THE COUNSELLOR AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

Overview of research activity
The Counselling and Health Psychology Research Group generally conduct research with an applied focus.
Members of counselling team are particularly interested in methodological issues and provide support and input to one another regarding the research process as well as dissemination. They have an extensive range of research expertise in counselling as evidenced by the below subject areas:
Self-image
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Facial disfigurement following trauma
Young women’s experiences with negative body image
The other woman’s experience of extra-dyadic relationship
& also eating disorders noted below.
Sexuality
Existing as a transsexual
Gay/bisexual men’s use of club drugs
Construction of BDSM among trainees
& also CSA noted below.
Trauma
Adult relationships following CSA
Sense of self following CSA
Help-seeking in adult male survivors of CSA
Self-harm in You-Tube images
Hope within self-harm
Therapists’ experiences of working with people who self-harm
& also Ireland abuse noted below.
Psychological concerns within families
Parents’ experiences of having a child in therapy
Mothers’ experiences of adult daughter in therapy
Fathers’ experiences of raising a son with challenging behaviours
Rumination after bereavement
& also couples issue, families re. diabetes noted below & CSA noted above.
Psychological impact of health-related concerns
Couples’ experiences when one suffers from an eating disorder
Diabetes – family social support and self care
Mothers’ experiences of being told child is overweight
Adult cancer patients in therapy
Altruistic kidney donors
Trauma symptoms following childbirth
Persistent primary nocturnal enuresis
Older male carers for partners with dementia
Young adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder
Growing older with HIV.
Social and Cultural Issues
Institutional abuse of children in Ireland
Resilience of survivors of Irish institutional abuse
South-Asian therapists’ experiences of matching services
Ghanaian psychologists working with clients with traditional belief systems
Indigenous people from Mexico who have been wrongly imprisoned
Engaging military veterans in therapy
Workplace bullying
Male prisoners’ constructions of help-seeking research
Therapists’ experiences working with prisoners
Experiences of counsellors working with Iraqi refugees in Jordan
Craving in pathological gamblers.
Practitioner identity and development
Wounded healer
Burnout
Mindfulness for CBT practitioners
Therapist attire in psychotherapy
Therapist disclosure to eating-disordered clients
Humour – with psychotic clients
Impact of domestic violence on therapists’ intimate relationships
Therapists’ experiences of sexual harassment from clients
Therapists’ experiences of self within different approaches
Therapists’ experiences of self within sessions
Impact of therapists’ life experiences on clinical practice
Choice of psychological professional with older adults
Therapists’ emotional experiences in working with anorexia.
The health psychology team focus their research on health service evaluation and improvement, the understanding the effectiveness of health psychology interventions and the experience of illness and well-being. The team has a strength and applied expertise in evaluating innovative approaches and policies designed to improve health and well-being in community, work and hospital settings.
Together the health psychology team has combined experience of using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods including action research, interpretative phenomenological analysis, grounded theory, discourse analysis, randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews.
The Counselling and Health Psychology Research Group is particularly focused on making sure that its research has impact. For example, in the case of Pires-Yfantoudas’s work on how to support patients with musculoskeletal conditions through motivational interviewing techniques, her results were disseminated through blogs to widen access to the research findings. Sykes’s research on pregnancy sickness (experienced in approximately 80% of singleton pregnancies) has led her to become a trustee of the Pregnancy Sickness Support Charity, with remits in deciding the charity’s research strategy and managing the data that the charity collects. Willig contributed to the prestigious American Psychological Association (APA) Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology which represents the latest authoritative guide to research methods in counseling psychology.
Achievements and news
The health psychology team has presented at two important health psychology conferences this year. The Annual Division of Health Psychology Conference and the 8th International Society of Critical Health Psychology Conference. Amongst the presentations, were findings from a qualitative study exploring healthcare professionals’ experiences of patient reported stress a study looking at paramedics’ discourse in pain management to people with dementia and the results of a brief mindfulness- based intervention to help resist chocolate.
The Biopsychosocial Understandings of Hyperemesis Gravidarum Conference was hosted by the health psychology team this year. The conference was a great success with speakers from around the world attending to present the latest research and developments in the care and management of women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. MSc and undergraduate health psychology students formed part of the conference committee contributing to its success and gaining valuable work experience.
The health psychology team values its collaborations with external organisations working at the front line of healthcare service delivery. For example, the team is working in collaboration with the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to explore the beliefs and attitudes to work return amongst patients suffering with chronic pain. This multi-phase project will inform future service development for patients with chronic pain, building on expertise from multidisciplinary teams, consisting of experienced health psychologists and specialist healthcare providers.
The counselling team’s purpose is to showcase its activities, to encourage collaboration and facilitate joint publications involving both members of staff and graduates. In addition, the counselling team aims to establish links with researchers in other institutions in order to create a platform for collaboration and integration.
The counselling team holds monthly meetings at which researchers present their work-in-progress. As a result of meetings held during 2012-13 two journal articles and one conference presentation have been produced by alumni.
The counselling team welcomes presentations by researchers external to City University London and has benefited from the input of the following visitors during 2012-13:
Dr Catherine Nelson,Counselling PsychologistMaggie’s LondonCharing Cross Hospital
Elizabeth Hughes, PhD student in Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck (under the supervision of Stephen Frosh)
Ryan Kemp
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Addictions Lead Psychologist
Central & North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust
Chair: Faculty of Addictions (British Psychological Society)
Andrea Calsamiglia, Research student in Social Psychology PhDUniversitat Autonoma de Barcelona,Open University
Teaching
The health psychology team run two courses in health psychology.
The MSc Health Psychology is designed for those looking to start, or progress in, a career in the rapidly-changing healthcare space.
The MSc is professionally-focused and innovative, and you will complete the course with both the practical and critical skills you need to stand out. Our goal is to equip you for employment with a range of skills that you can put into practice to further advance your career.
The Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology Training Course is the stage two component of health psychology training to be completed by aspiring health psychologists with the view of pursuing a career in health psychology, offering services to the public.
The Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology provides the trainee with all of the competencies of the health psychologist as well as a development of individual skills and experience.
The ultimate aim of the course is for the trainees to be able to both competently and confidently practice in health psychology and produce an original piece of research that contributes to the knowledge of applied health psychology.
The course aims to provide professional and academic training that will enable trainees to work as health psychologists in a broad range of settings, including the NHS, charities, industry, government, private practice and academic and research settings, among others.