John Read

I am Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London. I worked for nearly 20 years as a Clinical Psychologist and manager of mental health services in the UK and the USA, before joining the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1994, where I worked until 2013. I have been Director of the Clinical Psychology professional graduate programmes at both Auckland and, more recently, the University of Liverpool. I have published over 130 papers in research journals, primarily on the relationship between adverse life events (eg child abuse/neglect, poverty etc.) and psychosis. I also research the negative effects of bio-genetic causal explanations on prejudice, the opinions and experiences of recipients of anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medication, and the role of the pharmaceutical industry in mental health research and practice.

I am on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (www.isps.org) and am the Editor of the ISPS’s scientific journal ‘Psychosis’. I am also a member of the BPS’s Alternatives to Diagnosis working group. My books include:
READ, J., DILLON, J. (eds.). (2013). Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Psychosis, 2nd edition. Routledge.