Dr Harriet Calvert is qualified Psychoanalyst and Child Psychotherapist, with a PhD in Psychology. And is currently working for both the NHS as a Principal Child Psychoptherapist and in private practice,. Her main specialisms is intervention for adults for Psychoanalysis or Psychotherapy and she has a special interest in cross cultural issues in psychotherapy and in the treatment of trauma and has been associated with Psychology and Trauma for over 20 years and has been associated with UKSLTG since 2004. Harriet is also a lecturer and lists among her hobbies Music and traveling.

Sam Goonetillake is a qualified marketing consultant and has lived in Britain for 40 years. Married to Kate, they have 4 children and the family have dedicated their time and efforts to helping the children of Sri Lanka -something they had been doing well before the Tsunami. Sam is a founder Trustee of Helplanka a UK registered charity helping children in Sri Lanka and has used his 20 years of extensive sales & marketing experience and his worldwide contacts to harness the relief effort and now a long term programme to assist children all over Sri Lanka.

Sam joined the UK Sri Lanka Trauma Group in 2005 as an active Executive Committee Member and has advised the group on its marketing and events . Sam is also an Executive Director of Jigsaw International - a partner of Helplanka working with traumatised children.

Sam is an experienced events specialist and has long been associated with the travel industry and is widely travelled but hopes to visit China and Japan one day and South America ! Although he regards the UK as home he has never lost his love for Sri Lanka and returns often more recently to fulfill his role with Helplanka.

Dr. Srikanthi Karalliedde’s current position is Consultant Paediatrician (Community Child Health) Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK

Her previous experience included the position of Senior Lecturer Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka prior to commencing work in the UK in 1990.

Dr Karalliede has many years of valuable experience in the areas of Child Abuse and Neglect, and Childhood Disability including Autism in the UK. She values the importance of a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency approach in working in all aspects of child health promotion. She has been on the Executive Committee of the UKSLTG since 2004.

Dr Anula Nikapota is a child psychiatrists and been involved in trauma work and training PHC workers in this area in Sri Lanka since 1986 initially for UNICEF. Dr Nikapota has aouthored several books and manuals for UNICEF in the area of Trauma and intervention and has been with the UKSL Trauma group since inception and is currently the Chairperson and Chair of the Board of Directors of Samutthana. Working in the filed of trauma and the consequences of trauma is a priority within the current context of Sri Lanka and essential for facilitaing positive mental health and coping.

Dr Shanthy Parameswaran qualified as a Doctor from the faculty of Medicine,Colombo in 1966 and left Sri Lanka in 1972 for postgraduate studies first to the U.S.A and later to the U.K.

She completed training in Psychiatry at St Georges University Hospital in London and worked as a consultant in Child and Adoloscent Psychiatry for over 25 years until her retirement in 2006.

Shanthy’s interest in Charity work was facilitated by the Sathya Sai Baba Organisation, medical branch which provided Shanthy the opportunity to work in Zambia, India and Sri Lanka as a medical volunteer. In 2002 Shanthy was able to work in both Jaffna and Vanni district with other organisations eg UNICEF.

Later having joined the UKSLTG as an Executive Committee member she has continued to work in a voluntary capacity with people traumatised by the ethnic conflict and the Tsunami. In addition to direct work with the affected people Shanthy has been able to provide training ,consultation and supervision to workers(teachers, NGO's, INGO's, volunteers) and also participated in conferences and present the work of the organisation. Recently in Dec 2007 with colleague, Dr Harriet Calvert The work of the group was presented at the international conference on Trauma in Finland organised by the Dept of Health ,Finland.

During this time Shanthy and Harriet provided consultation to the workers involved in a school shooting incident in that country.

Following retirement Shanthy works part time for the Ministry of Justice as their medical member for the Mental Health Review Tribunals.

Retirement has given her time to pursue other important charity work with Child Aid Lanka and The Tamil Women’s Development Forum in U.K.

Shanthy keeps fit both mentally and physically through her hobbies including reading,cinema ,gardening and the gym she is also looking forward to the birth of her first grandchild in June 2009!

Dr.T.Rasamuthiah is a trained and qualified adult Psychiatrist, having worked in Luton (1982-2002 His main special interests are in Psychotherapy,with training at the Tavistock Clinic,London.

Dr Rasamuthiah is a very active member of the UKSLTG Executive Committee and has been instrumental in the setting up of the centres in Jaffna and Batticaloa . He is a Founder member of the Sri Lankan Medical & Dental Association in UK ( founded 1982). He is also a Founder member Medical Institute of Tamils (UK) (founded 1990) as well as founder member of the Sri Lankan Psychiatrists Association (UK) (founded 2000). He is presently Public Governor in the Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Rasamuthiah is Vice-Chair NHS Retirement Fellowship,South Bedfordshire and Executive Committee member,Luton Senior Peoples' Forum,in the Luton Borough Council

Dr Kuhan Satkunanayagam is a Sri Lankan born Chartered Counselling Psychologist, currently working in a psychological therapies service at West London Mental Health NHS Trust. He gained his first degree in Natural Sciences from St John’s College, University of Durham. His initial training in counselling and psychotherapy was at the School of Counselling and Psychotherapy at Regent’s College, London followed by a Master’s degree and Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology from the University of East London. His main research interest is Secondary Trauma and his doctoral’s thesis was entitled ‘The realities of caring: a qualitative exploration of mental health professionals’ experience of working with survivors of trauma in Sri Lanka’. He has been honorary secretary of the UKSLTG for the past 5 years and got involved through his father who was a member of the group when it first began. In his spare time he enjoys going to the gym and running. He has competed in a number of 10K and half marathons and hopes to run the London Marathon soon.

Professor Rachel Tribe is a chartered organisational and counselling psychologist who has may years experience of working in the private, public, charity and academic sectors. She is the programme director for the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and related programmes at the University of East London. She is active in national and international consultancy and training work with a range of organizations including : the Department of Health (DH), Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMHE). She has also worked with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Harp Archive for Refugee Portal (HARP), the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has undertaken training on behalf of the British Psychological Society, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Sri Lanka, Amnesty International, British Council, MSF, Red Cross, Save the Children Fund, and the Singapore Psychological Society, among others. Her clinical interests focus on all aspects of trauma, culture and mental health, professional and ethical practice, working with interpreters in mental health, the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers and organisational development. Rachel has run workshops for the UKSLTG, published articles in the field of Trauma and she has visited Sri Lanka several times and remains a very active member of the Executive Committee.

Dr Shamil Wanigaratne studied psychology at the University of Nottingham and City University London and following his postgraduate training in clinical psychology in 1987, has worked in the fields of addictions and genito-urinary medicine. He is currently head of psychology for the Addictions Division of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which is part of King’s Health Partners.

Throughout his career he has worked hard to combine clinical practice with academic research. He has been and is currently involved in a number of research collaborations. His clinical and research interests include cognitive and neuropsychological aspects of addictions, initiation and maintenance of behavior change, outcome measurement, culture and substance misuse, psychological impact of trauma and the association between trauma and addictive behaviors.

He has acted as a consultant to UK Government bodies and internationally, to a number of countries.

He was one of the founding members of the British Psychological Society’s Special Interest Group in Addictions, which is now the Faculty of Addiction. He also co-founded in 1996 the UK-Sri Lanka Trauma Group with Dr Athula Suamthipala. He is currently director of Samutthana, the King’s College London Resource Centre for Trauma, Displacement and Mental Health. He was also involved in setting up the first clinical psychology training course in Sri Lanka, at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Dilanthi Weerasinghe is a Senior Educational Psychologist with the Children and Young People Services Team at London Borough of Waltham Forest, UK 2. Her specialisms and areas of expertise include - Child and developmental psychology with specialisms in childhood disability, Early Years and child mental health; bring a social constructivist/community psychology approach (as opposed to a medical model) to the UKSL trauma group of which she is a key Executive Committee member and has a variety of experience having worked with schools, community groups and parents/carers. Dilanthi who is a qualified chartered Child Psychologist with over 16 years of experience has successfully managed assessment and interventions for children (0-19 years) with disabilities and special needs and has also developed teaching and curriculum resources for teachers in the areas of children's social and emotional wellbeing; parent workshops; and working with community and voluntary groups.

Dilanthi brings a wealth of different experiences and knowledge to the UKSLTG including her experience as a qualified primary school teacher she has been associated with trauma since 1992, working as a volunteer for the Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture and is a founder member of the UKSLTG. Dilanthi says that she likes to : “ work with like minded people in supporting children and families from all communities in Sri Lanka, affected by trauma associated with the war; to join a group run by Sri Lankans and those with a knowledge of Sri Lanka which worked alongside Sri Lankan based partners for positive outcomes for all Sri Lankans “.

Professor Bill Yule trained as a clinical psychologist in 1962/63 then joined the Social Psychiatry Research Unit. His clinical work has been in the Children’s Department of the Maudsley where his many and varied research interests included epidemiological studies, working with families of autisitic children, training parents in management techniques, school refusal, fears, fostering and adoption. Since 1987, Bill has been devoted to understanding and treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children.

In 1993, he became an advisor to UNICEF during the civil war in former Yugoslavia. Following that, he helped to found the Foundation for Children and War, a charity based in Norway, of which he is currently Chair (www.childrenandwar.org). He is an active Executive Committee Member of the UK Sri Lanka Trauma Group (www.uksrilankatrauma.org)and in the European Federation of Psychology Associations (www.efpa.be). He is the Honorary Psychologist Advisor to the British Army.

Prof Yule was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in 2005; he was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 2006; and was awarded the Aristotle prize by the EFPA in 2007.