What if the most powerful thing we could do about youth violence isn't to respond to it but to stop it from happening in the first place? In this episode of London in Mind, host Dr. Estelle Moore sits down with Dr. Suchitra Bhandari, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director of North Central London Vanguard Services for Violence Reduction, for a conversation that challenges everything we think we know about how communities keep young people safe.

Dr. Bhandari works across five North London boroughs, bringing together healthcare, education, law enforcement, and community organisations in a genuinely collaborative effort to address the root causes of violence rather than simply respond to its consequences. At the heart of this work is a shift in thinking that is as simple as it is radical: treating violence not as a criminal justice problem but as a public health one. Something that can be understood, prevented, and ultimately reduced when we attend to the psychological, social and environmental conditions that give rise to it.

This is a conversation full of warmth, honesty and real-world wisdom. Dr. Bhandari talks about what trauma-informed practice actually looks like on the ground, what it takes to build genuine trust across agencies with very different cultures and priorities, and why working alongside young people themselves, rather than doing things to them, changes everything. She also shares what culturally responsive support means in practice, and how crisis moments can become turning points rather than endings.

About Dr. Suchitra Bhandari

Dr. Suchitra Bhandari (Suchi) is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director of North Central London Vanguard Services for Violence Reduction at North London Foundation Trust. With fifteen years of leadership in psychological therapies, most recently as Director of Psychological Therapies for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust, her clinical expertise spans community psychology and complex adult mental health, always with a focus on dismantling the barriers that health, racial and social inequalities create.

In 2015, Suchi founded Project Future, a holistic, psychologically-informed mental health and wellbeing service for young people affected by serious youth violence, social marginalisation and gang affiliation. In 2021, her leadership secured an NHS England bid to expand that model across all five North Central London boroughs. The work has since won six nationally prestigious HSJ awards. Recognition not just of professional excellence, but of what becomes possible when young people, communities and partner organisations are genuinely valued as collaborators. She was also awarded the London NHS Leadership Recognition Award in 2017 for Leading Systems Transformation.

Get in touch: For enquiries, please contact Suchitra's PA at amanda.ardeman3@nhs.net

About the Psychological Professions Network

The Psychological Professions Network (PPN) is a multi-professional membership network commissioned by NHS England that brings together professionals, living experience advisors and partners from across provider trusts, integrated care systems, higher education and local communities, to champion workforce development and innovation to maximise the impact of psychologically informed approaches on public health and healthcare delivery. PPN London is focused on strategic initiatives and leadership to enhance mental and physical health outcomes and workforce resilience throughout the capital.

About the Host

Dr Estelle Moore is a clinical and forensic psychologist with over 30 years’ experience in NHS forensic services. She currently serves as Director for Psychological Professions (Chief Psychological Professions Officer) at West London NHS Trust, Head of Psychological Services at Broadmoor Hospital, and Chair of PPN London. Her clinical and research interests include trauma-informed care, treatment of complex post-traumatic stress, restorative justice in forensic settings, and building workforce resilience across health and social care.

Find out more: https://ppn.nhs.uk/

Produced by Winter Audio