Benna Waites is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Joint Head of Psychology, Counselling and Arts Therapies for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. The Professional Head role covers around 100 staff working across Mental Health and Learning Disability, Child and Family Psychology Services, and Physical Health services including cancer and chronic pain. She has contributed to and chaired a range of national and international conferences, and has interviewed at the Hay Festival.

Benna works one day a week in ABCi and has been involved in the development of the award-winning Leading People course, designed to help leaders manage themselves and their relationships in the workplace better and in a way that promotes staff engagement, well-being and compassionate care. She is also co-author to the British Psychological Society’s guidelines on the disclosure of non-recent sexual abuse and has lectured on this subject across the UK. She is passionate about developing more compassionate, trauma informed mental health services. Prior to working in ABUHB she worked in Powys for ten years, was seconded to the Welsh Government to develop Eating Disorder services and worked in London for ten years in a range of mental and physical health settings. She undertook her training in Manchester and Oxford.