Brilliantly informative and thought-provoking
A great mix of delegates and networking opportunities
Conferences: Forthcoming Events
Each year, Harmless hosts two flagship conferences covering Self Harm & Suicide Prevention and Suicide Bereavement.
From Harm to Hope: The 11th National Self Harm & Suicide Prevention Conference 2026
Friday 27th February 2026 9am–5pm
Trent Conference Centre, Trent Vineyard, Nottingham NG7 2PX
In-Person & Online
Join Harmless – the national centre of excellence for self harm and suicide prevention – for its flagship 2026 conference. This CPD-accredited event brings together experts, leading academics and professionals from across the sector for a powerful day of evidence-based insights, practical solutions and shared experiences. Our conference theme for 2026 is The Uncomfortable Truth: Confronting Barriers to Connection in Self Harm and Suicide Prevention.
Meet Our Plenary Speakers and Workshop Leaders
Kristy Themelis
Nottingham Trent University
Kristy Themelis
Nottingham Trent University
Hidden Crisis: Suicide Risk in People Living with Chronic Pain
This plenary session will explore the under-recognised link between chronic pain and suicide, highlighting why people living with persistent pain face significantly elevated risk and how this risk develops over time. It will draw on emerging evidence from biopsychosocial research and examine some key risk factors such as the role of mental defeat and entrapment. It will also consider early signs and temporal patterns that may help identify those at greatest risk. The session will conclude by discussing implications for clinical practice, prevention, and research, emphasising the need for integrated, compassionate approaches to support this high-risk population.
Kristy Themelis is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. Her research focuses on understanding why people living with chronic pain face increased risk of suicide. Her work draws on biopsychosocial science, longitudinal methodologies, and real-world data to uncover mechanisms of vulnerability and identify early intervention targets. She is passionate about translating evidence into meaningful clinical impact and contributes to cross-disciplinary efforts to improve care for people with persistent pain.
Mark Cody
Granborghini
Mark Cody
Granborghini
Re-Igniting Purpose: How Thinking Outside of the Box Can Save Lives
Nina Smith
Edge Hill University
Nina Smith
Edge Hill University
Innovative School-Based Suicide Prevention Strategies
Nina Smith is a Lecturer and researcher at Edge Hill University whose work focuses on children and young people’s mental health and suicide prevention. Previously a teacher for over a decade, she completed an MSc in Mental Health shortly after losing her younger brother, Will, to suicide. Her Churchill Fellowship involved fieldwork across Australia and the USA, and her research is now informing suicide-prevention practice in schools and local authorities nationwide.
Rachael-Louise Stonard
University of Derby
Rachael-Louise Stonard
University of Derby
Beyond Trauma-Informed: Embodied Approaches to Suicide Prevention
Rachael-Louise Stonard is a senior lecturer in Therapeutic Arts and the Programme Lead for the MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy at the University of Derby. She also practices as a Dance Movement Psychotherapist, specialising in working with adults and children who have experienced trauma.
Rachael-Louise is particularly interested in developmental psychology and identity formation. This, as well as neuroscience and its links with psychotherapy, underpin her clinical work and continued practice. The modules she teaches reflect these interests and include learning from continued clinical experience. She also has ten years of practice experience in the third sector and education, including running a successful practice providing opportunities to specialise in supporting clients who have experienced domestic violence and abuse, clients who are victims / survivors of sexual crimes and to facilitate psychotherapy on a pre-trial basis.
She has also worked with clients at risk of suicide and with children and adolescents who self harm.
Pam Burrows
The People Booster
Pam Burrows
The People Booster
Boundaries That Work: Manage Time and Energy Without Burning Out
Pam Burrows has been helping teams stress less and perform better for over thirty years, and her work has been recognised with a European Health and Safety Award for reducing stress in the workplace. A qualified Nursery Nurse, Social Worker and Master Practitioner in NLP, she blends a wealth of knowledge with practical techniques. Her interactive and energising talks empower well-being and behaviour change.
She is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and author of two books: Burnout Buster and The CARE Wellbeing Model.
Darren Fox & Shaun Young
Harmless & The Tomorrow Project
Darren Fox & Shaun Young
Harmless & The Tomorrow Project
Workforce Welfare in Suicide Prevention: Overcoming Our Uncomfortable Truth
Darren Fox joined Harmless in 2010 and is currently the organisation's Chief HR Officer. He has responsibility for ensuring organisational aims and objectives are aligned with HR strategy, policy, and wider employee relations practices.
In his role, Darren is dedicated to empowering others to succeed in their roles, enabling people have a voice in the direction, development, and implementation of services and ultimately, organisational success. He fundamentally believes our team is our biggest asset, so he makes it his priority to continuously improve and evolve our HR initiatives and find new and innovative ways to support our staff in what is a very rewarding yet sometimes challenging work environment.
His area of interest and specialism is HR within the context of those working with self harm and suicide prevention.
Shaun Young is Harmless’ Academy Manager, overseeing day-to-day operations of the organisation’s training services on self harm, suicide and mental health. He works closely alongside the Training and Education Officers, Content Creators and Co-ordinators within the Academy to ensure the smooth delivery of training for our delegates.
Shaun joined Harmless in 2021 after spending several years in training and operational roles within the private healthcare sector and continues to deliver training within his role which is something he is passionate about. He incorporates his own lived experience when delivering, while maintaining focus on upskilling and empowering people around self harm, suicide and mental health as a whole.
Katie Freeman & Leanne Moulton
Harmless & The Tomorrow Project
Katie Freeman & Leanne Moulton
Harmless & The Tomorrow Project
Building Resilient Families: Honouring and Elevating Parents and Carers – The Hidden Workforce
Katie Freeman joined Harmless in September 2016, working with people in suicide crisis and has lived experience of supporting people close to her in self harm and suicide crisis. She is now our Chief Clinical Officer. The focus of this role is to ensure that our clinical services are implemented well, are operationally smooth and most importantly that they remain connected. Katie also provides trauma focused psychotherapy.
Outside of work, Katie spends her time renovating and restoring an old Victorian house and re-watching episodes of ‘Call the Midwife’.
As Chief Academy Officer, Leanne Moulton leads the strategic development, delivery and continuous enhancement of the organisation’s trainer-led and E-Learning programmes focused on self harm and suicide prevention. Her work is driven by a commitment to generate income through the creation of innovative, high-impact training sessions and products, all while contributing to the organisation’s long-term sustainability. In addition, Leanne oversees the planning and execution of national conferences, ensuring they align with both the organisation’s mission and strategic priorities. Beyond her core training responsibilities, she works closely with the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to broader organisational strategy, particularly in marketing and communications.
Leanne began her journey with Harmless in 2016 as an intern while completing her BA (Hons) in Special and Inclusive Education. Her career started in pastoral support within primary schools, where she focused on inclusion and support for pupils with SEMH needs. Her personal experience supporting a family member with severe mental health challenges further fuelled her passion for working in the areas of self harm and suicide prevention.
In her spare time, Leanne enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, hiking and scrambling in the mountains, and taking short walks with her sausage dogs.
Dr Mirabel Pelton
University of Cambridge
Dr Mirabel Pelton
University of Cambridge
What Do We Know About Warning Signs for Suicide in Autistic People?
Mirabel Pelton is committed to working in partnership with autistic people to better understand and prevent suicide amongst autistic people. Her PhD research (PhD awarded February 2024) comprises the first studies exploring suicide mechanisms amongst autistic people. Mirabel has secured a prestigious ESRC-funded post-doctoral fellowship to refocus her research towards young people. This will bring together her recent research includes: co-design with bereaved to understand and prevent suicide in autistic people; exploring feasibility and acceptability of using EMA (ecological momentary assessment) to explore fluctuations in suicidal thoughts ‘in the moment’; and understanding autistic people's experience of apps and suicide-related internet use.
Mirabel has published first author publications in high impact journals, is on the editorial board for Autism in Adulthood (the highest impact factor of all autism journals) and regularly presents at prestigious international conferences, such as International Association for Suicide Prevention World Congress. Her expertise has been called upon by international (International Association for Autism Research, Inter-agency Co-ordinating Committee, United States) and, national (Autistica, All-party Parliamentary Group for Autism, National Autism Training Program) policy organisations and most recently in the UK Government Suicide Prevention 5-year plan for England. She has received prestigious awards (PsyPAG Rising Researcher Award, Post-graduate Researcher of the year award) for the outstanding quality and contribution of her research at this early stage of her career. She is current co-chair of the International Association for Suicide Prevention Special Interest Group in Intellectual Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity.
Further plenary sessions and workshops will be announced soon.
From Harm to Hope 2026 is proudly supported by:
Brilliantly informative and thought-provoking… A great mix of delegates and networking opportunities