Centre for Child Mental Health

As a child, Rob Allen had wanted to be either a farmer, an archaeologist, or Luke Skywalker, so no one was more surprised when he became a teacher in his late twenties. Having experienced his own schooling as a perplexing ordeal that was best avoided, he cites a combination of cross-country running and his English teacher as the reasons he made it through to complete his education. Whilst he acknowledges that the teacher is not a therapist, he feels they serve an important therapeutic function since traumatised children regularly use class discussions and their creative writing as a vehicle to disclose their experiences. To this end, Robert A. Johnson, Irvin Yalom and Alice Miller were more constructively formative in his early career identity than Piaget or the Minister for Education ever were. Whilst he has worked as a pastoral lead across a variety of age ranges, it has been his work as an unofficial mentor where he has found the most satisfaction, acting as an emotionally available adult to individuals with a variety of needs and challenges, and from diverse cultures and backgrounds. He is currently employed by an independent school in Kent, where he is Head of English, deputy- DSL, a CEOP ambassador, and a PGCE/ NQT mentor. His current interests are in the application of Jungian thought to educational models and supporting the work of Trauma Informed Schools.