About Wendy Sherwood
Wendy Sherwood MSc Dip COT is an Occupational Therapist and Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy who has specialised in mental health occupational therapy for seventeen years, seven years of which have involved a combination of studying/researching, teaching and implementing the Model of Creative Ability in practice.
In 2005, having experienced significant improved outcomes for clients and increased job satisfaction for herself through using the model in practice, Wendy completed research into the assessment of creative ability in part fulfilment of an MSc in Continuing Development (Health) at the University of Greenwich for which she was awarded a research grant by the Elizabeth Casson Trust.
Since this time, Wendy has been dedicated to sharing the model with OT students, OT colleagues and healthcare professionals. Wendy has presented the model at a national and international level including the country of the model’s origin, South Africa; at the Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Congress, Tanzania and provided a lecture tour in Japan by invitation, contributing to developing the implementation of the model within the first forensic services in the country.
Over the years, Wendy has collaborated internationally with experts in the model in South Africa to which she has travelled and observed the model in practice, and for which she was awarded the Agnes Storar /Dr Constance Owens travel bursary. The experience of discovering a diverse application of the model in practice led to Wendy becoming the founder of the Model of Creative Ability Interest Group (MCAIG) in 2005, which was developed to improve accessibility to the model globally. In the UK, Wendy has worked closely with South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust which is the largest Trust to embrace and successfully implement the model in the UK, and this organisation is one of two major Partners in MCAIG. The other Partner is the University of Kwa Zulu-Natal, Durban with Dain van der Reyden as Head of the Occupational Therapy undergraduate programme. Dain is widely recognised as the leading expert in the model.