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HomeAcademic staffProfessor Paula Reavey
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I joined LSBU in 1998, after completing my undergraduate psychology degree and PhD in Sheffield. I am Professor of Psychology & Mental Health and the Research and Education director of the Design in Mental Health Network, UK. I am also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, in recognition of my outstanding contribution to social science practice.

My research focusses on the lived experience of individuals who live with distress. I have conducted mental health research across a broad range of NHS and community services and I also work in the field of memory studies, promoting psycho-ecological models of memory.

I founded the Masters in Mental Health and Clinical Psychology course at LSBU in 2014, following my passion for promoting lived experience perspectives of mental health. This programme has been designed and run with experts by experience, in collaboration with LSBU academics and a range of practitioners.

I am currently working on a number of funded research projects, worth over 4 million pounds.

First, a project funded by the Wellcome trust and St. Andrew's Healthcare, examining how sexuality and relationships in forensic mental health services are understood and managed, with a view to developing a nation-wide policy and set of educational/training materials. We have nearly completed this project and have co-created all policy and materials with service users and staff.

Second, a national level funded NIHR project, comparing hospital with intensive community treatments for young people using mental health services.

Third, a national level funded Mental Health in First Aid project examining the perspectives and experiences of the individuals delivering Mental Health First Aid in their place of work, as well as those receiving the service.

Fourth, an NIHR funded project evaluating the use of gamification in use with children and their families, to assist with mental well-being.

Fifth, an NIHR funded project evaluating community interventions for young people's mental health in central Bedfordshire.

Sixth, an NIHR funded project evaluating lived experience approaches used to tackle gambling related harms in Greater Manchester.

I have co-edited a number of books, including New Feminist Stories of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Scripts and Dangerous Dialogues (with Sam Warner, Routledge, 2003) Memory Matters: Contexts for Understanding Sexual Abuse Recollections (with Janice Haaken, Psychology Press, 2009), and Mental Health & Space (with Laura McGrath, for Routledge, 2018). I have also sole edited the volume, Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research (Routledge, 2011 - second edition; 2021) and the commercial book series 'Design With People in Mind' (now in its 9th edition) - a psychological and medical evidence review for use by architects and designers, to improve mental health environments.

I have also published two monographs - Psychology, Mental Health and Distress (with John Cromby & Dave Harper, Palgrave, 2013 - winner of the British Psychological Society Book Award, 2014 – now in preparation for its second edition) and Vital Memory and Affect: Living with a Difficult Past (with Steven D. Brown, Routledge, 2015) and numerous articles on mental distress, social remembering and visual methods.

Courses taught

Mental Health and Clinical Psychology - MSc

Psychology (Clinical Psychology) - BSc (Hons)

Criminology with Psychology - BSc (Hons)

Psychology (Child Development) - BSc (Hons)

Psychology (Forensic Psychology) - BSc (Hons)

Psychology with Criminology - BSc (Hons)

Postgraduate Research Supervision
Current
Ms Helen Bowes-CattonBisexual Idnetities in the Twenty-First CenturyPhD
Ms Sarah BoegleDoctoral Research ProjectPhD
Ms Charlotte Taylor-PageDoctoral Research ProjectPhD
Mr James BinnieDisplacing problems: a constructivist grounded theory of problematic pornography use PhD
Miss Temitope OnasanyaDoctoral Research ProjectPhD
Mr Ayub MullaStudies on the Use of Conitive Behaviour Therapy in Treating Depression in ZambiaPhD
Mr Paul Anthony BoldeauMental Health, Religion and EthnicityPhD
Miss Donna Michelle CiarloDoctoral Research ProjectPhD

Awarded in the last 5 years
Miss Serina Anne FullerQuestioning Identity: Examining identity processes and threat in the context of policing mental healthPhD
Ms Sarah BögleLoss of a sense of aliveness, bodily unhomeliness and radical estrangement: a phenomenological inquiry into service users’ experiences of psychiatric medication use in the treatment of early psychosisPhD
Mr Opeyemi Olusegun AtandaAn embedded mixed method evaluation of the effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid in UK workplacesPhD
Ms Katharine Elizabeth HardingLived experiences of space in secure mental healthcare environmentsPhD
PhD Psychology

Jointly supervised by Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield

1995
1999
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

London South Bank University

2016
2016
Academy of Social Sciences
2023
Higher Education Academy
2018
Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health

Associate editor
2018
2022
Design in Mental Health Network, UK
Other

Director and Lead of the Research & Education stream for the Design in Mental Health Network, UK. I liaise and oversee research relating to the design and building of mental health inpatient environments across the UK.

Steering group member for NHS England, advising on mental health environments and inpatient settings.

Steering group member for a national group on the Psychology of Social Class and Inequalities, to advise UK policy and the British Psychological Society.

Design, architecture, mental health, service use, care delivery.

September 2016
University of East London
External examiner

Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programme

Research

September 2012
September 2025
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland
Other

I am a visiting scholar, teaching Visual Methods to the MA Social Sciences Programme.

Visual and qualitative methods

February 2019
September 2023
Nottingham Trent University
Supervisor

External PhD supervisor

Mental health

September 2019
September 2023
Nottingham Trent University

Working on a variety of research projects and acting external supervisor for a joint PhD on mental health service user led groups.

September 2019
Prizes, awards, and accolades

British Psychological Society Book Award (Apr 2014)

British Psychological Society

This prize was awarded for the book Cromby, J., Harper, D. & Reavey, P. (2013) Psychology, Mental Health & Distress. Basingstoke: Palgrave.


A Handbook of Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research: Second Edition
Reavey, P Reavey, P. (ed.) (2020). A Handbook of Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research: Second Edition. Routledge.

Supported discharge service versus Inpatient care Evaluation (SITE): a randomised controlled trial comparing effectiveness of an intensive community care service versus inpatient treatment as usual for adolescents with severe psychiatric disorders: self-harm, functional impairment, and educational and clinical outcomes.
Ougrin, D., Corrigall, R., Stahl, D., Poole, J., Zundel, T., Wait, M., Slater, V., Reavey, P., Byford, S., Ivens, J., Crommelin, M., Hayes, D., Middleton, K., Young, P. and Taylor, E. (2020). Supported discharge service versus Inpatient care Evaluation (SITE): a randomised controlled trial comparing effectiveness of an intensive community care service versus inpatient treatment as usual for adolescents with severe psychiatric disorders: self-harm, functional impairment, and educational and clinical outcomes. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01617-1

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid from the Perspective Of Workplace End UseRs-EMPOWER: protocol of cluster randomised trial phase.
Atanda, O., Callaghan, Patrick, Carter, Tim, Durcan, Graham, O'Shea, Nick, Brown, Steve D, Reavey, Paula, Vangeli, Eleni, White, Sarah and Wood, K. (2020). Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid from the Perspective Of Workplace End UseRs-EMPOWER: protocol of cluster randomised trial phase. Trials. 21 (1), p. 715. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04636-0

Conducting sexualities research: An outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten wellcome-funded projects [version 1; peer review: 3 approved]
Kneale, D, French, R, Spandler, H, Young, I, Purcell, C, Boden, Z, Brown, SD, Callwood, D, Carr, S, Dymock, A, Eastham, R, Gabb, J, Henley, J, Jones, C, McDermott, E, Mkhwanazi, N, Ravenhill, J, Reavey, P, Scott, R, Smith, C, Smith, M, Thomas, J and Tingay, K (2019). Conducting sexualities research: An outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten wellcome-funded projects [version 1; peer review: 3 approved]. Wellcome Open Research. 4, pp. 137-137. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15283.1

Affect theory and the concept of atmosphere
Brown, Steven D., Kanyeredzi, Ava, McGrath, Laura, Reavey, Paula and Tucker, Ian (2019). Affect theory and the concept of atmosphere. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory. 20 (1), pp. 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910x.2019.1586740

Bursting bubbles of interiority: Exploring space in experiences of distress and rough sleeping for newly homeless people
McGrath, L, Weaver, T, Reavey, P and Brown, SD (2018). Bursting bubbles of interiority: Exploring space in experiences of distress and rough sleeping for newly homeless people. in: Reavey, P and McGrath, L (ed.) The Handbook of Mental Health and Space: Community and Clinical Applications London Routledge. pp. 135-148

Using experience-based co-design to improve inpatient mental health spaces
Boden, Z., Larkin, M and Springham, N (2018). Using experience-based co-design to improve inpatient mental health spaces. in: Reavey, P and McGrath, L (ed.) The Handbook of Mental Health and Space: Community and Clinical Applications Oxford Routledge.

Dark Organizational Theory
Reavey, P and Brown, SD (2017). Dark Organizational Theory. Journal of Cultural Economy. 10 (3), pp. 280-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2017.1298533

Remembering 7/7: the collective shaping of memories of the London bombings
Brown, SD, Allen, MA and Reavey, P (2016). Remembering 7/7: the collective shaping of memories of the London bombings. in: Tota, AL and Hagen, T (ed.) Routledge International Handbook of Memory Studies Oxford University Press (OUP).

Legal professionals and witness statements from people with a suspected mental health diagnosis.
Reavey, P, Wilcock, R, Brown, SD, Batty, R and Fuller, S (2016). Legal professionals and witness statements from people with a suspected mental health diagnosis. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 46, pp. 94-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.040

"Zip me up, and cool me down": Molar narratives and molecular intensities in 'helicopter' mental health services.
McGrath, L and Reavey, P (2016). "Zip me up, and cool me down": Molar narratives and molecular intensities in 'helicopter' mental health services. Health and Place. 38, pp. 61-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.12.005

Institutional forgetting/forgetting institutions: Space and memory in secure forensic psychiatric care
Brown, SD and Reavey, P (2016). Institutional forgetting/forgetting institutions: Space and memory in secure forensic psychiatric care. in: Institutions Inc. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 7-29

Sexuality, risk, and organisational misbehaviour in a secure mental healthcare facility in England
Ravenhill, JP, Poole, J, Brown, SD and Reavey, P (2019). Sexuality, risk, and organisational misbehaviour in a secure mental healthcare facility in England. Culture, Health and Sexuality. 22 (12), pp. 1382-1397. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2019.1683900

Examining professionals' perspectives on sexuality for service users of a forensic psychiatry unit
Dein, KE, Williams, PS, Volkonskaia, I, Kanyeredzi, A, Reavey, P and Leavey, G (2016). Examining professionals' perspectives on sexuality for service users of a forensic psychiatry unit. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 44, pp. 15-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2015.08.027

Problematic Pornography Use: Narrative Review and a Preliminary Model
Binnie, J. and Reavey, P. (2019). Problematic Pornography Use: Narrative Review and a Preliminary Model. Sexual and Relationship Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2019.1694142

Organizing the sensory: Ear-work, panauralism and sonic agency on a forensic psychiatric unit
Brown, S., Kanyeredzi, A., McGrath, L., Reavey, P. and Tucker, I. (2019). Organizing the sensory: Ear-work, panauralism and sonic agency on a forensic psychiatric unit. Human Relations. 73 (11), pp. 1537-1562. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719874850

The atmosphere of the ward: Attunements and attachments of everyday life for patients on a medium-secure forensic psychiatric unit
Kanyeredzi, Ava, Brown, Steven D., McGrath, Laura, Reavey, Paula and Tucker, Ian (2019). The atmosphere of the ward: Attunements and attachments of everyday life for patients on a medium-secure forensic psychiatric unit. The Sociological Review. 67 (2), pp. 444-466. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026119829751

Building visual worlds: Using maps in qualitative psychological research on affect and emotion
Reavey, P and McGrath, L (2019). Building visual worlds: Using maps in qualitative psychological research on affect and emotion. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 17 (1), pp. 75-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2019.1577517

Vital Spaces and Mental Health
Reavey, P and Brown, S D (2019). Vital Spaces and Mental Health. Medical Humanities. 0, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2018-011609

‘Never drop without your significant other, cause that way lies ruin’: The boundary work of couples who use MDMA together
Anderson, K, Reavey, P and Boden, Z (2019). ‘Never drop without your significant other, cause that way lies ruin’: The boundary work of couples who use MDMA together. International Journal of Drug Policy. 71, pp. 10-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.05.004

An Affective (Re)balancing Act? The Liminal Possibilities for Heterosexual Partners on MDMA
Anderson, K, Reavey, P and Boden, Z (2018). An Affective (Re)balancing Act? The Liminal Possibilities for Heterosexual Partners on MDMA. in: Juvonen, T and Kolehmainen, M (ed.) Affective Inequalities in Intimate Relationships London Routledge. pp. 19-33

Comparison of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an intensive community supported discharge service versus treatment as usual for adolescents with psychiatric emergencies: a randomised controlled trial.
Ougrin, D, Corrigall, R, Poole, J, Zundel, T, Sarhane, M, Slater, V, Stahl, D, Reavey, P, Byford, S, Heslin, M, Ivens, J, Crommelin, M, Abdulla, Z, Hayes, D, Middleton, K, Nnadi, B and Taylor, E (2018). Comparison of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an intensive community supported discharge service versus treatment as usual for adolescents with psychiatric emergencies: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry. 5 (6), pp. 477-485. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30129-9

Facing the void: Recollections of embodying fear in the space of childhood homes
Reavey, P, Del Busso, L, Mcgrath, LM, Kanyeredzi, A and Guest, C (2018). Facing the void: Recollections of embodying fear in the space of childhood homes. Emotion, Space and Society. 28 (3), pp. 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2018.06.004

Embodiment and place in autobiographical remembering: a relational-material approach
Reavey, P and Brown, SD (2018). Embodiment and place in autobiographical remembering: a relational-material approach. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 25 (7-8), pp. 200-224.

Agents and spectres: Life-space on a medium secure forensic psychiatric unit
Reavey, P, Brown, SD, McGrath, L, Tucker, I and Kanyeredzi, A (2018). Agents and spectres: Life-space on a medium secure forensic psychiatric unit. Social Science and Medicine. 220, pp. 273-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.11.012

Living ‘in between’ outside and inside: The forensic psychiatric unit as an impermanent assemblage
Reavey, P, Tucker, I, Brown, SD, McGrath, L and Kanyeredzi, A (2018). Living ‘in between’ outside and inside: The forensic psychiatric unit as an impermanent assemblage. Health and Place. 55, pp. 29-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.10.009

Contextualising Autobiographical Remembering: An expanded view of memory
Brown, SD and Reavey, P (2017). Contextualising Autobiographical Remembering: An expanded view of memory. in: Meade, M, Harris, C, Van Bergen, P, Sutton, J and Barnier, A (ed.) Collaborative Remembering: Theories, Research, and Applications Oxford Oxford University Press (OUP). pp. 197-215

Scenic memory: Experience through time–space
Reavey, P (2017). Scenic memory: Experience through time–space. Memory Studies. 10 (2), pp. 107-111. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698016683844

False Memories and Real Epistemic Problems
Reavey, P and Brown, SD (2017). False Memories and Real Epistemic Problems. Culture and Psychology. 23 (2). https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X17695764

The ward as emotional ecology: Adolescent experiences of managing mental health and distress in psychiatric inpatient settings.
Reavey, P, Poole, J, Corrigall, R, Zundel, T, Byford, D, Sarhane, S, Taylor, M, Taylor, E, Ivens, J and Ougrin, D (2017). The ward as emotional ecology: Adolescent experiences of managing mental health and distress in psychiatric inpatient settings. Health and Place. 46, pp. 210-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.05.008

Drinkers like us? The availability of relatable drinking reduction narratives for people with alcohol use disorders
Morris, James, Cox, Sharon, Moss, Antony. C. and Reavey, Paula (2022). Drinkers like us? The availability of relatable drinking reduction narratives for people with alcohol use disorders. Addiction Research & Theory. 31 (1), pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2022.2099544

Choreographies of sexual safety and liminality: Forensic mental health and the limits of recovery
Reavey, P., Brown, S., Ravenhill, J., Boden-Stuart, Z and Ciarlo, D. (2022). Choreographies of sexual safety and liminality: Forensic mental health and the limits of recovery. Social Science and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100090

Peripheral recovery: ‘Keeping safe’ and ‘keep progressing’ as contradictory modes of ordering in a forensic psychiatric unit
McGrath, L., Brown, S.D., Kanyeredzi, A., Reavey, P. and Tucker, I. (2021). Peripheral recovery: ‘Keeping safe’ and ‘keep progressing’ as contradictory modes of ordering in a forensic psychiatric unit. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 39 (4), pp. 704-721. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758211013032

Effectiveness of an online intervention for parents/guardians of children aged 4-7 years old who are concerned about their child’s emotional and behavioural development: protocol for an online randomised controlled trial (EMERGENT study)
Frings, D., Reavey, P., Chew, J., Leahy, M., Allabyrne, C. and Herteliu, C. (2024). Effectiveness of an online intervention for parents/guardians of children aged 4-7 years old who are concerned about their child’s emotional and behavioural development: protocol for an online randomised controlled trial (EMERGENT study). BMJ Open.

Effectiveness of an online intervention for parents/guardians of children aged 4-7 years who are concerned about their child's emotional and behavioural development: protocol for an online randomised controlled trial (EMERGENT study).
Frings, D., Reavey, P., Chew, J., Leahy, M., Allabyrne, C. and Herteliu, C. (2024). Effectiveness of an online intervention for parents/guardians of children aged 4-7 years who are concerned about their child's emotional and behavioural development: protocol for an online randomised controlled trial (EMERGENT study). BMJ Open. 14 (3), p. e083479. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083479

Involving Lived Experience in regional efforts to address gambling-related harms: going beyond ‘window dressing’ and ‘tick box exercises’
Jenkins, C., Mills, T., Grimes J, Bland C, Reavey, P., Wills, J. and Sykes, S. (2024). Involving Lived Experience in regional efforts to address gambling-related harms: going beyond ‘window dressing’ and ‘tick box exercises’. BMC Public Health. 24, p. 384. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3658745/v1

Vitality and nature in psychiatric spaces: Challenges and prospects for ‘healing architecture’ in the design of inpatient mental health environments
Simonsen, T.P.H., Brown, S.D. and Reavey, P. (2024). Vitality and nature in psychiatric spaces: Challenges and prospects for ‘healing architecture’ in the design of inpatient mental health environments . Health and Place. 85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103169

Harnessing lived experience in a community-based intervention to address gambling-related harms
Jenkins, C, Mills, T, Reavey, P, Moss, A, Sykes, S, Wills, J and Grimes, J (2023). Harnessing lived experience in a community-based intervention to address gambling-related harms. European Journal of Public Health. 33 (Supplement_2). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.1654