   She is an occasional lecturer on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Leeds, lecturing in DBT and other topics such as reflective practice.  In addition to her DBT experience, she is an accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapy practitioner.