Research
For nine years I have been researching components of student mental health, counselling effectiveness, and related policy in Higher Education. I pride myself on being highly collaborative and I have been fortunate to work with academics, practitioners, and professional organisations from a range of disciplines. Below is a condensed list of research and network activities I have led in this field, including:
SMaRteN Network: National student mental health research (2018 - 23)
I am on the leadership team of a UKRI-funded national network for student mental health research (SMaRteN) led by King’s College London. I work alongside Dr Nicola Byrom (King’s College London) and Dr Alyson Dodd (Northumbria University) to lead network activities and provide support to our funded projects.
Funded by
Partners
Open access longitudinal data on student mental health (2020 - 23)
I work with Professor Dean McMillian (York University) and partners across White Rose Universities to coordinate longitudinal data on student mental health and develop guidelines on how to create student cohort studies. This research is being led by York university and is part of an overarching goal of the SMaRteN network to develop an open access longitudinal dataset for student mental health.
Funded by
Partners
Research clinic to enhance student mental health outcomes (2019 - present)
I am the Research Manager of a newly established clinic in the Mental Health and Psychological Therapies Service, University of Sheffield. The clinic is a joint initiative between the University Counselling Service, the Clinical Psychology Unit and the Department of Psychology. It aims to design, deliver, and evaluate evidence-based interventions that contribute to improved mental health and academic outcomes for students.
Funded by
SPEQS Toolkit: Partnerships between university and NHS services (2019 - 21)
I led the evaluation of an Office for Students (OfS) funded project that explored partnerships between university and NHS mental health services. Our research team, from across The University of Sheffield and University College London, developed a toolkit with recommendations for building these partnerships. The government and OfS used our research as evidence to encourage universities to work with the NHS as part of a £15M investment.
Download the toolkit / Visit the project website
Funded by
Partners
SCORE Consortium: Students’ Outcomes from Counselling (2018 - present)
I am the project manager of a practice-research consortium comprising heads of university counselling services and academics across eleven universities. The consortium and our research are funded by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the UK Council for Counselling and Psychotherapy (UKCP). The consortium aims to 1) collate routine clinical data from university counselling services to identify service effectiveness, 2) improve the data standards of university services, and 3) use data to inform service development.
Funded by
Partners
RARA toolkit: Raising awareness of attainment gaps (2017 - 19)
I led the evaluation of an Office for Students (OfS) funded project that explored the role of personal tutoring to remedy attainment gaps in Higher Education. Our research and policy team, from across The University of Sheffield and King’s College London, developed a library of resources for personal tutors. I worked with personal tutors and professional services to coproduce resources about supporting students’ mental health (e.g., recognising the signs of poor mental health and taking care of your own mental health).
Funded by
Partners
PhD into student mental health & counselling outcomes (2014 - 17)
My PhD was the first to be funded by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and it marked the start of a long-standing partnership. My PhD was supervised by Professor Michael Barkham and Dr Abigail Millings and the overarching aim was to design a feasibility trial to explore student outcomes from a university counselling service. I have published five papers from my PhD including two surveys that explored challenges to addressing student mental health and barriers to help-seeking, a pilot study that provided a UK validation of a student clinical measure, and both the protocol and clinical outcomes from a feasibility trial embedded into a university service.
Funded by
Partners