Guanlan Mao

I started training as a clinical psychologist on the Oxford course in 2022. Before this I worked a variety of roles including as an HCA, support worker on a crisis line, and as an assistant psychologist. I also worked as a research assistant at the University of Sussex, where I researched the mental health benefits of mutual aid groups.

My bachelor’s degree was in Philosophy, Politics and Economics; I worked as a civil servant before completing a Master’s conversion to Psychology and embarking on the career path I am on now.

My current primary interests are in psychosis, “social cure” models, and public mental health. More generally, I am interested in the relationship between economics, politics and mental health - how our immediate subjective experiences of being in the world are shaped by the social structures we operate in, and how we in turn can shape those structures.