ISRT Health Care

Hannah Bailey,
Psychotherapist (UK)

Hannah is a Subject Matter Expert in Mental Health and Wellbeing, working as a Psychotherapist, Trauma Therapist and Wellbeing Coach. She works across a variety of mental and emotional issues such as PTSD, Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, Moral Injury, Depression, Anxiety, Bereavement, Significant Change and many more.

Prior to this, she has 15 years’ experience working in frontline policing, including uniform response, CID and Major Crime. She works daily with those across the Emergency Services/Military/Frontline roles who may be struggling with their own mental health and wellbeing through the means of therapy, coaching, training and education.

Hannah therefore offers a unique insight into both the personal and professional aspects of mental health in frontline organisations, helping to build personal and organisational resilience, and working to best support those who need it. Sheconnects with her clients and audiences from a genuine place of understanding their work in high risk, demanding and complex roles, and delivers practical and relevant techniquesto help them improve their own mental health and wellbeing.

Marie Church,
Trauma assistance (UK)

Marie is a consultant Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist (CBT), with 20 years’ experience treating people using CBT, she trained at Goldsmith’s University, London, and was awarded an MSc in CBT in 2006. Marie attended training in New York under the direction of Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy and gained an Associate Fellowship with the Albert Ellis Institute in 2009. Marie’s special interest is in psychological trauma. She is a member of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She works with victims of trauma and through her work with the military, counterintelligence and Police she has developed an understanding of the complexities of the injured in these cultures.

Marie Church is a Registered Nurse and Specialist Nurse Practitioner in Occupational Health (OH), with over 40 years’ experience in OH across a number of sectors including MOD. Marie has been engaged to work in diverse and challenging circumstances. Including being part of an international capability and development team working for the UK Government abroad in East Africa. Secondly, she is engaged as part of a UK government deployment, to provide the necessary assurance and services, to assess and ensure the health and mental wellbeing of staff deployed to work on international war crimes. Marie was successful in achieving the title ‘Queens Nurse’ from the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

Michiel van der Pols,
Veteran coach (NL)

Until a few years ago, I was part of the Dutch anti-terrorist unit of the Marine Corps. This work was all about carrying out complex assignments under extreme conditions. As an officer, it was my responsibility to gain an overview, see opportunities, determine focus and draw up a clear plan to be successful as a unit and achieve a breakthrough. I continued this way of working in tackling the problems in the unsafe residential areas in the city of Rotterdam. I worked there for over twelve years. Together with the many partners in the area, we tried to reverse the years-long trend of crime and insecurity. This required a no-nonsense approach with an emphasis on a breakthrough in results.

Although these breakthroughs were often successful, a few years ago it was time to shift my focus from the outside world to my inner world. In twenty-five years of working on (inter)national breakthroughs, I had ignored my own feelings too much. A personal quest followed in which I went in search of my own breakthrough. I could finally see where the imbalance in my life had arisen: my professional role had overshadowed my humanity too much. I wanted to pass on the lessons I had learned to others. When I started as a coach, many veterans, active military personnel and police officers with the same issues came to my coaching because of my own work background. From the many conversations with them, I developed the breakthrough method. This is a no-nonsense method with which you quickly and effectively break through the blockade to your emotional world. You find yourself again.

After years of working on breakthroughs in the outside world, I now mainly help (former) high-risk professionals with their personal breakthrough in their inner world.