As a psychologist in HM Prison Service for fourteen years I worked in high security, specialising in work with lifers, sex offenders and personality disordered individuals until eventually moving on to developing training for prison officers and governors. Additional work involved hostage negotiation (which extended to firearms incidents with the police) and an being an in-service counsellor for staff suffering from post-traumatic and other forms of stress. I left in 1997 to start up the first MSc in forensic psychology in Scotland and joined the University of Portsmouth in a similar role in 2000. A major impetus behind this change of direction was a growing role in the development of academic and professional training for forensic psychologists in the UK. This has included steering the formulation of accreditation criteria for MSc courses in the field and the development of competence- based standards for supervised practice leading to chartered status. I have also contributed to national working parties on homicide, suicide, disasters and psychological trauma. In recent years I co- edited (with Geri Akerman and Claire Bainbridge) ‘Transforming Environments and Rehabilitation’ and have engaged in research and other initiatives with former members of the armed forces in the criminal justice system.