Lorna Collins
Specialisms: Brain injury, trauma, eating disorders, psychosis, self-harm, creativity, art, writing
Lorna Collins, FHEA, FRSPH is an artist, filmmaker, writer, journalist and arts educator.
Amongst other books, Lorna is the author of 'Making Sense: Art Practice and Transformative Therapeutics' (Bloomsbury) and a series of children’s fiction, beginning with 'Squawk: A Book of Bird Adventures' (Pegasus).
She has written articles about mental health, the NHS, creativity and art in 'The Independent, 'The Guardian' and 'The British Medical Journal.
When she was 18, Lorna had a severe traumatic brain injury and fell into a coma. She awoke with total amnesia and did not know who she was. This led Lorna to develop a number of psychiatric illnesses; she was locked away for nearly 2 decades. During this time, Lorna would paint to express the inexpressible, her sheer misery. Eventually, the doctors would look at her paintings to diagnose, medicate and treat her illnesses. Art provided Lorna with medicine.
Lorna’s creativity helped her recover and continues to nourish her life. Lorna’s TEDx Talk, discussing all of the above, is called “How Creativity Revived Me".
Latest film: "Writing the World Backwards" - (Lorna Collins & directed by Angela Robson) acclaimed in festivals across the globe, and is now released in the public domain.
TEDx talk: "How Creativity Revived Me"
