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Dr Parisa Dashtipour
I joined The Open University in September 2022 as a Lecturer in Psychology. In recent years, my research has focused on exploring psychological issues at work and in organizations from critical and psychosocial perspectives. I am currently working with colleagues internationally to strengthen approaches to organizational and work psychology that are more open and critical and that exist in the interest of workers and society. I am also interested in the critical use of psychoanalysis to interrogate mental health (for example, in the workplace), as well as social and political issues more broadly. My overarching interest is in subjectivity and, especially, the way in which subjectivity is shaped and wounded within oppressive social and organizational environments and power relations.
Publications:
Dashtipour, P. Frost, N., and Traynor, M. (2020) The idealization of ‘compassion’ in trainee nurses’ talk: A psychosocial focus group study. Human Relations, 74(12): 2102-2125.
Dashtipour, P and Vidaillet, B. (2017) Work as affective experience: The contribution of Christophe Dejours’ ‘psychodynamics of work’. Organization, 24(1), 18-35.
Dashtipour, P. (2014) Freedom through work: The psychosocial, affect and work. In Kenny, K. and Fotaki, M. (eds) The psychosocial in organization studies: Affect at work. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
And something that inspired me:
Dejours C (ed) (2015) Psychopathology of work: Clinical observations. London: Karnac.
Dr Alison Davies
I’m a Postgraduate Research Associate in the School of Psychology, providing academic and research support for academic staff. This means I get to be involved in a whole range of really interesting projects.
My own academic background lies in the field of critical social psychology. I am interested in discourses of health and illness and how these are implicated with identity. My research and publication focus has been around the meanings of ADHD for those individuals and families affected by the condition. A recent project I have been involved in looked at the life-span narratives of women with ADHD. I’m particularly interested in the way that diagnoses can be used as a transformational resource to understand past lives and troubled identities.
I have collaborated on projects with research teams from WELS. These projects have included an evaluation of the Spinal Injuries Association’s peer support and a current collaboration focusing on fathers’ relationships with their disabled children.
When not at the OU, I work as a (registered) therapist and supervisor within a local community charity. I’m trained in psychodynamic methods, but I would describe my work as integrative now. I am interested in the relationship between somatic expression and psychological distress and am about to begin training in somatic trauma therapy.
Publications:
Stenner, P., O’Dell, L. & Davies, A. (2019). Adult women and ADHD: On the temporal dimensions of ADHD identities. Journal of the Theory Social Behaviour, 1–19.
Horton-Salway, M. & Davies, A. (2018). The Discourses of ADHD: Perspectives on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Palgrave Macmillan (UK)
Davies, A. and Horton-Salway, M. (2016). The Construction of Adult ADHD: Anna’s Story. In M. O’Reilly and N. Lester (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health, (pp. 117-133). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
And something that inspired me:
Iris Marion Young: Throwing like a girl: A phenomenology of feminine body comportment motility and spatiality
Dr Gina Di Malta
I am a Counselling Psychologist practitioner and researcher. I started working as a lecturer in psychotherapy and counselling at The Open University in June 2019. My research is focused on the developments of psychotherapy, specifically looking at therapy elements that support or hinder clients’ processes in pluralistic and client-centred approaches. Research questions are oriented around what psychotherapy clients find helpful or unhelpful. Research topics explored so far have included goal-oriented practices, client preferences for therapy and preference accommodation, and relational depth. I use mixed methodologies to approach and answer research questions from different angles.
Publications:
Di Malta, G., Oddli, H. W., Cooper, M. (2019). From intention to action: A mixed methods study of clients’ experiences of goal-oriented practices. Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Di Malta, G., Cooper, M., Vos, J., Van Der Veer, K. (2020). An application of Three-Step Test Interviews in the validation of the Relational Depth Frequency Scale. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Di Malta, G., Evans, C., Cooper, M. (2020). Development and validation of the relational depth frequency scale. Psychotherapy Research.
And something that inspired me:
Working at Relational Depth in Psychotherapy and Counselling by Mearns & Cooper, 2005
Dr Karen Hagan
I am a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in The Open University School of Psychology & Counselling, based in Northern Ireland. As a regional academic in a Devolved Nation, I mainly work on teaching delivery. The role also involves liaising with local external organisations and institutions. I am currently Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the British Psychological Society, a Committee Member for the Political Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society and a member of the local branch of Psychologists for Social Change. I am particularly excited to have recently taken up a part-time 2-year secondment opportunity as ‘Access, Participation and Success’ Academic Lead, within the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. I am currently involved in research projects on bullying, coercion and manipulation; lived experiences of students with borderline personality disorders, mood disorders, autism and anxiety; and discourses in autism assessment and diagnosis.
I also have a professional qualification in social work and previously worked for 13 years in social care, mainly with adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues.
Three publications I wrote:
Hagan, Karen. (2020) Bullying and Manipulation: Join the Resistance.
Hagan, Karen. (2018) Discourses in Autism Assessment and Diagnosis. PhD thesis. The Open University.
Hagan, Karen. (2015) How do you feel about that? The psychology of attitudes, in Capdevila, R., Dixon, J. and Briggs, J. (eds) Investigating Psychology 2: From Social to Cognitive. Milton Keynes, The Open University pp.281-327.
And one that inspired me:
J. Davidson and M. Orsini (eds) A world of autism: across the spectrum of neurological difference, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Dr Gini Harrison
I am an applied psychology researcher working across various different domains. My main research interests focus on mental health and wellbeing, and is concerned with the manifestation and support of mental health issues in cohorts who experience elevated levels of stress due to the context they are in. This work largely focuses on emergency responders and women in the perinatal period, but also included students, farmers and pilots. For example, I am currently involved in a large project exploring the wellbeing of the emergency responder community and their families, which is being carried out in close collaboration with Prof Graham Pike (OU), the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCL) and The Royal Foundation. Together we have conducted a comprehensive review of relevant research and provision of services for emergency responders and are now looking at how the gaps we identified might be better supported. This project also involved support from relevant charities and NGOs, particularly Mind, support which I have separately researched in collaboration with Dr Helen King and Graham. Much of my work is also concerned with understanding how we can used digital technology to better support mental health, and I have been involved in research into the implementation and effectiveness of eHealth tools to promote wellbeing. As part of this work, I recently built and launched an evidence-based website designed to inform and support women experiencing perinatal anxiety, and those who work with them (OpenPAWS.co.uk).
Beyond this, I am also interested in the ill-health effects of exposure to neurotoxic compounds (particularly organophosphates) in terms of general cognitive deficits and mood disorder.
Publications:
Harrison, V., Moore, D., & Lazard, L. (2020). Supporting perinatal anxiety in the digital age; A qualitative exploration of stressors and support strategies. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, published online ahead of print.
Moore, D., & Harrison, V. (2018). Advice for Health Care Professionals and Users: An Evaluation of Websites for Perinatal Anxiety. JMIR mental health, 5(4), e11464.
Harrison V, & Mackenzie Ross, S.J. (2016). Anxiety and depression following cumulative low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides. Environmental Research, 151, 528-536
Dr Kerry Hughes
I am a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with 10 years’ experience in the NHS. My main areas of practice were with adults with learning disabilities in the community and in-patient services and working-age adults, initially within the community and later in in-patient services. My remit included working individually and using group work to help people in who had complex mental health issues. I have an interest in autism, which followed me into my work in the community and inpatient mental health wards. Multi-disciplinary working has also been a constant, especially in inpatient ward settings, where I ran reflective clinical supervision groups for the ward staff.
I have now moved into academia, currently as a Staff tutor in Psychology & Counselling. I have worked as a senior lecturer in psychological sciences on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and as an Associate Lecturer for The Open University. For 5 years I was the Senior Tutor for the School of Natural and Social Sciences, a role that encompassed the pastoral aspects of work within the school. This involved collaborating with other senior staff on student wellbeing projects. I was also an Academic Link tutor for external counselling provision for 6 years, and an external examiner for psychology & counselling at the University of Bradford. ensuring quality and building connections between institutions.
Publications:
Meaden, A., Hacker, D. and Spencer, K. (2013), Acute aggression risk: an early warning signs methodology. The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 21-31.
And something that inspired me:
One of the most inspirational books I ever read, as a child, was the life story of Helen Keller. Not only was Helen Keller herself an inspiration, but so was her teacher Anne Sullivan. The message I received as a child was do not dismiss people. Do not assume. Ask the questions. People can achieve more than you believe they can, so support them to do that. It has fuelled my search for knowledge and my work through out my life.
Dr David W Jones
I have a long standing interest in mental health issues. My first ‘career job’ was as part of a research team studying the impact of the closure of the psychiatric asylums. My Phd was a study of the psychological impact of serious mental illness on families.
Through this early work I became dissatisfied with narrow range of methods traditionally associated with psychological research methods. It was at this point that I became interested in developing specifically psychosocial methods and since then I have sustained a broad interest in the development of psychosocial thinking for the insight it gives to understanding the relationship of the individual to the wider social group, My particular interests have been in understanding when that relationship appears to be problematic - notably, for example in the contexts of mental health issues and in terms of criminality. I have also become increasingly interested in the importance of historical exploration as an important dimension of psychosocial understanding.
I am Joint Editor of the Journal of Psychosocial Studies, that has recently been adopted by Policy Press. I am a founding member and Treasurer of the Association for Psychosocial Studies.
Publications:
Jones, D.W. (2020) Understanding Criminal Behaviour: Psychosocial Approaches on Criminality to Violence. Abingdon: Routledge.
Jones, D.W. (2016). Disordered Personalities and Crime: An analysis of the history of moral insanity. Abingdon: Routledge.b
Jones, D.W. (2002). Myths, Madness and the Family: The Impact of Mental Illness on Families. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
And something that inspired me:
Elias, N. (1939/1994). The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations. Blackwell: Oxford. A remarkable and innovative study that tries to trace shifts in consciousness in western societies in the centuries following the middle ages. It links psychic change with the development of western states.
Dr David Kaposi
I am a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology & Counselling and a psychotherapist accredited by the British Psychoanalytic Council. Originally trained as a social psychologist and with an interest in human meaning-making, my psychotherapeutic practice strongly influences my understanding of dynamics within and between people. Currently, the main empirical focus of my research concerns tape recordings of Stanley Milgram’s “Obedience to authority” experimental sessions; I am hoping that an analysis of the implicit, unacknowledged, un-conscious processes in these sessions can be further expanded into a psychosocial theory of violence which focuses on implicit processes. This project has recently been awarded with an ISRF Mid-Career Fellowship.
Having coordinated the group as a new research formation within the School of Psychology, I currently act as PHeW Research Strand Lead.
Publications:
Kaposi, D. (2020). The psychodynamic approach. In Moller, N., Vossler, A., Jones, D.W. & Kaposi, D (Eds). Understanding mental health and counselling. London: Sage.
Kaposi, D. (2020). Saving a victim from himself: The rhetoric of the learner’s presence and absence in the Milgram experiments. British Journal of Social Psychology, 59(4), 900-921.
Kaposi, D. (2020). Freud and sexuality. Psychology Review, 26(November), 22-23.
And something that inspired me:
Arendt, H. (1964). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil. New York: The Viking Press.
Professor Darren Langdridge
I am a Professor of Psychology within the School of Psychology & Counselling and also a UKCP accredited existential psychotherapist working in private practice. I have two strands to my research programme, one focused on health and the other on sexual cultures with both underpinned by an interest in developing and deploying qualitative methodologies and critical social theory. Recent health focused projects include: (i) work developing a methodology for the analysis of affect within public health intervention materials with a team led by Prof Flowers (Strathclyde Uni) examining anti-microbial resistance interventions; and (ii) the application of this same methodology on intervention materials designed to increase HIV testing for men who have sex with men with a team led by Prof McDaid (Glasgow Uni) and Prof Flowers. I have also recently completed a project on a novel sexual sub-culture known as ‘puppy play’ (with Dr Jamie Lawson, Bristol Uni) and I am currently finalising a major monograph on sexual citizenship.
Publications:
Langdridge, D., Davis, M., Gozdzielewska, L., McParland, J., Williams, L., Mairi Young, M., Smith, F., MacDonald, J., Price, L. & Flowers, P. (2019). The effectiveness of interventions to increase antimicrobial stewardship: a visual affective analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 24, 66-87.
Langdridge, D. & Lawson, J. (2019). The psychology of puppy play: a phenomenological investigation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(7), 2201-2215.
Langdridge, D., Gabb, J. & Lawson, J. (2019). Art as a pathway to impact: an ‘affective’ evaluation. The Sociological Review, 67(3), 585-601.
And something that inspired me:
Bech, H. (1997). When men meet: homosexuality and modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Dr Laura McGrath
I am a Lecturer in Psychosocial Mental Health, from the School of Psychology & Counselling. My research has primarily looked at the role of the environment in experiences of mental distress, care and recovery. I mainly take a qualitative approach to research, using a variety of visual and verbal methodologies to explore experiences of space, place and mental distress. I am interested in community and non-clinical approaches to distress, care and recovery and have worked in partnership with services and projects on evaluations in these areas. My work is interdisciplinary, drawing on social, community and critical psychology, as well as human geography and social theory, to explore psychosocial and material aspects of mental health experiences.
Publications:
Muir, J., McGrath, L. (2018) Life lines: Loss, loneliness and expanding meshworks with an urban Walk and Talk group, Health & Place, 53, 164-172.
McGrath, L., Reavey, P. (2018). Handbook of Mental Health and Space: Community and Clinical Applications. London: Routledge.
McGrath, L., Reavey, P. (2015). Seeking fluid possibility and solid ground: Space and movement in mental health service users' experiences of ‘crisis’, Social Science & Medicine, 128, 115-125.
And something that inspired me:
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the condition of the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. London: Vintage Books.
Professor Naomi Moller
Having trained as a Counselling Psychologist, my research interests are broadly focused on counselling and psychotherapy practice and mental health and wellbeing. I have a particular interest in relationship functioning for couples and families and the therapy experiences of stigmatized populations.
Current research projects include: healthcare for trans and nonbinary adults, the switch to online therapy resulting from COVID-19, infidelity and intimacy in online spaces, perceptions of mental health in a work context, outcomes of couple counselling in a large community sample, and the qualitative story completion method.
I have historically working as Joint Research Lead for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and I am the current UK Chapter President for the Society for Psychotherapy Research (term runs to 2023):
Publications:
Professor Graham Pike
I have a broad range of research interests and those focusing on the psychology of health and wellbeing have largely concentrated on two areas: the mental health and wellbeing of the emergency responder community, including their families; and the role of technology and gaming in supporting mental health. My work on the emergency responder community is done in close collaboration with Gini Harrison (OU), the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCL) and The Royal Foundation. Together we have conducted a comprehensive review of relevant research and provision of services for emergency responders and are now looking at how the gaps we identified might be better supported. This project also involved support from relevant charities and NGOs, particularly Mind, support which I have separately researched in collaboration with Helen King and Gini. In terms of technology, I have worked with Martin Thirkettle (SHU) and Darren Langdridge (OU) to develop an iOS/Android App that used a gamification approach to study circadian rhythms and cognitive function, and citizen science oriented work that has explored the COVID 19 pandemic. The two areas of emergency responders and technology were bought together in a project I conducted with Hannah Marston and Ian Hesketh (National Police Wellbeing Service) which looked at how Health Apps are being used to support the mental health of blue light personnel.
Publications:
Marston, H.R., Hadley, R., Pike, G. & Hesketh, I. (in press). Games for Health & mHealth Apps for Police & Blue Light Personnel: A research review. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles.
Sharp, Marie-Louise; Harrison, Virginia; Soloman, Noa; King, Helen; Fear, Nicola and Pike, Graham (2020). Assessing the mental health and wellbeing of the Emergency Responder Community in the UK. Report to The Royal Foundation.
Thirkettle, M., Lewis, J., Langdridge, D., & Pike, G. (2018). OU Brainwave: a mobile app delivering a gamified battery of cognitive tests designed for repeated play. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Serious Games, 6(4).
And something that inspired me:
Rosenhan, D. L. (1973). On being sane in insane places. Science, 179(4070), 250-258.
Dr Heather Price
As a psychosocial practitioner and researcher, I am concerned with the ways in which individuals influence (and are influenced by) interpersonal relationships and wider group and socio-cultural processes. I consider how emotions are theorized within the mental health field and have a particular interest in psychoanalysis.
I recently led a research team commissioned by the Mulberry Bush Organisation to study the key constituents of the Mulberry Bush’s ‘reflective practice’ training model for therapeutic childcare and specialist educational practitioners. The Bush is one of the original therapeutic communities for children and supports those of primary school age who have experienced severe trauma. I previously led a qualitative study of the Mulberry Bush’s therapeutic provision which included the views of children at the school.
I worked with Dr Eric Ansong and the London Bubble Theatre Company to evaluate ‘Speech Bubbles’, a speech, communication and language needs drama intervention at Key Stage One. With Alice Sampson, she also co-led the evaluation of ‘Tottenham Thinking Space’. Now ‘Haringey Thinking Space’, TTS is an award-winning community therapy project set up by Haringey Council and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in the wake of the 2011 riots, to build strength and resilience in local neighbourhoods.
I am also a BACP registered Couple and Individual Psychodynamic Psychotherapist.
Publications:
Price, H., Herd, J., Jones, D and Sampson, A. Between Love and Behaviour Management: the psychodynamic reflective milieu at the Mulberry Bush School (2018) special issue of the Journal of Social Work Practice on Psychodynamic and Systems Theories Perspectives on Residential Child Care, 32:4, 391-407.
Price, H., and Ansong, E. (2018) 'An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the ‘Speech Bubbles’ Drama Intervention Programme, 2015-17', Final Report.
Price, H., Herd, J., Jones, D. and Sampson, A. (2017) ‘Keeping the Children Close: Towards an Understanding of Therapeutic Provision at the Mulberry Bush School’ Final Report.
And something that inspired me:
Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E. L. and Target, M. (2004) Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self, London: Karnac
Melanie Rimmer
I am an Associate Lecturer and Post Graduate Researcher. My research interests are in disability studies, particularly learning disabilities. As an autistic person with ADHD, anxiety and depression, disability justice is important to me personally, and I am interested in radically inclusive and participatory research methods. I also bring a disability justice sensitivity to my teaching praxis.
Publications:
Evans, R., Connell, J., Ablard, S., Rimmer, M., O'Keeffe, C. and Mason, S. (20190. The impact of different liaison psychiatry models on the emergency department: a systematic review of the international evidence. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 119, pp.53-64.
Buckner, S., Mattocks, C., Rimmer, M. and Lafortune, L. (2018). An evaluation tool for age-friendly and dementia friendly communities. Working with Older People . 22(1), pp. 48-58.
Croot, L., Rimmer, M., Salway, S., Hatton, C., Dowse, E., Lavin, J., Bennett, S.E., Harris, J. and O’Cathain, A. (2018). Adjusting a mainstream weight management intervention for people with intellectual disabilities: a user centred approach. International Journal for Equity in Health, 17(1), pp.1-12.
And something that inspired me:
In 1997 I attended (as a student) an Open University summer school in Durham for the module Introduction to Psychology. At an optional talk about the social model of disability the presenters told a story about a boy who met a little girl about his own age and played with her all day, although he had some difficulty communicating with her. She didn’t talk at all, and didn’t seem to understand when he talked to her. They found they could make themselves understood to each other with gestures and pointing. When the boy told his parents about the strange girl, they said to him “Well, you see, she’s not like us. Her family are probably hearing”. That presentation changed my life; inspiring my research career, changing how I understand myself as a disabled person, and as a touchstone of the powerful effect OU teachers can have on their students. If you know who that presenter might have been, I’d love to thank them.
Dr Andreas Vossler
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at The Open University, a Chartered Psychologist as well as a trained systemic couple and family psychotherapist. As an experienced trainer and presenter, I have published 7 authored/edited books and over 40 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal papers in different languages. I have been conducting research on family and couple counselling and the impact of digital technology on intimate relationships for over 10 years. Currently my research activities are focussed on the way relationship meanings/practices are shifting in the internet age and clients’ and practitioners’ experiences of online therapy.
Publications:
Vossler, A. & Moller, N. P. (2020). Internet Affairs: Partners’ perceptions and experiences of internet infidelity. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 46, 67-77.
Vossler, A., Harvard, C., Pike, G., Barker, M.J. & Raabe, B. (eds.) (2017). Mad or Bad? A critical approach to Counselling and Forensic Psychology. London: Sage.
Vossler, A. (2016). Internet infidelity ten years on: A critical review of the literature. The Family Journal, 24(4), 359–366.
Vossler, A. & Moller, N.P. (eds.) (2014). The Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Handbook. London: Sage.
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