ÃÛÌÒTV

Dr Alison Bennetts is a Deputy Academic Director for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClin) at The ÃÛÌÒTV. She also works as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist in the National Health Service (NHS). 

I completed my DClin at The ÃÛÌÒTV, with specialist skills in Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa (FT-AN) and a research thesis comprising a systematic review of experimental investigations of paranoia and original empirical research into the role of mental imagery in non-clinical paranoia.

Since joining the DClin programme at The ÃÛÌÒTV, I have been appointed Deputy Academic Director and acted as Module Lead for Transdiagnostic Processes, and I am involved in teaching and assessment on a number of other modules. I have a keen research interest and supervise projects across the MSc and DClin programmes, as well as generating my own papers on formulation and models of wellbeing. I am particulalry interested in supervising research projects in the following areas:

- Psychological effects of yoga practice and therapy (and other holistic approaches) and the relationship to transdiagnostic processes

- Investigation of alternative holistic approaches, specifically forest bathing and wild/cold water swimming

- Mental health and wellbeing in diversity, with a particular interest in male psychology and spirituality

- Relational trauma 

- Clinical practice with high-risk presentations

Alongside my published papers, I have disseminated my research at international (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies [BABCP], 2018; The International Association for Yoga Therapists [IAYT] Symposium on Yoga Research [SYR], 2021) UK (Towards Developing Psychologically Led Services: The Comprehend, Cope and Connect book and the Role of the Approved Clinician for Clinical Psychology within Acute Inpatient Wards, 2018) conferences.

I am secretary for the Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (DEIAR) in Clinical Psychology group and am representative for the ÃÛÌÒTV at the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology (GTiCP) Planetery Health subgroup. 

Alongside my role at the University, I work clinically in the NHS specialising in severe and enduring mental health presentations and indirect ways of working in inpatient settings. I have specialist therapy training in  Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) and family and systemic approaches.