Posted on: 12 March 2026
Teams from CNWL's Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) services are celebrating a major achievement after having five abstracts accepted for presentation at the British & Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorders (BIGSPD) conference, taking place in Blackpool this June.
The conference brings together practitioners, researchers and people with lived experience from across the UK and Ireland to share learning and innovation in the field of personality disorder.
CNWL is unique among NHS trusts in hosting four national prison-based OPD services, three of which are located within the women’s estate:
- EOS at HMP Bronzefield, a non-residential, mentalisation-based service supporting women with complex needs
- OPTIONS at HMP Downview, a non-residential service delivering dialectical behaviour-informed interventions
- PIPEs at HMP Send, two residential Psychologically Informed Planned Environments
- A specialist PIPE unit at HMP High Down for men with learning disabilities
This year, teams from CNWL’s Women’s OPD services will deliver three presentations and two poster presentations at the June conference, showcasing innovative clinical work and partnership approaches developed within prison settings.
Dr Louise Minchin & Dr Nicola Thomas, Lead Psychologists for Health and Justice at CNWL, said:
"We are really proud that our teams have the opportunity to showcase the amazing work they do. We are always keen to share our learning from the service users who work alongside us in these specialist services. To have five abstracts accepted in the face of such high standard competition is wonderful."
They will present on:
- Animations and Embodied Trauma in a Women’s Prison
- Bringing us together to share and express parts of our identity; to feel seen and included in a safe space
- Expanding the OPTIONS OPD Service Treatment Programme at HMP Downview to Better Address the Diverse and Complex Needs of Women in Prison
- More Than a ‘Right Move’: Women’s Transitions Into, Within and Out of PIPE
- Overcoming Barriers: An Operational and Clinical Partnership Approach to Staff Reflective Practice within a Women’s Prison Setting
The presentations in June will provide an opportunity to share CNWL’s learning nationally, contribute to the evolving understanding of personality disorder, and highlight the importance of psychologically informed approaches within prison environments.
Congratulations to everyone involved across the OPD teams!
