Andy McDonnell (UK)

Professor Andrew McDonnell holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD in Psychology. Currently, he serves as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Studio III Clinical Services. In addition, he is the Director, clinical consultant, and Team Leader at Studio III Training. Prior to these roles, he worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS, where he managed a service until 2002. Andrew has particular interest in the design of community settings for people who challenge. He has extensive experience of working with autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and those who self-injure.

Andy's work focuses on the impact of stress reduction on well-being for both carers and distressed individuals. Andy is the originator of the Low Arousal Approach, a method for managing behaviour of concern and reducing overall stress in an individual's environment. Andy is passionate about not only reducing the use of restrictive practices, but eliminating them from caring environments

Professor McDonnell is a Professor of Autism Studies at Birmingham City University, and has a particular interest and expertise in autistic individuals and severe behaviour of concern. Professor McDonnell developed the Low Arousal Approach to managing distressed behaviour for individuals with autism and other additional support needs. He has spoken at many international conferences across the globe, including SIKON.

Andrew has written 3 books on using the Low Arousal Approach to supporting individuals who are distressed; ‘Freedom from Restraint and Seclusion: The Studio 3 Approach’ (2022), ‘The Reflective Journey: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Low Arousal Approach’ (2019) and ‘Managing Aggressive Behaviour in Care Settings: Understanding and Applying Low Arousal Approaches’ (2010).