Dr Mark Farrall Biography

BA, BSc, MSc, PhD, Dip. Psychodrama,
CUEW (Civil) (Family), Cert. SAM

Dr Mark Farrall

Dr Mark Farrall is the founder and Director of ignition.

He is a Chartered Psychologist and Forensic Psychologist, and a qualified psychotherapist, as well as once being a full card-carrying member of Equity.

Mark drives the fruitful cross-over of the areas of ignition expertise:

  • He has over twenty five years' experience of the use of applied theatre and action methods for training, education and rehabilitation
  • He has been involved with the behaviour change methodology of Motivational Interviewing for over fifteen years as a practitioner and trainer
  • He has applied both of these strands to domestic abuse work for nearly twenty years

National Work With Offenders

Following several years in schools' educational theatre work, Mark worked nationally in all categories of prison, from open to maximum security, including women's prisons, remand and Young Offender Institutions.

This work extended to Regional Secure Units working with serious juvenile offenders and to the HMP Peterhead Special Unit for disruptive and violent prisoners and sexual offenders.

He has also worked within the three Special Hospitals of Broadmoor, Rampton and Ashworth, with Republican and Loyalist prisoners in the Republic of Ireland and with offenders in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Mark's youth work has included communications skills and group sessions with disadvantaged or at risk young people, with the Prince's Trust.

Founder Member of RESPECT

Mark was a founder member and Vice Chair of the National Executive Committee of RESPECT, the national association for domestic violence practitioners and associated support services, for many years, until 2010.

He has acted as consultant to the National Offender Management Service, the NSPCC, RELATE and several other charities involved in domestic abuse work.

Effective Action System

Mark developed the Effective Action System of integrated interventions for domestic abuse work including risk assessment, motivational one to one work and group and one to one offending behaviour interventions.

Mark has also been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 1999, providing training in Motivational Interviewing as far afield as Australia and Estonia. He is an International Trainer in Motivational Interviewing.

All of this experience goes into making the ignition blend unique.