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Introduction
Publications
Publications (77)
Despite substantial evidence linking insomnia with increased suicidality in non‐autistic populations, its role in autism remains under‐explored. Poor sleep, most commonly insomnia symptoms (hereafter insomnia), is a significant issue in autism, affecting up to 80% of autistic children and adults, compared with 30%–50% of children and about 45% of a...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapy which focuses on acceptance, mindfulness and values-based actions to support living a rich and meaningful life. ACT has been successfully applied to support recovery from psychosis across multiple contexts. This paper provides an overview of ACT for psychosis, foll...
Prior psychologically traumatic experiences have been linked to increased risk for mental health conditions. However, there remain questions about the relationship between prior interpersonal trauma, particularly that of neglect and abuse, and transdiagnostic dimensions such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU: the tendency to find uncertainty aversi...
Objective: Widespread mental health impacts occurred early in the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those with pre-existing mental health conditions. Less is known about how these groups fared in later phases and post- pandemic. We compared late-pandemic mental health impacts on adults with pre-existing mental ill-health and other vulnerabilities t...
There is a high prevalence of depression and burnout in allied health students, emphasising the need to understand predictors of these outcomes. An understanding of the poor mental health outcomes in allied health students could be extended by considering the effects of perfectionism, a transdiagnostic process that is a risk- and maintaining factor...
Objective: Widespread mental health impacts occurred early in the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those with pre-existing mental health conditions. Less is known about how these groups fared in later phases and post- pandemic. We compared late-pandemic mental health impacts on adults with pre-existing mental ill-health and other vulnerabilities t...
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU; the tendency to find uncertainty aversive) and paranoia (e.g., excessive mistrust of others), are both associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. While previous research has primarily focused on IU and paranoia separately, there is recent evidence to suggest that IU and paranoia are linked and may interact to i...
Prior traumatic experiences have been linked to increased risk for mental health conditions. However, there remain questions about the relationship between prior interpersonal trauma, particularly that of neglect and abuse, and transdiagnostic dimensions such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU: the tendency to find uncertainty aversive). To address...
Background
Psychological interventions, along with antipsychotic medications, are recommended for adults diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. While initially designed to mitigate positive symptoms, psychological interventions targeting personal recovery were developed and aligned with the recovery framework that many mental health services have ado...
Mindfulness interventions have become a common feature of worksite stress management provision. However, the evidence underpinning these interventions continues to attract scrutiny, with unresolved questions surrounding: the generalizability of mindfulness research findings to real-world workplace training applications, comparability of different m...
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU: the tendency to find uncertainty aversive) and paranoia (e.g., excessive mistrust of others), are both associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. While previous research has primarily focused on IU and paranoia separately, there is recent evidence to suggest that IU and paranoia are linked and may interact to i...
Background
Biases in risk perception (e.g. excessive attribution of likelihood of negative events happening to oneself, or perceived harm of neutral events) have been suggested as risk factors for psychopathologies such as generalised anxiety and persecutory ideation, although this line of research is limited by small samples and a lack of a suitab...
Background
With efforts increasing worldwide to understand and treat paranoia, there is a pressing need for cross-culturally valid assessments of paranoid beliefs. The recently developed Revised Green et al., Paranoid Thoughts Scale (R-GPTS) constitutes an easy to administer self-report assessment of mild ideas of reference and more severe persecut...
Background:Personal recovery is a persisting concern for people with psychotic disorders. Accordingly, mental health services have adopted frameworks of personal recovery, prioritizing adaptation to psychosis alongside symptom remission. Group acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for psychosis aims to promote personal recovery alongside improved...
Although mostly considered distinct, conspiracy mentality and paranoia share conceptual similarities (e.g., persecutory content, resistance to disconfirming evidence). Using self-report data from a large and multinational online sample (N = 2510; from the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Germany, and Australia), we examined whether paranoia and conspiracy me...
Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (autism) commonly experience co-occurring anxiety and depression, which are significantly associated. These mental health conditions are also variously associated with increased autistic traits, insomnia, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), sensory sensitivity, and autonomic symptoms. However, no res...
BACKGROUND
Psychological interventions, along with antipsychotic medications, are recommended for adults diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. While initially designed to mitigate positive symptoms, psychological interventions targeting personal recovery were developed and aligned with the recovery framework that many mental health services have ado...
Purpose:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychosis (ACTp) is a contextual behavioural intervention that promotes psychological flexibility by fostering active acceptance, cognitive defusion, values construction and committed action to enhance well-being and recovery. Multiple studies have shown that ACTp is acceptable and efficacious, but qu...
This book shows how psychological and social interventions can help people with psychosis. It brings together both theoretical chapters that contribute to the reconceptualization of psychosis and clinical cases illustrating how contemporary psychotherapeutic intervention models can be applied in the treatment of this mental health condition, with r...
After several decades since psychiatric reform began, we are at the dawn of a change of paradigm in the approach, conceptualisation, and understanding of psychosis. New approaches are developing towards a less biologistic orientation of psychosis and where the relationship between pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy is more balanced and interrelated....
Therapist self-disclosure can be an important feature of the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) approach to supporting the recovery of people with psychosis. We will present an overview of therapist self-disclosure in psychotherapy, including the research literature. We will then outline the ways that therapist self-disclosure is offered in AC...
Finding purpose, meaning, and personal identity can be a long-term challenge for people who have experienced psychosis. This chapter outlines how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al., Acceptance and commitment therapy: the process and practice of mindful change. Guilford Press, 2012) has been developed to support the personal recove...
Background:
Paranoia is higher in minority group individuals, especially those reporting intersecting aspects of difference. High negative and low positive self and other beliefs, and low social rank, are predictive of paranoia overtime; however, data are typically from majority group participants. This study examined whether social defeat or heal...
Depression and poor sleep quality commonly co-occur with autism, and depression has been associated with loneliness and reduced social support. In non-autistic samples, poor sleep quality and daytime fatigue also contribute to depression. However, the contribution of sleep quality and fatigue to depressive symptoms, and how they interact with socia...
Background:
Insomnia and disturbed sleep are more common in autistic adults compared with non-autistic adults, contributing to significant social, psychological and health burdens. However, sleep intervention research for autistic adults is lacking.
Aims:
The aim of the study was to implement an acceptance and commitment therapy group insomnia i...
Introduction: Student wellbeing is a growing concern for physiotherapy and other health professional students, with potential impacts on academic success, patient care and future personal wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors of future stress, anxiety, depression, study engagement and academic performance in physiothe...
Ostracism is known to lead to negative psychological outcomes; however, little is known as to how ostracism may be a predictor of paranoid thoughts. The present paper examined the relationship between perceived ostracism and paranoid thoughts (social reference, persecution) by focusing on the potential moderating roles of psychological flexibility...
INTRODUCTION
Poor sleep and fatigue are common in autistic adolescents and adults, who also experience increased depression compared with the general population. We examined the relationships between sleep quality, fatigue and depression in autistic young adults.
METHOD
Participants were 114 autistic young adults (15-25 years) from the Study of Au...
El objetivo de esta obra es compartir, fomentar y divulgar el conocimiento acerca de orientaciones terapéuticas novedosas y eficaces, así como las reflexiones, estrategias y pautas prácticas de intervención que utilizan sus autores (que proceden de distintas partes del mundo y aportan diferentes puntos de vista) para tratar de ayudar a las persona...
Background
The term ‘pandemic paranoia’ has been coined to refer to heightened levels of mistrust and suspicion towards other people specifically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examine the international prevalence of pandemic paranoia in the general population and its associated sociodemographic profile.
Methods
A representative i...
Statistics anxiety is a significant problem for students’ learning experience in the psychological sciences. This article explores a novel teaching methodological approach during the global pandemic to improve students’ performance by reducing their statistics anxiety. The subject design and teaching methodological approach were developed based on...
Background
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in paranoid thinking has been reported internationally. The development of the Pandemic Paranoia Scale (PPS) has provided a reliable assessment of various facets of pandemic paranoia. This study aimed to (i) identify classes of individuals with varying levels of general paranoia and pandemic para...
Understanding factors driving vaccine hesitancy is crucial to vaccination success. We surveyed adults (N = 2510) from February to March 2021 across five sites (Australia = 502, Germany = 516, Hong Kong = 445, UK = 512, USA = 535) using a cross-sectional design and stratified quota sampling for age, sex, and education. We assessed willingness to tak...
Background and Objectives
Cognitive and emotional changes affect the majority of individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and are associated with poorer outcomes. The evidence for “siloed” rehabilitation approaches targeting cognition and mood separately remains mixed. Valued living (i.e., acting consistently with personal values) is associated...
Background: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an interpersonally threatening
context within which other people have become a source of possible threat. This study reports
on the development and validation of a self-report measure of pandemic paranoia; that is,
heightened levels of suspicion and mistrust towards others due to the COVID-...
Adjustment to life with acquired brain injury (ABI) requires self-identity and behaviour to be updated, incorporating injury-related changes. Identifying and enabling new values-consistent behaviours could facilitate this process. We evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of VaLiANT, a new group intervention that aims to...
Understanding factors driving vaccine hesitancy is crucial to vaccination success. We surveyed adults (N=2510) from February to March 2021 across five sites (Australia=502, Germany=516, Hong Kong=445, UK=512, USA=535) using a cross-sectional design and stratified quota sampling for age, sex, and education. We assessed willingness to take a vaccine...
Understanding factors driving vaccine hesitancy is crucial to vaccination success. We surveyed adults (N = 2510) from February to March 2021 across five sites (Australia = 502, Germany = 516, Hong Kong = 445, UK = 512, USA = 535) using a cross-sectional design and stratified quota sampling for age, sex, and education. We assessed willingness to tak...
Background: Psychosocial, evidence-based interventions (EBI) may sup-port personal recovery from psychosis; however, little is known about their implementation.
Methods: This paper describes the adaptation, implementation, and
evaluation of a psychosocial EBI, group Acceptance and Commitment
Therapy (ACT), designed to support personal recovery o...
Objective: To evaluate graduates’ experiences in Australian postgraduate training programs and the registrar program in clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology, and to identify which components of training were most useful in preparing graduates for the workforce.
Method: An anonymous online survey was distributed among recent (2013-2018)...
Background: This study aimed to generate a grounded theory of change processes as experienced by people with psychosis who engaged in an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group program. A secondary aim was to identify how participants described changes in their relationship to distress following the groups.
Methods: The study used a qualitati...
Objective:
Psychological interventions reduce the impact of psychosis, but widescale implementation is problematic. We tested the feasibility of group acceptance and commitment therapy for Psychosis (G-ACTp), delivered by frontline staff, and co-facilitated by service-user experts-by-experience (SU-EbyE), for service-users and informal caregivers...
Background
Bipolar disorder is a chronic and disabling psychiatric condition, characterised by recurrent episodes of mania, hypomania and depression. It places a heavy burden on sufferers and families, with high societal and healthcare costs. Many service users with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder also experience prominent psychotic symptoms, with...
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people seek psychotherapy at high rates, and the importance of providing culturally appropriate and LGBT-affirmative psychotherapy has been widely acknowledged. Despite this, remarkably little research has investigated the effects of therapist training in LGBT-affirmative psychotherapy. Here we examine...
In this article, we describe a pragmatic framework for supporting supervision, based on a contextual behavioural perspective. The development of psychological skills to a competent level requires didactic and experiential learning, and supervision is agreed to be a central vehicle for the integration of these experiences. Alongside engaging in prob...
Interventions:
MBIs for chronic pain. OUTCOME MEASURES : Mindfulness-based mechanisms explored in relation to several domains of functioning. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS : Based on this assessment, a summary of available evidence for a particular contextual behavioral theory of "mindfulness"-psychological flexibility-is outlined. Findings show the nee...
Persons with psychosis often report high levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which render them more vulnerable to relapse, symptom exacerbation, and reduced well-being. However, less is known about how to adequately accommodate the needs of persons recovering from a first episode of psychosis, presenting with PTSD. Further, the...
In this paper, we discuss the practice implications of our group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychosis (ACTp) evaluations, in terms of the adaptations required to ACT interventions for group implementation in routine services for people with psychosis. ACTp shows promise as a brief individual intervention for people with psychosis to impr...
Objective:
The psychological flexibility model has been hypothesized as a transdiagnostic, process-oriented approach to understanding various clinical disorders and problems, including chronic pain, anxiety, and substance misuse. In this study we investigated the model's applicability to the experience of hearing distressing voices.
Methods:
Fif...
Auditory hallucinations are experienced by more than two-thirds of those who receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia. One of the most established ways of seeking to promote acceptance of voices through therapeutic interventions has been to attempt to cultivate 'insight'. This form of acceptance has been central to some forms of cognitive behaviour the...
Auditory hallucinations are one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia, frequently persisting despite treatment with antipsychotic medication, resulting in ongoing distress and functional disability. In this chapter, the authors consider the specific ways in which they have applied acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to the experience of...
This chapter introduces both a clinical assessment process and formal measurement instruments for work with people experiencing persisting symptoms and disability associated with psychosis. It outlines the approach to clinical assessment developed in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for psychosis work. The challenges of assessment and me...
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is broadly consistent with established cognitive behavioural therapies for psychosis (CBTp), while also bringing unique aspects that are advantageous when working with younger people recovering from psychosis. This chapter outlines the major areas in which ACT is used when working with young people recovering...
This chapter provides an introduction to mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies for psychosis. 'Psychosis' is an umbrella term covering a range of associated symptoms, including perceptual, cognitive, emotional and behavioural disturbances. Psychological interventions include family therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and social and co...
The Internet is not a ‘fad’ that will soon disappear, but is rather a new ‘environment’ in which people interact with others, engage and have experiences. The Internet is a tool with never before seen potential. Utilizing this new technology, mental health professionals can provide evidence based interventions and prevention programs to a number of...
There is a small but increasing body of research to suggest that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is useful for people experiencing psychosis. As an intervention, ACT does not specifically target symptom reduction but rather emphasizes more flexible responding in the presence of psychotic symptoms to encourage increases in value-driven behav...
The third wave of cognitive behavioural therapies has a developing evidence base and there is an increasing demand for specialist training. However, methods for training clinicians have not yet been evaluated in terms of effectiveness and usefulness. This evaluation seeks to assess: (1) the effectiveness of one-day introductory Acceptance and Commi...
There is emerging evidence that mindfulness groups for people with distressing psychosis are safe and therapeutic.
The present study aimed to investigate the feasibility of running and evaluating a mindfulness group on an inpatient ward for individuals with chronic and treatment resistant psychosis.
Eight participants attended a 6-week mindfulness...
Hallucinations provides a practical guide to the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of hallucinations, and also addresses a range of interventions.
The Internet is not a 'fad' that will soon disappear, but is rather a new 'environment' in which people interact with others, engage and have experiences. The Internet is a tool with never before seen potential. Utilizing this new technology, mental health professionals can provide evidence based interventions and prevention programs to a number of...
Mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies may have a role in fostering recovery from early psychosis, through engaging service users' personal values and promoting a psychologically flexible stance. This paper describes using acceptance and commitment therapy in an early intervention setting.
Since the early 1990s, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been increasingly used as an adjunctive treatment for psychotic disorders. This paper describes the CBT of three cases, each at a different stage of psychotic disorder: at-risk mental state, first-episode psychosis, and chronic psychotic disorder. For the at-risk mental state, treament f...
To establish a comprehensive phase-oriented early intervention service for young people with early psychosis in south London and to evaluate its effectiveness in delivering user friendly interventions and better outcomes.
The Lambeth Early Onset (LEO) and Outreach & Support in South London (OASIS) service has been developed incrementally over the l...
Aims and methods
This study presents an evaluation of an education programme for families whose relative has experienced a first episode of psychosis. Participants attended a five-week programme and were asked to rate their level of knowledge and confidence in managing the illness before and after the education sessions.
Results
Two consecutive gr...