Tamar is a Lived Experience Consultant, Academic & Activist who was elected as a BIGSPD executive committee member with the aim of widening the awareness and inclusion of Mad Academia, Literature and Researchers within BIGSPD’s members, conferences & events.

Her other other aims include addressing the lack of research conducted by Black and Brown researchers and communities within this field, and promoting lesser seen faces to feel welcome as conference attendees. Tamar is also committed to encouraging connections with a wide spread of areas in the UK to maintain a broader spread of understanding and dissemination of knowledge in this field. 

Tamar currently works with NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit. Some of this work includes the series of research papers commissioned by NHS England for Complex Emotional Needs. She has worked in the NHS for 11 years within the field of ‘Personality Disorder’. She also runs a monthly ‘Mad Studies’ online event which welcomes anyone to join and discuss ‘Mad’ peer reviewed or grey literature. Prior to this she worked within research in the arts audience development, voluntary and market research fields. She has been a Survivor Activist since 2005, starting off by using art as a medium, now mainly using research in this endeavour.

She has worked as a Lived Experience Professional since 2010, where she was on the National Team as a Personality Disorder KUF (Knowledge & Understanding Framework) Trainer, working through Emergence, a Lived Experience Led Organisation which paved the way for much ground breaking work at BIGSPD.