I am the Research Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme at QUB. As an expert on Global Mental Health, I have active research collaborations with the World Health Organization and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees investigating the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for reducing distress experienced by refugees particularly in the context and/or aftermath of humanitarian crises.

I am the Principal Investigator on the ESRC/AHRC funded Community-based Sociotherapy Adapted for Refugees (COSTAR) project that is evaluating a psychosocial intervention for Congolese refugees living in Uganda and Rwanda. I am also the UK Principal Investigator on the Newton Fund/ESRC/Minciencias funded SÉYAKA project which is coproducing forms of mental health and wellbeing support for the indigenous Kankuamo communities in post-conflict Colombia.

I was the lead editor of ‘The Palgrave Handbook of Socio-cultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health’. I am engaged in research investigating processes involved in the linguistic/cultural adaptation of psychological therapies and assessment instruments for measuring mental health for use with underserved populations. In 2020, I was recognised as one of the ’10 people in the UK who are changing the face of health’: https://www.decadeofhealth.co.uk/10-people-in-the-uk-who-changing-the-face-of-heath/.

I also have a keen interest in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of adults working in high-performance environments and elite level athletes in particular. I was the lead author of the recently published Acceptance and Commitment Approaches for Athletes’ Wellbeing and Performance: The Flexible Mind’ (Palgrave MacMillan). 

I am an Association of Contextual Behavioural Science peer-reviewed trainer of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.