Serena Roberts

Serena Roberts is a Registered Mental Health Nurse at Harbor. She began working in mental health services in 2000 and qualified as a nurse in 2006.

Since then, she has worked with adolescents, adults and older adults, in residential and inpatient services as well as in the community. Her patients have included people with psychosis, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder, and others with personality disorders, depression or anxiety.

Most of her career has been in the NHS, and she also has experience in private mental healthcare.

Professional Background & Qualifications

Serena gained an NVQ Level 3 in Care from City & Guilds in 2001, followed by a Diploma in Mental Health Nursing from Middlesex University in 2006. She qualified as a Nurse Mentor in 2009, allowing her to supervise and assess student nurses.

In 2025, she completed a postgraduate module in consultation and assessment at the University of Essex, and she is currently training as a non-medical independent prescriber.

Her other training covers Mental Health First Aid and motivational interviewing, as well as dual diagnosis and the Cycle of Change, a model of the stages people go through when changing a behaviour such as drug use.

She has also trained in early intervention in psychosis and in Multisystemic Therapy, which works with young people and their families.

Further courses have covered self-harm on inpatient wards, Mental Health Tribunals, and dementia and understanding behaviours.

Professional Experience

Serena’s clinical work includes early intervention in psychosis, which aims to support people as soon as symptoms first appear. She has also managed drug detoxes and supported people with a dual diagnosis, meaning a mental health problem alongside substance misuse.

In her day-to-day work, she assesses mental health needs, contributes to diagnostic assessments, coordinates people’s care and responds during crises. Keeping people safe is a large part of the role, from assessing risk and safeguarding to suicide and self-harm prevention.

She also monitors physical health and supports medication management.

Approach to Care

Serena adapts her approach to the person’s age and condition, as well as the setting.

When it helps, she uses motivational interviewing to support people in finding their own reasons to change, along with brief CBT-informed (cognitive behavioural therapy) interventions.