Donal Okeeffe

Background

About Donal Okeeffe

I blend Academic Psychology and Service Management to promote mental health recovery, translate policy, drive service reform, and enhance research impact. As Manager of ARCHES Recovery College, I lead a team of people with lived experience who, with mental health professionals, use adult learning principles to foster empowerment, promote belonging, and help people understand and manage distress. We bridge research, policy, and practice—championing inclusion, autonomy, positive risk-taking, and human rights in mental health services. I advocate for a value based mental health system centred on justice, equality, respect, and compassion. I also serve as Public & Patient Involvement Lead for the €2.5M Health Research Board funded VISTA mental health research programme; ensuring lived experience and general public voices shape its direction. My research focuses on co-designing solutions that illuminate pathways to mental health recovery and transform mental health systems globally. Additionally, I’m an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Mental Health at Trinity College Dublin, sit on the editorial board of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, and work as Recovery Coordinator with Mental Health Ireland for HSE Dublin South & Wicklow. I’m passionate about innovation in systems, collaborative decision-making, and evolving society’s understanding of mental illness.