A brief imagery competing intervention to reduce intrusive trauma memories: from bench to bedside and parents of children admitted to intensive care

  • Sinead Farquharson

Student thesis: Doctoral ThesisDoctorate in Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The first chapter of this thesis comprises an Extended Literature Review which provides a comprehensive overview of a novel imagery-competing intervention for reducing intrusive trauma memories. The interventions development and its translation from laboratory to clinical settings ('bench to bedside’) is considered with a critical review of the evidence from experimental and clinical studies. Recommendations are provided for future research.

The second chapter of this thesis outlines a Large Scale Research Project which aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of this brief imagery-competing (visuospatial) intervention with parents experiencing intrusive memories following their child's discharge from intensive care. This study used a single-arm, mixed-methods design. Data was collected remotely through self-report measures at multiple timepoints and semi-structured interviews. The results and implications of these are discussed with recommendations for future research.

Thesis embargoed until 31 December 2026.
Date of AwardDec 2024
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Queen's University Belfast
SupervisorDavid McCormack (Supervisor), Cherie Armour (Supervisor) & Tim Fosker (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Intrusive memories
  • trauma
  • visuospatial interference
  • imagery-competing intervention
  • posttraumatic stress
  • remote delivery
  • parents
  • PICU
  • NICU
  • feasibility
  • acceptability

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