Lydia Sapouna

Lydia Sapouna is a lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies.  She was previously Director of the Bachelor of Social Work programme (2020-2025) and is currently member of the BSW programme team. Lydia completed her social work studies in Greece in 1990 where she developed a strong interest in mental health policy and practice. She moved to Ireland in 1991 to conduct postgraduate research in the process of de-institutionalisation and the development of community mental health approaches. She started lecturing in UCC in 1994 and, over the years, has taught courses in mental health (social policy and social work), social work theory, community care, and critical disability studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Her teaching, research and community contributions are primarily in the area of critical mental health education and practice. She is interested in the politics of mental health and the role of social activism in changing power imbalances in mental health systems, including education. As a social work educator, she endeavours to facilitate students to understand, and engage with, experiences of human distress in ways that are focused on social and life contexts and are informed by principles of human rights and social justice.     

Over the years, Lydia has worked collaboratively with mental health service-users/survivors in the areas of education, research, advocacy, and human rights. Together with Harry Gijbels (School of Nursing and Midwifery UCC, retired) they co-organise the annual critical perspectives in mental health conference since 2009, an event that has gained local, national, and international recognition and a reputation for its democratic ethos, its contribution to human rights, and its contribution to understanding of experiences of human distress in contemporary society. They are co-founders of Critical Voices Network Ireland (CVNI) which emerged out of this annual conference as a network of people from diverse backgrounds (people with self-experience, carers, professionals, academics and others) interested in considering and developing responses to human distress which are creative, enabling, respectful and firmly grounded in human rights.  

Lydia’s research interests and contributions focus on the areas of critical mental health, Mad Studies, lived experience of mental health systems and service user/ survivor knowledge.  She is also interested in social justice and human rights approaches in social work education and practice.

As part of her research activities in the area of mental health, Lydia is one of the founding members and co-ordinators of the ISS21 disability and mental health research cluster. She supervises research carried out by students at post-graduate level and would welcome expressions of interest from potential PhD/doctoral researchers in the areas of social work and social justice, service user/survivor involvement, critical approaches to mental health, and Mad Studies.