I arrived at the University of Bolton in September 2012 as a new professor. I had worked for 27 years as a clinical psychologist in the British National Health Service (NHS). I retired from clinical work at age 54. Retirement did not agree with me. I needed a new source of income. I investigated becoming a university senior lecturer but to my surprise secured a professorial position. Like many undergraduate Psychology courses the department ran a module entitled ‘Abnormal Psychology.’ I felt I could usefully contribute to this module given my clinical expertise. I hoped I would be able to bring the clinic into the classroom for the students. Over the years, I discovered the clinic was already in the classroom. Many students had the same mental health problems that I encountered working in the NHS. In this chapter I describe how my research into mental health recovery in the NHS, proved invaluable. A series I authored called Remarkable Lives, became Remarkable (student) Lives. I have sometimes pondered, am I the professor who mistook his students for a publishing business? In this chapter I share my journey in higher education focussing especially on the issue of student mental health.
- The clinic is already in the classroom
- Jerome Carson - University of Greater Manchester
- Scott J. Threlfall (Editor)Jerome Carson (Editor) - University of Greater ManchesterGeoff Baker (Editor)
- Autoethnographic Reflections from the Classroom, pp.111-124
- Springer Nature Switzerland; Cham
- 9974829308841; 9783032145482; 3032145481
- © 2026 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
- Education; UoA 4: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience; Psychology
- English
- Book chapter