About

Artist, Activist, Researcher, Facilitator, Lecturer, Consultant

My work weaves creative approaches with scientific methods (and vice-versa) and focuses on trauma - often with an activist agenda. The commonality in all that I do is a shift in the dynamics: I believe that trauma survivors are not powerless broken individuals - we are survivors who have the power and the resources to lead our own healing and growth, and contribute to the healing and growth of our communities and the world at large.

So what do I do?

A key aspect of my work is developing novel interventions to respond to violence, abuse, and neglect. My main focus in this area is on the neurobiology of childhood trauma and the use of body-based methods to express and process traumatic memories, thereby supporting healing and growth. The basis is scientific, the practice is creative, the approach is survivor-led, and the applications are both clinical and non-clinical. For this work, I was awarded Improvement Leader Fellow by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) CLAHRC NWL.

Through arts, I raise awareness of trauma, open dialogues, and rewrite narratives of violence and abuse on survivors' own terms. This creative voice is not only a testimony to the reality and complexity of trauma: it is a testimony of empowerment and hope, and a stepping stone toward positive change. My artworks, films, and performances have been shown in the UK and internationally at venues including the Central Saint Martins Museum Collection, the Whitechapel Gallery, the BFI, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, among others. See more of my art here.

With talks and lectures, I discuss, teach, and aim to inspire action on matters related to violence and abuse, trauma healing and growth, radical vulnerability, arts as activism, arts for health, survivor leadership, redesigning PPI, and more. I have spoken at conferences and events in the UK and Europe, including several keynotes and TEDx, and I give regular lectures at Central Saint Martins and UCL, as well as guest lectures at other universities. I also use my voice through the written word with texts that are sometimes academic and sometimes creative. I have notably been published by The Lancet Psychiatry, Palgrave, and House Sparrow Press.

I also provide consultancy to organisations, institutions, researchers, and practitioners on arts for health, arts as activism, trauma-informed practice, strength-based approaches to trauma, survivor-led research and quality improvement or empowering patient and public involvement (PPI). This is because I believe that by ensuring that science and clinical practice are informed by lived experience and reflective of the power of trauma survivors, we are ensuring that they are timely, meaningful, and relevant to people's lives. I have worked with several partners, but regular work includes the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London.

Finally, I facilitate workshops on trauma, body-to-brain connections, healing and growth, visual arts, dance movement, and yoga. My Trauma-Focused Movement Language workshops (based on my ongoing research) are offered specifically to self-referred trauma survivors, but many of my workshops, classes, and retreats are open to all - as everyone can benefit from nurturing creativity, self-empowerment, and wellbeing.

Affiliations

Guest Lecturer: Central Saint Martins, UCL, QMUL
Honorary Research Associate, King's College London
Editorial Advisory Board, The Lancet Psychiatry
Editorial Board, QI4U
Improvement Leader Fellow / Honorary Research Fellow, NIHR CLAHRC NWL
Member, Violence Abuse and Mental Health Network
Member, UAL Creative Practices, Education, and Wellbeing Research Network

Conferences

2021 Speaker, Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network Event, VAMHN, webinar

2021 Speaker, Youth mental health and COVID-19, Emerging Minds / The Centre for Society and Mental Health, webinar

2020 Speaker, Mad Hearts: The Arts and Mental Health, Queen Mary University of London, webinar

2020 Speaker, Understanding Violence, Abuse and Mental Health, VAMHN, webinar

2020 Panelist, Mental Health Question Time: Should culture be prescribed on the NHS?, London, UK

2019 Plenary Speaker, Royal College of Psychiatrist Annual Conference for NW England, Nottingham, UK

2019 Speaker & Panelist, Vulnerability and Resistance Symposium, Central Saint Martins, London, UK

2019 Keynote Speaker, Brunel Occupational Therapy Conference, Brunel University, London, UK

2019 Plenary Speaker, Wellbeing Event, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK

2018 Plenary Speaker, Journée Romande des Soins Infirmiers, healthcare conference, Lausanne, Switzerland
2018 Keynote Speaker, The Bigger Picture: Activism, Social Practice & Art, Central Saint Martins, London, UK

2018 Keynote Speaker, Sheffield Healthcare Improvement Event, Sheffield NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
2018 Panelist, Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Glasgow, UK
2018 Speaker & Panelist, MCA Expo, Sheffield, UK
2018 Plenary Speaker, Collaborative Learning Event, NIHR CLAHRC NWL, London, UK
2017 TEDx Talk Speaker, The Happy Generation, TEDxULB, Brussels, Belgium
2017 Speaker, Future Citizen Innovation Series, Amazon WS, London, UK
2016 Speaker, Kent Mental Health Festival, Folkestone, UK

Exhibitions, Screenings, Performances

2019 Exhibition (organised + curated),Traumatised Selves: A Collective Voice, Willesden Gallery, London, UK

2019 Film Screening, Trauma and Resistance, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK

2018 Film Screening, Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Glasgow, UK

2018 Film Screening, Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal

2018 Film Screening, national television, Switzerland

2017 Exhibition (solo), The Traumatised Self, Willesden Gallery, London, UK

2017 Exhibition (duo), The Character of Physical Law, Willesden Gallery, London, UK

2017 Exhibition (solo), The Traumatised Self, MRC SGDP Centre, KCL, London, UK

2017 Exhibition (group), Central Saint Martins Museum, London, UK
2017 Film Screening, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2016 Performance (site-specific promenade / collab.), RAH outreach program, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
2016 Film Screening & Live Score, Silence is Screaming, with Sinfonietta Orchestra, Southwark Playhouse, UK

2016 Exhibition (trio), Focal Perception, ArtMoorHouse, London, UK

2015 Film Screening & Live Score, Winking Through The Gardens, with London Sinfonietta Orchestra, BFI, UK

2015 Exhibition (group), Femme, 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2014 Performance (durational / collab.), O&O, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

2013 Performance (site-specifc promenade / collab.), Toynbee, Toynbee Studios, London, UK

2013 Exhibition (group), Waters, 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2013 Exhibition (group), Central Saint Martins, London, UK

2011 Performance (ballet), Rodin, Théatre de Beausobre, Morges, Switzerland

2010 Exhibition (solo), Body Language, Metropolis, Morges, Switzerland

2010 Performance (ballet), Maupassant, Temple, Morges, Switzerland

2010 Performance (ballet), Ballet de la Côte, Théatre de St Prex, St Prex, Switzerland

2009 Performance (ballet), Festival de la Danse, St Prex, Switzerland

2008 Exhibition (solo), Body Language, Le Tempo, Yverdon, Switzerland

2005 Exhibition (solo), Body Language, Art Gallery Casamundo, Morges, Switzerland

Publications

Duncan F., McGrath M., Baskin C., Osborn D., Dykxhoorn J., Kaner E., Gnani S., LaFortune L., Lee C., Walters K., Fischer L., Jones O., Pinfold V., Stansfield J., Oliver E. On behalf of the NIHR SPHR Public Mental Health Programme. (2020). ‘Delivery of community centred public mental health interventions in diverse areas in England: a mapping study protocol’, BMJ Open, 10:e037631.

Fischer, L. (2019). ‘On My Work: Trauma-Focused Movement Language’, The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(12), pp.991-993.

Matthews R., Green S., Myron R., French C., Barber S., Dionne M., Sandra J. and Fischer, L. (2019). ‘Connections: the power of learning together to improve healthcare in the United Kingdoms.’ in: Patient Engagement: How Patient-provider Partnerships Transform Healthcare Organizations. Organizational Behaviour in Healthcare. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 129-167.

Fischer, L. (2019). ‘Violence and Trauma: A Societal Reality We Are All Responsible For’, in Perriman, B. Doorways. London: House Sparrow Press, pp. 96-103.

Fischer, L. (2018). ‘Amygdala,’ in Poésie en Mouvement, Arythmie, pp. 54-57.

Awards

2018 Winner, Mental Health Arts and Film Festival of Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
2017 NOVA Award Nominee, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2011 BCV Award for Academic Excellence, Morges, Switzerland

2008 Award for Visual Arts, Morges, Switzerland

2008 Award for Photography, Morges, Switzerland