Dr Farheen Ebrahim

I am a speciality doctor in Forensic Psychiatry and an incoming ST4 in Forensic Psychiatry at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. I currently serve as the London Division Representative on the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Psychiatric Resident Doctors’ Committee, where I advocate for trainee wellbeing and educational equity within psychiatric training. My work is driven by a deep commitment to global human rights and the reduction of mental health inequalities.

My interest in global health began during my BSc in Medical Sciences and Global Health at Imperial College London, where I explored the impact of conflict, displacement and structural inequity on mental health outcomes. Since then, I have contributed to public health strategy and policy projects with local authorities and community partners – including work on air-quality management, healthy ageing and physical activity improvement in Essex. My volunteering work has been equally important in shaping my values: during the pandemic I co-founded a grassroots charity community initiative in North London and later worked with the Colindale Mutual Aid network to support vulnerable community members, co-design informal mental-health support spaces and coordinate community-led wellbeing projects. These experiences strengthened my belief in dignity-based and culturally responsive approaches to care.

Leadership and medical education are central to my professional identity. I have held multiple elected trainee-representative roles, working closely with training programme directors, postgraduate medical education teams and senior trust leadership to improve training structures and advocate for policies that enhance trainee wellbeing. I have designed and delivered regional teaching, facilitated simulation training, examined for medical schools and lectured on national teaching programmes.

A significant part of my identity centres around the arts. Before entering medicine, I completed a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins, and I continue to work as a freelance artist and poet. I am passionate about the role of creativity in mental healthcare – not only as a therapeutic medium, but also to amplify lived experience and support recovery. I enjoy integrating art and visual design into communication and advocacy, and I aim to expand work at the intersection of arts and psychiatry throughout my career.

I am also part of an international mental-health network steering committee, where I am helping develop sustainable educational links to support the training and professional development of psychiatry residents in conflict-affected regions such as Gaza. This work reflects my long-standing commitment to global mental-health equity and the promotion of rights-based psychiatric practice.

My special interests include:

• international collaboration to support trainees and mental-health systems in conflict-affected regions
• human rights-based frameworks for mental healthcare
• arts-based and narrative approaches within psychiatry
• addressing mental-health inequalities within diaspora and migrant populations
• trauma-informed approaches for offender populations, with attention to the effects of violence and conflict exposure.

Across my clinical, educational and voluntary work, I am passionate about championing humane and culturally grounded mental-health practice.