Dr Lettie Theunissen-schuiten
Research Associate (Visiting)
Biography
Lettie has been working in forensic mental health care since 1995 and held multiple positions in senior management and hospital boards in the Netherlands and Germany She founded her own business in Germany in 2010 and is specialised in cultures of multidisciplinary team collaboration, Leadership development and organisational development in complex (forensic) healthcare organisations. Dr. Lettie Theunissen-Schuiten Joined the faculty of Health, Medicine, and Society of the University of Chester in the UK, as a Visiting research associate, after completing her PhD at this University in 2022. Lettie is Dutch, lives in Germany since 2002, is married and mother of a son.
Teaching and Supervision
During her studies Lettie was an honorary teaching associate at the University of Chester and taught on a BSc Clinical supervision module and the Physician associate Modules of the Medical school Lettie has recently taught on Supervision, leadership, and multidisciplinary team collaboration in Germany.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Lettie’s research involves multidisciplinary teamwork and psychological safety in health and social care. Her PhD at the University of Chester in 2022, “An ethnographic investigation into multidisciplinary team collaboration - the role of psychological safety in a high-secure forensic in-patient hospital in Germany”, contributes to the knowledge about multidisciplinary team (MDT)collaboration and psychological safety in forensic mental health care. The study explored and identified the factors that contribute towards or create barriers to the effective functioning of the MDT in forensic hospitals, to empower staff members, leaders, and healthcare institutions. She is a member of the European Cost action FOSTREN. In this working group more then 200 innovative researchers from 33 countries work together to Foster and Strengthen Approaches to Reducing Coercion in European Mental Health Services www.fostren.eu She is also a member of the European Violence in Psychiatry Research Group (EViPRG) and the German BFLK forensic Network - A Network for all Nursing Directors of forensic mental healthcare in Germany.