Category Archives: StaffsPsych Academics

Dr Sarah Rose talks about her Children’s TV Viewing & Creativity research on BBC Radio

Posted on by
Jan 16 Sarah Rose

Dr Sarah Rose

Dr Sarah Rose, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology & Award Leader for the BSc Psychology & Child Development, has been featured on local BBC Radio Stations discussing her research into the effects of viewing television on Children’s creativity. Dr Rose’s research investigates whether viewing fast or slower paced episodes of television programmes (Postman Pat) has an immediate positive or a negative impact on children’s creativity.

Sarah explains her most recent findings in two interviews with BBC Radio in Stoke-on-Trent and Shropshire.

To listen to the interviews click on the below links to the BBC iPlayer website (links to the programmes will expire in late August 2016):

Dr Rose is the Director of the Staffordshire Children’s Lab and has a specific research interest in understanding the development of children’s creative abilities. The Children’s Lab is part of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research which is home to psychological research at Staffordshire University.

For more information about the Children’s Lab, their research and ongoing studies seeking participants please click here.

Interested in Psychology? Come to an Open Day & find out more about Psychology courses at Staffordshire University.

Intrigued by Dr Sarah Rose’s research? Wonder whether screen time is actually having more negative than positive effects on child health and development? Thinking about taking a Psychology degree or a related course?

Come to one of Staffordshire University’s Open Days and find out more! Book your place via: www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

Find out about our Psychology degrees, including our BSc Psychology & Child Development degree which received 100% Student Satisfaction (2015 National Student Survey) and our other highly rated Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England. We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Doreen Fleet discusses using sand-trays in Counselling practice

Posted on by
Doreen F

Doreen Fleet

Doreen Fleet (Senior Lecturer in Counselling and a member of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) is conducting a multiple case study using sand-tray with adults in short-term therapy from a pluralistic perspective and blogs about her recently published research:

Sand-tray therapy is a creative intervention and involves the use of a sand-tray and a collection of objects (see below for examples). The objects act as physical metaphors or symbols to represent a client’s inner–experience, personal history, personal relationships and their relationship to the wider world.

Doreen, in her article published in Private Practice in 2015, says:

“In my view sand-tray therapy has something to offer over and above talking therapy; it appears that the client shifts from being stuck and overwhelmed in their pain to being able to explore and express it” (p17).

Being able to express and externalize their pain involves the client becoming “observer and experiencer simultaneously” they are able to take one step out of their pain, without losing connection to thought and feeling” (p17). This process enables the client to go further in their exploration and often brings new insight and relief from working through previously unexpressed emotion.

Jul16 DFleet SandTray 2 Jul16 DFleet SandTray

In the ongoing multiple case study using sand-tray, Doreen takes the dual role of counsellor-researcher. Doreen, along with her supervisors Dr. Amy Burton, Dr. Andrew Reeves and Dr. Mani Das Gupta have had a paper accepted by Qualitative Research in Psychology entitled ‘A case for the dual-role of counsellor-researcher in qualitative research’ which is now in press.

The article explores how the dual role of counsellor-researcher was managed in the study and a case example taken from the multiple case study is incorporated to illustrate how taking the dual role is a legitimate approach in qualitative research. Some researchers argue against taking a dual role in research, warning that the different roles have conflicting obligations and expectations which are not easily resolved (Kitchener, 1988).  Doreen, in her new paper (2016) challenges this and would echo Dallos and Vetere (2005) who state that practice-based data is convincing evidence for counselling research as “it captures the miracle of therapy in a way that statistics and randomized controls cannot” (p131).  Doreen and her supervisors argue that this research approach is highly relevant to counselling, as it closes the gap between research and counselling practice.

Are you interested in studying for a Counselling qualification?

Staffordshire University offers counselling courses ranging from Foundation Degrees with local partner colleges, undergraduate degrees (including a British Psychological Society accredited BSc Psychology and Counselling degree) and postgraduate counselling qualifications at our Stoke-on-Trent City Campus:

Prof Helen Dent featured on BBC Radio Stoke discussing national trends in religious beliefs

Posted on by

Professor Helen Dent

Professor Helen Dent (Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Sunday Morning Breakfast Show with Liz Ellis (Sunday 29th May) discussing the results of a recent survey indicating a national trend for reductions in church attendance and in religious beliefs.

Listen to Helen’s interview via the BBC iPlayer (click here) from approximately 2 hour 10 minutes into the programme.

Professor Helen Dent is Course Director for the Staffordshire Clinical Psychology Doctorate. More details about the course and other Psychology degrees at Staffordshire University can be found here.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please visit: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

“Like being in a foreign country”: Communication Issues for People who have had Strokes

Posted on by
portrait_povey_rachel_tcm44-33064

Dr Rachel Povey

Trainee Health Psychologist Louise Clancy together with her supervisor Dr Rachel Povey (Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology) are conducting research into the experiences of stroke patients with communication difficulties. Louise, whose placement is at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, has already conducted a systematic review and an interview study to examine patients’ communication difficulties, and is now recruiting for a quantitative study which looks at the differences in people with and without communication difficulties after having a stroke.

Communication difficulties after having a stroke are very common with about a third of stroke patients having problems with communicating including speaking, reading and understanding what other people are saying (known as aphasia). The interest for this research came from Louise’s experiences of working in a stroke rehabilitation setting both in the UK and Australia.

Louise explains: “via working in stroke care settings and conducting research in this area I have observed the physical, emotional, cognitive and social challenges faced as a consequence of stroke and have become passionate about facilitating the voices of this group in being heard”.

The findings from all three studies will be used to inform future training programmes for healthcare professionals who work with people with post-stroke aphasia.

May16 Povey Health Stroke 1

The systematic review was completed, together with Dr Greg Norris, a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, and looked at communication interventions developed for healthcare professionals working with patients with post stroke communication difficulties. The findings showed that these interventions were beneficial to staff and patients, although time and financial constraints are common issues which can be a key barrier to attending training. The interview study aimed to explore in depth the experiences of staff-patient communication within inpatient stroke care settings. Louise interviewed patients and carers as well as healthcare professionals in order to get an overall view of the issues.  The interviews gave an excellent insight into the issues faced by all three groups, with communication issues for people with stroke being likened to “being in a foreign country”. The final piece of research is being conducted using an online questionnaire and is aiming to look at the differences between people with and without communication difficulties after having a stroke.

Louise is conducting this research with the support of Dr Lyndsey Hall-Patch (Clinical Neuropsychologist) and her Academic Supervisor Dr Rachel Povey. If you have had a stroke, and would like to be a part of this interesting study, please go to: http://bit.ly/22gYrg0 to find out more details.

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Dr Richard Jolley featured on BBC Radio Stoke discussing gender differences in religious beliefs

Posted on by

Dr Richard Jolley

Dr Richard Jolley (Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Sunday Morning Breakfast Show with Liz Ellis (Sunday 1st May) discussing the reasons why more women than men appear to have religious beliefs.

Listen to Richard’s interview via the BBC iPlayer (click here) – Richard can be heard from 2 hour 8 minutes into the programme.

Richard teaches across a range of Psychology modules at Staffordshire University, including a specialist Children & Pictures course based on his research into the development of children’s drawing ability. More details about the course and other Psychology degrees at Staffordshire University can be found here.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please visit: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Drs Daniel Jolley & Nichola Street blog on the BPS Annual Conference

Posted on by

Dr Daniel Jolley and Dr Nichola Street (Lecturers May 16 BPS Conference blog 1in Psychology) recently attended the British Psychological Society’s flagship event, the Annual Conference, in Nottingham in April 2016.

The conference encompassed a diverse array of presentations that spanned the whole of psychology, alongside Keynote presentations from scholars such as Professor Gail Kinman and Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes (now Vice President of the BPS).

May 16 BPS Conference blog 2

The conference also provided the opportunity for scholars to present their work in different innovated formats. One format was Haiku Desk style, where Dr Street presented a talk entitled ‘When Art and Psychology Collide’.  A Haiku Desk limits the text on each slide to only a few words, then “deals a desk” of appropriate images to marry up to the text.  The presenter then is given 3 minutes, followed by 2 minutes of questions. Dr Street said: “ I chose to submit into this category as my research is focused on the power of imagery. It was exciting having a different brief for a presentation focused on visual impact and I enjoyed the test of trying to compress my research background, aims and findings into 3 minutes. In practice it certainly was a difficult task to keep to time but I do enjoy the challenge of trying new methods to add novelty in scientific communication.”

May 16 BPS Conference blog 3

Dr Nichola Street at the BPS Conference

Dr Jolley presented a slightly more traditional poster, which showcased research that aimed to test interventions designed to address anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Dr Jolley said: “Presenting the poster was a great way to discuss my research with many different people – I received some great feedback, and was able to have more one-to-one conversations.  As the poster was being showcased all day, I tweeted the poster-board number and a photograph using the conference hash tag (#bpsconf), which may have then inspired delegates to attend in person”.

May 16 BPS Conference blog 4

Dr Daniel Jolley and his poster presentation at the BPS Conference

Drs Jolley and Street also experienced the more typical oral presentations, with Powerpoint; however, one presenter also had the audience take part in a demonstration.  Anne-Marie Czajkowski (from the University of Leeds) talk was discussing ‘Mindfulness for Musicians’ where she asked people in the audience to take part in a short mindfulness activity.  Dr Jolley said: “Typically, talks do not include such an interactive component, so this was a new experience for us”.  Dr Street added: “It was certainly great to include such a demonstration during a more traditional talk, and definitely something I would love to consider using in my own presentations the future”.

You can see therefore that there are all manner of different styles to present your work – why don’t you give it a try?

Dr Daniel Jolley and Dr Nichola Street are both members of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research (#StaffsPsyRes), a newly established research centre at Staffordshire University.

The Psychology Department at Staffordshire is a research-active group of academic psychologists with expertise in several key areas of psychology, including Health Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology and creative methodologies. The University offers a range of Postgraduate courses which provide further training in research skills, including:

For more details about Postgraduate Study at Staffordshire University please visit  http://www.staffs.ac.uk/postgraduate/.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Find out more about our Undergraduate Psychology courses, and book yourself on an Open Day.

Health Psychologist, Dr Amy Burton, reports on her Change Exchange visit to Uganda

Posted on by

Health Psychology in Action: Global Health

Our Health Psychologist, Dr Amy Burton, spent some time working in Africa at the beginning of April. Amy was selected by The Change Exchange to work as a Behaviour Change Consultant for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology partnership with Kitovu Hospital, Uganda. The Change Exchange is funded by The Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) in association with the Department for International Development (DFID) and The Global Health Exchange. The project places behavioural scientists into health partnerships to evaluate and seek to improve projects aimed at changing healthcare practice in low and middle income countries.

Amy blogs on her experiences:

I heard about The Change Exchange project in two ways: a recent issue of The Psychologist and a visit to Staffordshire University by Jo Hart, one of the project leads. As a recently qualified and HCPC registered Health Psychologist I was keen to put my skills into practice and was excited about the challenge of taking myself out of my comfort zone by working in a low income country (something I have never done before!). Over 45 psychologists applied for the project and I was one of the lucky few to be chosen to take part.

May16 AB Uganda 1

The Change Exchange Team

My first encounter with the rest of the team was a group meeting on a rainy March day in Manchester. This was my first opportunity to hear about the project I would be working on and to meet my colleagues Nisha Sharma and Fiona Gillison. We were appointed to work with an RCOG project based in the Masaka region of Uganda. The Excellence in Obstetric Skills Course trains local health workers in essential skills with the aim of improving care for mothers and babies and reducing the incidence of obstetric fistula (the development of a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder often caused by prolonged obstructed labour that results in women being incontinent).

May16 AB Uganda 2

Kitovu Health Care Complex

May16 AB Uganda 3

The Fistula Ward

As behavioural scientists, Nisha and I were keen to understand how behaviour change techniques were being employed within the course. We therefore spent some time observing the RCOG obstetric skills course and the “train the trainer” course (to teach Ugandan health care professionals how to teach their colleagues obstetric emergency skills) and coding them for known behaviour change techniques. We had the opportunity to be ‘practice’ patients and learnt a lot about obstetric care!

We were also interested in how the Ugandan health care professionals perceived the course and what barriers they felt they would experience when putting their new knowledge and skills into practice. To explore this we conducted four focus groups with the course delegates to learn about their experiences and ideas.

Amy and Nisha with the RCOG Faculty and 'Train-the-Trainer' Graduates

Amy and Nisha with the RCOG Faculty and ‘Train-the-Trainer’ Graduates

In addition, I travelled with Nisha and the RCOG clinical lead to visit several previous delegates in their health centres and witness how the behaviours learnt on the course were being put into practice. This was an eye opening experience and gave me the opportunity to see first-hand how health centres work in Uganda.

May16 AB Uganda 5

A Health Centre in the Masaka District

I am currently working with my colleagues at The Change Exchange to produce an interim report for the RCOG based on the data we collected during our visit. Nisha and Fiona will be returning to Kitovu in June to conduct more work with the RCOG and hopefully put some of our report recommendations into practice. I am sad to not be returning to Kitovu but I will continue to be involved with the project from the UK.

Working on this project has been an exciting, enlightening and eye opening experience and I very much hope to have more opportunities to put my health psychology and behavioural science knowledge into practice in low income countries in the future.

Interested in Health Psychology?

Come along to one of our MSc in Health Psychology Open Afternoons (Click here for details) or visit one of our Undergraduate Open Days (Details & book your place here).

The Home of Health Psychology – Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a Psy1centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and BPS Accredited Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, one of the leading research-active academic schools for Psychology and Sport degrees situated in the heart of England.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Follow the Psychology Department’s latest research news via @StaffsPsych and clicking on the #StaffsPsyRes hashtag.

Keith Walmsley-Smith featured on BBC Radio Stoke discussing why people fall in love at first sight

Posted on by

Keith Walmsley-Smith

Keith Walmsley-Smith (Lecturer in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Breakfast Show with Pete Morgan (Wednesday 6th April) discussing why people may fall in love at first sight.

Listen to Keith’s interview via the BBC iPlayer (click here) – Keith can be heard from approx 42 minutes 50 seconds into the show.

Keith is the Award Leader for Staffordshire University’s BSc Psychology & Counselling course – more details about the course and other Psychology degrees at Staffordshire University can be found here.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Dr Sarah Krähenbühl blogs on the 2016 Intermediaries for Justice Conference

Posted on by

Dr Sarah Krähenbühl (Lecturer in Forensic Psychology & Course Leader for Staffordshire’s BSc in Forensic Psychology) reports on a recent conference held at Staffordshire University for researchers, policy makers and professionals with interests in the use of vulnerable individuals as witnesses:

On March 12th 2016 a national conference took place at Staffordshire University called ‘Intermediaries for Justice’. Registered Intermediaries (RI) are professionals who facilitate communication with vulnerable witnesses (and now also with vulnerable suspects) who are participating in legal proceedings. An RI will have specialist expertise in an area of communication, will conduct an assessment with a vulnerable person, and then liaise with all other professionals involved in the legal proceedings (e.g. Police Officers, Barristers, Judge) to ensure that appropriate communication takes place. At this conference, in addition to Registered Intermediaries, there were a range of delegates including Police, Social Workers, charitable organisation representatives (e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau), academics and students from Staffordshire University. The speakers included Hon Ms Justice Russell, HHJ Sally Cahill QC, Dr. Sarah Krähenbühl, Gill Darvill, Dame Joyce Plotnikoff and Dr Richard Woolfson.

Apr16 SK Conference picture

Dr Sarah Krähenbühl (of Staffordshire University) and Gill Darvill (Registered Intermediary) gave a presentation on the UK findings of a Europe-wide research project conducted for the Fundamental Rights Agency (Vienna) regarding children’s experiences in the Criminal Justice System.

In addition there were a series of 6 discussion groups facilitated by professionals covering a range of topics related to legal proceedings such as witness interview training, pre-trial recorded cross-examination, pre-trial preparation, individuals with autism or mental health vulnerabilities, and fitness to plead issues.

The conference was a huge success and was greatly oversubscribed. You can get further information about the work of Registered Intermediaries from the ‘Advocates Gateway’ website http://www.theadvocatesgateway.org/intermediaries – and of course, look out for their next conference in 2017!

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Professor David Clark-Carter discusses beliefs in religion and ghosts on BBC Radio Stoke

Posted on by
david-clark-carter_tcm44-73821

Prof Clark-Carter

Professor David Clark-Carter (Professor of Psychological Research Methods, School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Sunday Morning Breakfast Show discussing people’s beliefs in religion and ghosts following a recent survey suggesting that more people believe in ghosts than they do religion.

Listen to Prof. Clark-Carter’s interview via the BBC iPlayer (click here) – David can be heard from approx 1 hour 40 minutes into the show.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.