Professor Hannah Sherbersky
Leader, educator & researcher
I’m Professor Hannah Sherbersky, a family and systemic psychotherapist, educator and leading advocate for relational approaches to mental health and wellbeing.
I am passionate about family therapy and systemic thinking, and I champion high-quality therapeutic services for couples, young people and their families.
For more than 30 years, I’ve worked within the mental health sector – beginning my career as a mental health nurse, and then as an accredited Family and Systemic Psychotherapist.
In addition to my own private practice, I am Director of the Systemic Portfolio and Deputy Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes at the University of Exeter.
I am committed to bringing systemic ideas to new audiences – through my roles as an educator and clinician and through my contributions to documentaries, podcasts and other media.
About me
Leadership
My first leadership roles were in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services within the NHS, in both community and psychiatric settings, where I worked as Lead Family Therapist in an adolescent inpatient unit for nine years.
Since 2011, I’ve worked at the University of Exeter, where I’ve helped build one of the UK’s leading systemic training portfolios. I am Deputy Director of CEDAR (Clinical Education Development and Research). I recently completed a successful tenure as CEO for the Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy (AFSP) UK from 2022 – 2025.
Over the years, I’ve developed a range of specialist courses and I have expertise in delivering evidence-based treatments, including whole-team training for specialist eating disorder services.
I regularly liaise with NHS England about service design, delivery and commissioning.
My responsibilities as Deputy Director of CEDAR include academic conduct, fitness to practise, supporting our Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity programme, and developing our Expert by Experience strategy within the department.
Education
As a passionate educator, I’m committed to expanding the use of systemic ideas across services and strengthening connections within both the national and international family therapy community.
I’m excited by radical new ideas and collaborating with my international colleagues to develop them.
I have a strong focus on social justice, using systemic thinking to explore issues like health inequality and environmental impact.
I’m an AFSP/UKCP-registered supervisor and regularly present and deliver training both in the UK and internationally.
As part of my work with CEDAR, I have a leading role in the CEDAR Create training and CPD initiative.
I previously served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Family Therapy and External Examiner for the University of Leeds and Kings College London.
For five years, I served as Chair of the Confederation of Family Therapy Training Institutes, helping shape the profession at a national level.
Research
Over the past 15 years, my research has focused on developing and delivering innovative clinical training. I co-developed and manualised a couples therapy model through a research clinic at the University of Exeter, which has since been rolled out nationally.
In 2020, I completed a Doctorate exploring the idea of ‘home’ in inpatient settings. This led to a successful Health Education England (HEE)-funded project to pilot and evaluate specialist inpatient training in the Southwest, in collaboration with international colleagues.
My roles
Academic and clinical work
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