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Are you fascinated by human behaviour and what influences it? Do you want to develop the skills and knowledge that will help you have a positive impact on society?
The Psychology with Foundation Year route is for you if you do not have the necessary qualifications or don’t yet feel ready to begin degree-level study or are returning to education and would like some support to get up to speed with learning in a university setting.
The Foundation Year in Psychology will allow you to develop your academic skills and confidence as well as introduce you to key concepts, debates and skills that will support and inform your subsequent years of undergraduate study. You will be introduced to the science behind human thought, emotions and behaviour and learn how psychology and psychologists can make a real contribution to world issues.
Following successful completion of your Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto Year 1 of our Psychology BSc (Hons) degree where you can follow your preferred specialist pathway for the duration of your studies. These routes include:
During Year 1, if you choose to follow one of our specialist pathways, and follow that pathway throughout your studies, you'll graduate with a degree in you chosen specialism, e.g., BSc (Hons) Psychology (Forensic Perspectives).
This course is subject to validation. You can still apply for this course while it is being approved.
During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.
You’ll be introduced to the main perspectives, investigation methods, key theories, research and controversies across the main areas of psychology. You'll study quantitative and qualitative approaches to research and learn about the application of psychology in a professional context in each of the British Psychological Society (BPS) professional areas.
Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our Psychology BSc (Hons) degree where you can follow your preferred specialist pathway for the duration of your studies.
We’ll teach you the core areas of psychology, which include developmental, cognitive, social, biopsychology and individual differences.
You can follow your preferred specialist pathway throughout the programme or sample a range of these professional areas. In the final year you can explore various topics in more depth by choosing from different module options.
We create a supportive and lively learning environment in which you’ll learn through teamwork and collaboration. We’ll support you in developing your research skills from day one until your final year, when you’ll work with your supervisor to design and carry out your own psychological research project.
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British Psychological Society (BPS)
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This degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) (link opens in a new window/tab) which makes you eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership on successful completion of the course.
Explore your options in depth with Programme Leaders Dr Paul McGivern and Dr Candice Whitaker and discover whether you're an explorer, a pathfinder or a specialist.
Choose one of our six specialist pathways – or mix modules across themes – to build a degree that reflects your interests and ambitions.
Our flexible programme means you can follow a pathway throughout your three years and subject to completing the prerequisite number of credits from that pathway, graduate with that specialism on your degree certificate, or switch pathways as your interests develop.
You can also explore modules across all areas if you prefer a broader experience. Further customise your programme with opportunities for built-in work-based learning experiences and study abroad options.
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Counselling Perspectives
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Our Counselling Psychology pathway explores how psychological approaches help people improve well-being, navigate emotional challenges, and lead more fulfilling lives. You’ll examine how evidence-based therapies alleviate distress and promote effective functioning.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics , including;
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Education and Child Development Perspectives
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Our Education and Child Development Psychology pathway explores how children learn and grow through both cognitive and behavioural lenses. You'll examine how motivation, memory, and individual needs shape learning and support across educational settings.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics , including;
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Forensic Perspectives
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Are criminals born or made? Can serious offenders be rehabilitated? On our Forensic Psychology pathway, you’ll explore theories of crime and the psychological factors that drive offending behaviour.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics, including;
We offer a complete pathway in Forensic Psychology from undergraduate study to postgraduate professional training. Students can move from BSc Psychology (Forensic Perspectives) through Stage 1 MSc Forensic Psychology and Stage 2 PG Dip Forensic Psychology Practice, all at Leeds Trinity University (subject to successful completion and professional requirements).
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Health Perspectives
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Our Health Psychology pathway explores how psychological factors such as stress, addiction and behaviour influence health and illness. This field bridges psychology with medicine, helping you understand the complex links between mind and body.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics, including;
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Occupational, Business and Marketing Pathway
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Our Occupational, Business and Marketing Psychology pathway explores how psychological principles are applied in professional settings - from understanding workplace dynamics and organisational behaviour to influencing consumer decision-making.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics, including;
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Sport and Exercise Perspectives
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From Park Run to elite Olympic competition, our Sports and Exercise Psychology pathway explores how thoughts, emotions and psychological responses influence participation, performance and well-being across all levels of sport and physical activity.
Our expert staff team conduct research across a range of contemporary and impactful topics, including;
Our teaching team includes:
You’ll learn from people who work in the environments you’ll one day enter.
Associate Professor (Learning and Teaching)
Dr Alison Torn is Associate Professor (Teaching and Learning) at Leeds Trinity University, where she leads on digital pedagogy across the university, as well as teaching on the psychology programmes and supervising postgraduate research. She has published articles relating to nursing, mental health and narrative psychology, is co-editor of the book Psychology for Nursing (2016, Polity), co-author of Madness: History, Concepts and Controversies (2019, Routledge), and is associate editor for The Psychologist magazine. Alison convened the 2016 Joint Annual Conference of the BPS History and Philosophy of Psychology section and the UK Critical Psychiatry Network. She convened the 2017 Stories of Psychology event for the History of Psychology Centre and was the 2017 keynote speaker for the BPS Psychology4students conference.
Alison is passionate about her teaching and students’ university experiences. This is reflected in her pedagogical research interests around the development of communities of learning, the co-construction of the student experience, and barriers/facilitators to student engagement.
Social psychology, Mental health, Critical psychology.
Alison has been actively involved in both collaborative and her own research for the past 18 years. Her doctoral research was located in the fields of social psychology and mental health, which brings together Alison's psychology background and clinical experience in the mental health field as a fully qualified psychiatric nurse.
Alison's thesis centred around the relationship between narrative, understanding, identity and recovery in first hand narratives of madness, focusing in particular on how the theoretical ideas of Foucault and Bakhtin can be brought together in narrative research. Alison's interests in alternative methods of understanding distress continue in my support of local mental health charities, who are committed to non-medicalised approaches to unusual experiences. This has resulted in a collboaration with DIgial and Screen Media colleagues in the production of a film on the impact of a schizophrenia diagnosis on one person's life story.
Alison's current research is focused on co-creation of student experience and student engagement. Alison has worked with colleagues and students on designing, collating and analysing a variety of qualitative datasets from participants across the UK to answer the question 'what does it mean to be a UK undergraduate student in the present time?'. This research has been co-authored with students for conference presentations in the UK and Italy, as well as being being written for publication.
Stephenson, M. & Torn, A. (2022 – publication pending). Review, rapid recall, reposition: how one HEI adapted delivery and design in the digital world in response to Covid 19. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning.
Tarrant, E. & Torn. A. (2021). A Qualitative Exploration of Young People and Prison Officers’ Experiences of Empathy within a Young Offenders’ Institution. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice. DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-01-2021-0001
Torn, A. (2012). Rabelais’ carnival and madness. History and Philosophy of Psychology, 14 (1), pp. 1-13.
Torn, A. (2011). Madness and mysticism: can a medieval narrative inform our understanding on psychosis? History and Philosophy of Psychology, 13, pp. 1-14.
Torn, A. (2011). Chronotopes of madness and recovery: a challenge to narrative linearity. Narrative Inquiry, 21, 1, pp. 130-150.
Tyson, P. Davies, S. & Torn A. (2019). Madness: history, concepts and controversy. London: Routledge.
O’Mahoney, J., Bowman Grieve, L. & Torn, A. (2018). Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and the Psychological Architecture of Surveillance. In Mackay, A. & Flynn, S. (eds). Surveillance, Architecture and Control. London: Springer Nature/Palgrave Macmillan.
Torn, A. (2017). Medieval mysticism to schizoaffective disorder:
the repositioning of subjectivity in the discourse of psychiatry. In Cohen, B. (ed). International Handbook on Critical Mental Health. London: Routledge, pp. 126-132.
Torn, A. & Greasley, P. (eds). (2016). Psychology for Nursing. Polity Press: Cambridge.
Payne, A.L. & Torn, A. (2021). The courage to transgress: Developing social connectedness and meaningful discourse within the online learning environment. Australian Association for Research in Education.
S4E5 - Dr Alison Torn on jigsaw classrooms - L&T Chat Show | Podcast on Spotify
In conversation with Dr Cat Jarman for the Gone Medieval podcast by History Hit:
Margery Kempe: Medieval Mysticism or Psychosis?
Margery Kempe was an English Christian mystic, known for writing "The Book of Margery Kempe", a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. She's also thought to be the first case of schizophrenia.
Psychology Technician
Caspar began is academic career in 2015, after working in the pub and restaurant trade for 15 years. Studying psychology at Bangor University, Caspar worked as a Research Assistant in the Language and Literacy lab and was the volunteer coordinator for the Miles Dyslexia Centre. He also worked as a student mentor for mature and international students on research methodology with a focus on statistics. Since graduating from his MSc in Psychological Research Caspar has worked on a variety of large-scale national research projects as a research officer, project manager, webmaster, and technical support.
Since starting at Leeds Trinity University Caspar has been supporting the redevelopment of the Psychology Labs and redesigned the student research participation scheme to get students engaged in real life research.
In addition to his work duties Caspar is also completing a PhD in Psychology focusing on Language and Literacy development, and its impact both cognitively and socio-emotionally.
Language and Literacy development, Research methodology.
Skills training and development (Excel, SPSS, R and other programming languages).
PhD Studies:
Downing, C., Evans, G., Calabrich, S., Wynne, C., Cartin, R., Dunton, J., Elliott, R., Caravolas, M., Hulme, C., & Jones, M. (2024). Literacy instruction from afar: evidence for the effectiveness of a remotely delivered language-rich reading programme. Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10502-7
Caravolas, M., Downing, C., Hadden, C. L., & Wynne, C. (2020). Handwriting legibility and its relationship to spelling ability and age: evidence from monolingual and bilingual children. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 1097. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01097
Neuropsychologist Professor Brenda Milner revolutionized our understanding of the brain through her work with patient H.M., who suffered severe anterograde amnesia following epilepsy treatment. Her groundbreaking insights from studying H.M.'s condition fundamentally changed the way we think about memory and cognitive processes.
The story of Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) is a fascinating example of language creation and evolution. In the 1970s and 1980s, deaf children in Nicaragua, who had been isolated without a common language, were brought together in special education schools.
Without formal instruction, these children began to develop their own means of communication, which rapidly evolved into a full-fledged sign language. This spontaneous emergence of NSL provided linguists with a unique opportunity to study the formation of a new language in real time, highlighting the innate human capacity for language development and the critical role of social interaction in linguistic evolution.
A keenness to learn and an understanding that you will get things wrong and that’s OK.
Lecturer in Psychology
Dr Fayme Yeates completed her PhD at the University of Exeter investigating implicit sequence learning in humans, using a combination of behaviour experiments using variations of serial reaction time (SRT) tasks explore how we learn predictive contingencies between events without awareness or intention. Alongside these tasks, her work involved simulating and developing cognitive computational models of these processes using a recurrent network.
Her PhD fellowship involved graduate teaching responsibilities, for which she was recognised with a number of learning and teaching awards. She was the postgraduate representative to the BPS Mathematical, Statistical and Computing section, reflecting her keen interest in research methods, statistical analyses and computational modelling. After her PhD she moved to as position as Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Plymouth as a Lecturer in Psychology and spent two years there, where she was awarded multiple teaching awards by the University and student guild - including Best Dissertation Supervisor and Most Innovative Teacher. She then took a career break to care for her young family and moved to Leeds Trinity University on her return to academia as a Lecturer in Psychology in late 2023.
Cognition, Cognitive psychology, Research methods, Quantitative methods.
Learning, sequence learning, sequential effects, implicit learning, computational models, human-computer interaction
Yeates, F., Wills, A.J., Jones, F.W., & McLaren, I.P.L. (2014). State trace analysis: Dissociable processes in a connectionist network? Cognitive Science. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12185.
McLaren, I. P. L., Dunn, B.D., Lawrence, N.S., Milton, F.N., Verbruggen, F., Stevens, T., McAndrew, A., & Yeates, F. (2014). Why decision making may not require awareness. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 35-36.
Yeates, F. (2013). Putting the quality into quantitative research. PsyPAG Quarterly, 89, 5-11.
McAndrew, A., Yeates, F., Verbruggen, F., & McLaren, I.P.L. (2013). Modeling a reaction time variant of the Perruchet effect in humans. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.) Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 3014- 3019). Austin TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Yeates, F., Jones, F.W., Wills, A.J., Aitken, M.R.F., & McLaren, I.P.L. (2013). Implicit learning: A demonstration and a revision to a novel SRT paradigm. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.) Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 3829-2834). Austin TX: Cognitive Science Society.
McLaren, R., Jones, F.W., Yeates, F., & McLaren, I.P.L. (2013). Cue competition in human associative learning. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.) Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 4044). Austin TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Yeates, F., Jones, F.W., Wills, A.J., McLaren, R.P., & McLaren, I.P.L. (2013). Modeling human sequence learning under incidental conditions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 39(2), 166-173.
Yeates, F., Jones, F.W., Wills, A.J., Aitken, M.R.F. & McLaren, I.P.L. (2012). Implicit learning: A demonstration and a novel SRT paradigm. In N. Miyake, D. Peebles, & R. P. Cooper (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1185-1190). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Yeates, F., Wills, A.J., Jones, F.W. & McLaren, I.P.L. (2012). State-Trace analysis of sequence learning by simple recurrent networks. In N. Miyake, D. Peebles, & R. P. Cooper (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2581-2586). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Reader in Psychology
Lisa graduated from Keele University in 2001 with a BSc (Dual Hons) in Psychology and Biology. She then went on to obtain her MSc in Clinical Neuroscience from UCL’s Institute of Neurology.
Her interest in the field of neuroscience, particularly learning and memory, took her to Durham University where she obtained her PhD in Psychology, the focus of which was the study of episodic memory in humans and animals. This involved investigating the underlying neural substrates as well as examining the defining components of episodic memory specifically with regard to their susceptibility to interference from other strategies of retrieval.
Lisa’s experience extends to working as an assistant psychologist within a learning disabilities service in North Yorkshire, a role that would eventually define her vocational leaning towards mental health research. She also worked as a research assistant/strategy support officer for the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology. Within this role Lisa gained experience in the strategic planning and policy making elements of the Society as well as communicating with Parliament on issues such as mental health legislation and human rights.
Lisa also worked as a health economist for the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care based in the Institute of Mental Health at Nottingham University. This provided her with a more in-depth understanding of the principles of health economics and methods of analyses employed to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare interventions.
From 2014-2016 Lisa was a member of the Mental Health Research Group at Durham University where she was able to further develop her research interests. Lisa’s research focused on psychological interventions, such as behavioural activation, in relation to depression.
Lisa's current research interests include:
Resilience in adolescents and young people – measurements and interventions.
Student connectedness, adjustment, and wellbeing.
Veteran connectedness and wellbeing.
Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology.
Lisa has recently completed a multi-national study (UK; Italy; Australia) investigating the impact of student connectedness under social isolation on student adjustment and wellbeing. The premise of this research is also being extended to other populations. She continues to research interventions that seek to promote resilience in young people.
Barwood, M. J., Eglin, C., Hills, S. P., Johnston, N., Massey, H., McMorris, T., Tipton, M. J., Wakabayashi, H., & Webster, L. (2024). Habituation of the cold shock response: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Thermal Biology, 119, 103775. Article 103775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.10377
Terry, J., Ross, R. M., Nagy, T., Salgado, M., Garrido-Vásquez, P., Sarfo, J. O., Cooper, S., Buttner, A. C., Lima, T. J. S., Öztürk, I., Akay, N., Santos, F. H., Artemenko, C., Copping, L. T., Elsherif, M. M., Milovanović, I., Cribbie, R. A., Drushlyak, M. G., Swainston, K., ... Field, A. P. (2023). Data from an international multi-centre study of statistics and mathematics anxieties and related variables in university students (the SMARVUS Dataset). Journal of Open Psychology Data, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/jopd.80
Woodfield, R., Boduszek, D., Willmott, D., & Webster, L. (2023). The moderating role of prison personnel years of service in the relationship between trauma and PTSD. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 7(3), Article 100333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejtd.2023.100333
Maskeen, S., Matthews, J., Smith, D. M., Stain, H. J., & Webster, L. A. D. (2021). Higher education as the pathway to personal and community success for Pakistani and Bangladeshi people: A systematic review. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1-22.
Alsubaie, M. M., Stain, H. J., Webster, L. & Wadman, R. (2019). The role of sources of social support on depression and quality of life for university students. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1568887
Brown, JVE., Walton, N., Meader, N., Todd, A., Webster, LAD., Steele, R., Sampson, SJ., Churchill, R., McMillan, D., Gilbody, S. & Ekers, D. (2019). Pharmacy‐based management for depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD013299. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013299.pub2.
Davis, P., Webster, L., Fernyhough, C., Ralston, K., Kola-Palmer, S. & Stain, H. (2019). Adult Report of Imaginary Companion Play and Adversity in Childhood: Relations to Concurrent Prodromal Symptom Report. Psychiatry Research, 150-152.
Short, V., Covey, J.A., Webster, L.A., Wadman, R., Reilly, J., Hay-Gibson, N. and Stain, H.J. (2019), Considering the team in team formulation: a systematic review. Mental Health Review Journal, 24(1), 11-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-12-2017-0055
Wadman, R., Webster, L., Mawn, L. & Stain, H. (2019). Adult attachment, psychological distress and help-seeking in university students: Findings from a cross-sectional online survey in England. Mental Health & Prevention. 7-13.
Webster, L.A.D., Chew-Graham, C., Ekers, D. (2016). Feasibility of training practice nurses to deliver a psychosocial intervention within a collaborative care framework for people with depression and long-term conditions: A qualitative study utilizing Normalisation Process Theory. BMC Nursing. 15(71) DOI: 10.1186/s12912-016-0190-2.
Harsh lessons in distress - students tell of mental health struggles at university: The Yorkshire Post Harsh lessons in distress - students tell of mental health struggles at university | Yorkshire Post
Review Editor on the Editorial Board of Interventions for Adolescent Mental Health (specialty section of Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Lecturer in Psychology
Louisa has an academic background in the arts, completing an MA Musicology (2009) and MA Applied Research and Consultancy (2010) at Lancaster University. She spent 10 years working within arts and third sector organisations, plus student support services at the University of Bath. In 2020, Louisa was awarded an MSc Psychology (conversion) from Leeds Beckett University, before undertaking her doctoral studies exploring how and why community arts enable recovery from serious mental illness. Louisa currently teaches on mental health related modules, as well as qualitative methods and is a member of the British Psychological Society Health Psychology division.
Louisa’s research interests span across health psychology having conducted research into chronic pain conditions, inflammatory bowel disease and serious mental illness. In particular, Louisa is interested in lived experiences of chronic illness, recovery, illness self-management and the relationship between illness and identity. Louisa is also an advocate for making research accessible and reducing ableism in academia. This has led to the use of visual methods and incorporating arts within data collection. Louisa also has an interest in critical realism and specialises in realist research, including realist evaluation methodology and conducting a realist literature review.
Mental Health/Health Psychology, Qualitative Research Methods, Contemporary Issues.
“What works” to make higher education accessible to disabled students: An exploratory study to identify contextually based improvements. Leeds Trinity University with Dr James Jackson and Deano Lund.
‘LEGO® Building: Understanding the emotional journey of the student experience into and through higher education’. Leeds Trinity University with Dr. Rachel Conlon
‘Facilitators accessing green spaces’, University of Huddersfield with Dr. Chris Neale, Prof. Nigel King, Prof. Viv Burr and Dr. Clementinah Rooke.
Peters L. A. (2024) An exploration of analytical tools to conduct a realist synthesis and demonstrate programme theory development: An example from a realist review. Research Methods in Medicine & Health Sciences. 0(0). doi:10.1177/26320843231224807
Peters, L. A., Gomersall, T., Booth, A., & Lucock, M. (2023). Community arts, identity and recovery: A realist review of how community-based arts activities enables the identity change recovery process from serious mental illness. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2751
Peters, L. A. (2023) Embracing neurodiversity to enhance the post-graduate researcher experience: reflections from a doctoral student. Fields: journal of Huddersfield student research, 1(1), 1-13.
Peters, L. & Brown, E. M. (2022) The relationship between illness identity and the self-management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. British Journal of Health Psychology. 27(3), 956-970
Ten Brink, A., Peters, L., Kompouli, P.-I., Jordan, A., McCabe, C., Andreasf, G. & Bultitude, J. H. (2020) Bodily changes and sensory sensitivity in complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia, Pain, 161(6), 1361-1370
I developed a project called R3connect which developed creative responses to my research into community arts and serious mental illness. This was a community arts project that allowed people with lived experiences to create animations about their own journeys and how arts helps them to live well with serious mental illness. The animations that were created by complete novices were incredible and very impactful, sharing lived experiences without saying a word. This is the power of the arts and it can be an important tool within psychological research too, so expect some creative activities in my lectures!
When teaching about mental health I encourage a critical approach and ask students to explore questions like ‘does mental illness exist?’ The aim is to challenge you to think differently, and perhaps more compassionately, about the realities and lived experience of mental illness. Students have commented about how their perspectives have changed about labels such as schizophrenia and become more understanding of unusual experiences such as voice hearing. An important part of this process is hearing from people who are living with such conditions, an important and unique opportunity to have when at University!
I always say to my students ‘question everything!‘ Even if the evidence looks solid and if you’re convinced by the explanations you hear, questioning helps us to think critically and develop new ways of understanding. Critical thinking and creativity are essential skills for psychologists.
Lecturer in Psychology
Mark is a chartered psychologist, lecturer in psychology and Module lead for the Foundation Year Psychology Project at Leeds Trinity University. He teaches various modules across psychology.
He graduated with a first-class honours’ degree in Counselling Psychology, and a Master’s in Psychology with distinction before completing his PhD in Psychology at the University of Bolton in 2019. His PhD research explored the understanding of compassion in nursing and led to the development of a new model of compassion strengths, a psychometric measure, and online course for nursing students.
Mark’s research interests and published work focus on compassion, self-compassion, burnout, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, mental health and wellbeing in healthcare students and practitioners.
He has a with Routledge Taylor Francis on Compassion Strengths, and his forthcoming book “The COMPASS model for Criminal and Forensic Psychology is due to be published in 24/25 with Emerald publishing. In addition to this, his research explores the impact of compassion-focused therapy and positive psychology on mental health and wellbeing among people who have experience with the justice system, as well as the tailored support needs for carers of people with mental health.
Research methods, Counselling/clinical psychology, Mental health and wellbeing, Positive psychology, Compassion-focused therapy/compassionate mind training.
How Compassion and Positive Psychology can assist with desistance from offending
Compassion Strengths training with nursing and healthcare students.
ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5655-4075
Phillips, R, Durkin, M, Engward, H, Cable G, Iancu, M (2022). The impact of caring for family members with mental illnesses on the caregiver: a scoping review, Health Promotion International, daac049, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac049
Durkin, M., Gurbutt, R., & Carson, J. (2022). Effectiveness of an online short compassion strengths course on nursing students compassion: A mixed methods non-randomised pilot study. Nurse Education Today, 111, 105315.
Durkin, M., Carson, J., & Gurbutt, R. (2020) Development and validation of a new instrument to measure nursing students compassion strengths: The Bolton Compassion Strengths Indicators. Nurse Education in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102822
Durkin, M., Gurbutt, R. & Carson J. (2019). Stakeholder perspectives of compassion in nursing: the development of the compassion strengths model. Journal of Advanced Nursing https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14134
Durkin, M., Gurbutt, R. & Carson J. (2018). Qualities, Teaching and measurement of compassion in nursing: A systematic review. Nurse Education Today, 63, 50-58.
Beaumont, E., Rayner, G., Durkin, M., & Bowling, G. (2017). The effects of Compassionate Mind Training on student psychotherapists. The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, 12 (5), 300-312.
Beaumont, E., Durkin, M., McAndrew, S., & Martin, C. R. (2016). Using Compassion Focused Therapy as an adjunct to Trauma-Focused CBT for Fire Service personnel suffering with trauma-related symptoms. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 9.
Durkin, M., Beaumont, E., Martin, C. J. H., & Carson, J. (2016). A pilot study exploring the relationship between self-compassion, self-judgement, self-kindness, compassion, professional quality of life and wellbeing among UK community nurses. Nurse Education Today, 46, 109-114.
Beaumont, E., Durkin, M., Hollins Martin, C. J., Carson, J., (2016) Compassion for others, self-compassion, quality of life and mental well-being measures and their association with compassion fatigue and burnout in student midwives: a quantitative survey. Midwifery, 34 239–244.
Beaumont, E., Durkin, M., Hollins Martin, C.J., Carson, J. (2016). Measuring relationships between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, burnout and well-being in trainee counsellors and trainee cognitive behavioural psychotherapists: a quantitative survey. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. 16(1): 15-23.
Books
Durkin (2023). Developing you compassion strengths: a guide for healthcare students and practitioners. Routledge Taylor Francis.
Other
Durkin, M. (2017). Student life-Be an agent of compassion: Five qualities, practised every day, can make you more compassionate, says psychology graduate and PhD student Mark Durkin. Nursing Standard, 31(38), 35-35.
UC Berkley, Greater Good Magazine, 8 May 2017
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-give-to-others-without-burning-out
Huffington Post, 17 May 2017
https://time.com/4886913/how-to-take-care-of-others-without-burning-out/
Time Magazine, 7 August 2017
Senior Lecturer Cognitive Psychology
Dr Paul McGivern is a senior lecturer in psychology with ten years’ experience teaching in Higher Education. His specialist subject area is cognitive psychology with a focus on risk, decision-making, and reasoning. Paul’s main research interests are focused on gambling, specifically how technology can be harnessed to promote safe(r) gambling behaviours. He has a broad interest in cyberpsychology and behaviour-change with a particular focus on how technology can be used for educational purposes, particularly in the promotion of inclusive learning and positive behaviour-change. Paul has experience in supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate students and also teaches at these levels.
Paul is an active researcher who contributed towards the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Paul has experience as a programme leader with experience in module development, and course validation. Paul has presented and both national and international conferences. He is also passionate about widening participation initiatives and has been involved in many local research-based initiatives including working with York MIND and working with schools across North Yorkshire (the RealWriting Project: Quality Assurance Role) to writing and communication skills in schools.
Cognitive Psychology (with a focus on decision-making, risk, and reasoning), cyberpsychology, research methods (qualitative and quantitative), research/project supervision. I also have teaching experience in other areas/topics such as social policy, educational psychology, and risk and modernity.
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and recognised as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert.
A brief report on student gambling: How can universities help?
Gambling Among UK University Students on Sports-Based Degree Programmes
Understanding the Role of Branding in the Responsible Gambling Ethos of Popular Gambling Providers in the UK: Are Responsible Gambling ‘Commitments’ Brand-Free?
ORCiD: 0000-0002-7726-7702
McGivern P, Hussain Z, Lipka S, Stupple E. The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study. BMC Public Health. 2019 Jun 26;19(1):822. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7191-5. PMID: 31242890; PMCID: PMC6595584.
McGivern P, Coxon M. Student polling software: where cognitive psychology meets educational practice? Front Psychol. 2015 Jan 30; 6:55. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00055. PMID: 25688228; PMCID: PMC4311550.
McGivern, P., & Shepherd, J. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on UK university students: Understanding the interconnection of issues experienced during lockdown. Power and Education 14(3) 218-227 https://doi.org/10.1177/17577438221104227
Other
Examining the impact and potential of an interactive risk meter as a responsible gambling device in electronic roulette
General information
Organisations:
University of Derby
Contributors:
McGivern, P.
Publication date:
Feb 2016
Event:
Poster session presented at New Horizons in Responsible Gambling Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Tailored onscreen ‘pop-up’ warning messages of specific loss amounts reduce expenditure in online roulette
McGivern, P., May 2015
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Organisations:
University of Derby
Ethical and practical considerations of online gambling research: aligning policy and scientific enquiry
McGivern, P., Jan 2015
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Organisations:
University of Derby
Context-specific ‘pop-up’ warnings reduce gambling expenditure in online roulette
McGivern, P., 1 Sep 2014.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Organisations:
University of Derby
The prevalence and nature of negative experiences online
McGivern, P. & Noret, N., 7 Jul 2010.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster
Organisations:
York St John University
Research Snapshot - Gambling Research Exchange Ontario
Description:
Research article featured in the 'Research Snapshot' profile within the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, Canada
Details of Media contribution and Media coverage
McGivern, P., Hussain, Z., Lipka, S. (2019). The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study. Research Snapshot, Gambling Research Exchange Ontario
29/09/19
United Kingdom
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Ben has an interest in health and social psychology, specifically in the area of attitude measurement and behaviour change. He has presently conducted work looking at diet improvement, physical activity uptake and reducing binge drinking. Ben has experience using online and text-based methods to intervene with large populations and has conducted work utilising Question Behaviour Effects (QBE).
Ben has recently been awarded funding to conduct a meta-analysis on the efficacy of tai chi in the elderly. He is also conducting a review assessing the role of affect in physical activity engagement. Currently, Ben is writing a grant investigating one method to improve recycling rates in the general population. He regularly seeks collaboration opportunities with institutions nationwide and would be interested in hearing about future opportunities that fit his research profile. He also encourages students to get in contact should they have projects they seek supervision on.
PSY4063 Professional Development for Psychologists 1
PSY4073 Introduction to Research Skills for Psychologists
PSY6125 Health Behaviour Change in Context
PSY6122 Psychology Special Subject
PSY6145 Psychology Research Project
PSY7065 Personality and Intelligence (Masters conversion course)
PSY7033 Advanced Research Methods for Practitioner Psychologists (Forensic Masters)
Promoting Bayesian statistics to aide in the improvement of Health Psychology; The effect of goal priority on intentions to engage in environmentally positive behaviour; The development of an Italian version of a Psychological Resilience scale; Assessing the effectiveness of Tai chi to improve Psychological Resilience
Morris, B., & Bone, A. (2024). Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wellbeing: an inductive thematic analysis exploring how BJJ can increase subjective wellbeing. Mental Health and Social Inclusion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-11-2023-0116
Morris, B., Jackson, J., & Roberts, A. (2023). Effects of long-term Ashtanga yoga practice on psychological well-being. Mental Health and Social Inclusion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-03-2023-0033
St Quinton, T., Morris, B., Lithopoulos, A., Norman, P., Conner, M., & Rhodes, R. (2023). Self-efficacy and alcohol consumption: are efficacy measures confounded with motivation? Cogent Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2023.2180872
St Quinton, T., Morris, B., Pickering, D., & Smith, D. (2022). Behavior change techniques and delivery modes in interventions targeting adolescent gambling: a systematic review. Journal of Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10108-8
St Quinton, T., Morris, B., & Crescioni, A. W. (2022). Beliefs in free will and determinism: associations with social cognition and gambling behavior. Addiction Research & Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2022.2062330
Jackson, J., & Morris, B. (2022). Impact of the built asset on health and wellbeing: contemporary review of tinnitus in the built environment, and effective interventions at work and home. In O. Ebohon, & C. Udeaja (Eds.), Proceedings of IDoBE International Conference on Uncertainties in the Built Environment (2021): How can we build a resilient future in the new normal? (pp. 989-1004). Article Paper 1
St Quinton, T., & Morris, B. (2021). Gambling prevention mobile applications: understanding the inclusion and use of behaviour change techniques. Journal of Gambling Issues, 48, 110–121. https://doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2021.48.5
St Quinton, T., Morris, B., Barwood, M., & Conner, M. (2021). Promoting physical activity through text messages: the impact of attitude and goal priority messages. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2021.1891073
St Quinton, T., Morris, B., & Trafimow, D. (2021). Untangling the Theory of Planned Behavior's auxiliary assumptions and theoretical assumptions: implications for predictive and intervention studies. New Ideas in Psychology, 60, Article 100818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2020.100818
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Candice completed their undergraduate degree at The Open University. Following this, they undertook Masters and PhD study at Leeds Beckett University, where they also taught on various modules across the social sciences provision. Their PhD research explored young men’s body image and appearance-related matters, investigating the role of social ideals of masculine behaviour in men’s physical self-appraisal and body image-related discussions.
Alongside their PhD, Candice also undertook a postgraduate teaching qualification (PGCAP) and was awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. She joined Leeds Trinity University in 2020 as a Lecturer in Psychology and specialises in qualitative research methods.
Candice’s research interests focus primarily within the study of masculinities, and men’s health and wellbeing. This includes exploring men’s experiences, as well as the potential impact of wider social ideals on shaping these. Candice is also interested in the development and expansion of qualitative research methods and open science principles in psychology and is currently collaborating on a range of related projects.
Candice is currently involved in a number of research projects. These include exploring men’s engagement with mobile dating apps, papers surrounding men’s body image and appearance-related matters and how men discuss sensitive topics, and a co-creation project involving students and staff at Leeds Trinity University.
Whitaker, C., Gough, B., Fawkner, H., & Deighton-Smith, N. (2021). Young men’s body dissatisfaction: A qualitative analysis of anonymous online accounts. Journal of health psychology, 26(5), 636-649.
Whitaker, C., Gough, B., Fawkner, H. & Deighton-Smith, N., (2001, 16-19 Jun). Negotiating feminised discourses: a discursive analysis of how men construct body image and appearance-related matters. [Conference presentation]. 1st Conference of the Association of European Qualitative Researchers, Thessaloniki/Online, Greece
Whitaker, C. (2019, 15-18 Jul). Body talk: the role of masculinity in young men’s body image and appearance related matters [Conference presentation]. The 11th Biennial Conference of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP), Bratislava, Slovakia.
Whitaker, C. (2019, 3-5 Jul). “I do care about how I look, when I feel like I shouldn’t!”: a qualitative investigation of young men’s body image-related issues [Conference presentation]. The British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section & The History and Philosophy of Psychology Section Conference, Cardif, UK.
Whitaker, C. (2022, July 13-15). Finding your voice and volume as a novice researcher: Reflecting on self-positioning and disclosure in the knowledge production process [Conference presentation]. BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section Conference, Leicester, UK.
Whitaker, C. (2022, July 13-15). ‘The grind of finding someone’: A Thematic Analysis of men’s accounts of their picture-based mobile dating app use. [Conference presentation]. BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section Conference, Leicester, UK.
Deputy Head of School: Psychology
Chris Rowley has an academic background in sport psychology, having studied at both undergraduate and masters level prior to completing a PhD in Applied Sport Psychology at the University of Hull which was awarded in 2014. Chris joined Leeds Trinity University in 2015 as the programme leader for the BSc (Hons) Sport Psychology Degree, before becoming Deputy Head of School of Psychology in 2022. Chris is also an Associate Lecturer with the Open University for module E312, and is a chartered psychologist within the British Psychological Society’s Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Chris has also undertaken applied consultancy work with professional football and rugby league academy teams and youth and senior athletics, including working with two Olympic athletes around the 2021 Tokyo games.
Chris’ research seeks to explore the everyday realities of applied sport psychology practice within high-performance sporting contexts. Chris’ research utilises qualitative approaches as well as micropolitical, dramaturgical and interactionist theoretical frameworks to explore how practitioners navigate and negotiate within the contexts of their professional practice. Chris currently serves as a reviewer for a number of related journals across both Sport Psychology and Qualitative domains, and has served as lead supervisor for two successful PhD completions and two Masters by Research projects.
Sport psychology, Qualitative Research methods.
Haluch, P., Radcliffe, J., & Rowley, C. (2021). The Quest for Professional Self-Understanding: Sense Making and the Interpersonal Nature of Applied Sport Psychology Practice. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 10.1080/10413200.2021.1914772
Rowley, C., Potrac, P., Knowles, Z. R., & Nelson, L. (2018). More Than Meets the (Rationalistic) Eye: A Neophyte Sport Psychology Practitioner’s Reflections on the Micropolitics of Everyday Life within a Rugby League Academy. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/10413200.2018.1491906
Whitehead, A. E., Jones, H. S., Williams, E. L., Rowley, C., Quayle, L., Marchant, D., & Polman, R. C. (2018). Investigating the relationship between cognitions, pacing strategies and performance in 16.1 km cycling time trials using a think aloud protocol. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.10.001
Rowley, C., Fook, J., & Glazzard, J. (2017) Adopting a student-led pedagogic approach within Higher Education: The reflections of an early career academic. Reflective Practice. DOI: 10.1080/14623943.2017.1351352
Rowley, C., Earle, K., & Gilbourne, D. (2012) Practice and the Process of Critical Learning: Reflections of an Early Stage Practitioner Working in Elite Youth Level Rugby League. Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, 8, 35-50.
Book chapters
Fook, J., Glazzard, J., Hayes, A. M., Mealey, A. M. & Rowley, C. (2017) Developing a Core compulsory module to teach principles of social justice and citizenship in Mealey A. M., Jarvis, P., Doherty, J. & Fook, J. (Eds). Everyday Social Justice and Citizenship: Perspectives for the 21st Century. London: Routledge
Rowley, C. & Lester, C (2016) Carl Rogers: Applying student-centred learning to coaching in Nelson, L., Groom, R., & Potrac, P. (Eds). Learning in sports coaching: Theory and application. London: Routledge.
Other
‘Life lessons from the Olympics’ published in The Psychologist (July 2024) https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/life-lessons-olympics
My applied work with both academy level footballers and rugby league players and my more recent experience of working with track and field athletes who competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics heavily influences my teaching on the sport psychology modules that I am involved in. These experiences have helped emphasise the importance of working with the human being behind ‘the athlete’ rather than focussing solely on their sporting outcomes and performance-related objectives.
In and amongst the array of professional athletes who I admire from a wide range of sporting disciplines, the two that I appreciate most would be Paul Scholes and Andy Murray. As a Manchester United fan, I had the pleasure of watching Scholes progress from a talented academy prospect to becoming one of the greatest players of his generation (in my opinion at least!). His ability to stay grounded and largely out of the focus of the media spotlight throughout this time always suggested to me that he was just a ‘normal’ person who had grown up in same areas as me, and just happened to be exceptionally good at what he did for a living. Similarly, Andy Murray has achieved some incredible accolades throughout his tennis career whilst remaining incredibly humble and modest throughout but has also sought to share some of the considerable challenges that he has encountered throughout that time through a series of documentaries and markedly honest and personal interviews.
In short, working with interesting and incredibly talented people! Whether they be athletes who I undertake consultancy services with or students that we teach or supervise on their independent research projects, it is an absolute privilege to spend my time supporting individuals as they look to pursue their individual dreams and aspirations.
Reader in Psychology
Psychology of Religion, Positive Psychology, Psychometrics, Health Psychology.
Reader in Psychology
James holds a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from Heriot-Watt University, a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Sheffield, as well as an MSc in Industrial Psychology and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Hull. James was a lecturer at Hull for several years before moving to Leeds Trinity University.
His PhD thesis was: “The relationship between tinnitus, cognitive performance and demands on the individual” and as someone with both tinnitus and hearing loss, James is fascinated by the subjective nature of tinnitus and how it is perceived by different individuals. Why do some people habituate quickly, while others take longer? And why do others remain distressed over the long term, with significant consequences for their quality of life?
Previously, James has been an unpaid scientific advisor to Hearing Power, the company behind the smartphone app MindEar (formerly Tinnibot). This work, supported by external grants, helped Tinnibot to win the third annual prestigious Hearing Technology Innovator Awards (October 2022). Alongside interventions for tinnitus in the online space, James has investigated the effects of tinnitus on diurnal hormonal cycles (specifically the stress hormone, cortisol), as well as dissatisfaction of tinnitus patients within the primary care pathway, help-seeking behaviour, and post-COVID tinnitus prevalence in the UK.
James is active in the field of Knowledge Exchange, and runs workshops for GPs, audiologists, and other healthcare professionals to better understand tinnitus, and the evidence base behind specific tinnitus interventions. He has general interests in all kinds of chronic stressors (e.g. loneliness, chronic pain, long-term hearing impairment etc) and in the effects of hormones on human attractiveness and sexual orientation. He has made a number of media appearances with regards to the psychology of attraction, dating apps, loneliness, etc.
James is open to supervise PhD students.
Biopsychology; Hormones (specifically cortisol and testosterone), Stress and Illness (chronic stressors/objective measurement of stress), Tinnitus/Hearing Loss, Human Attraction, and Pain Tolerance.
James is currently engaged in several different areas of research. As of September 2024, he is continuing investigation of online mindfulness and the MindEar smartphone app as interventions for tinnitus distress. Other projects include further investigation of the Cortisol Awakening Response in tinnitus patients, tinnitus during pregnancy, tinnitus and COVID, female stalking and the menopause, and effects of prenatal testosterone exposure on female engagement in combat sports.
Jackson, J. G., & Woolmer, C. D. (2024). An 8-Week Online Body Scan Meditation Intervention for Tinnitus: Accessibility, Adherence, and Rates of Clinically Meaningful Success. Mindfulness, 1-12.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02357-y
Morris, B., Jackson, J., & Roberts III, A. (2023). Effects of long-term Ashtanga Yoga practice on psychological well-being. Mental Health and Social Inclusion. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-03-2023-0033
Jackson, J., & Morris, B. (2022, August). Impact of the built asset on health and wellbeing: contemporary review of tinnitus in the built environment, and effective interventions at work and home. In IDoBE International Conference 2021: Uncertainties in the Built Environment: How can we build a resilient future in the new normal? (pp. 989-1004).
Edwards, H. M., Jackson, J. G., & Evans, H. (2022). Neuroticism as a covariate of cognitive task performance in individuals with tinnitus. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 906476. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.906476
Jackson, J. G. (2019). The cortisol awakening response: A feasibility study investigating the use of the area under the curve with respect to increase as an effective objective measure of tinnitus distress. American journal of audiology, 28(3), 583-596. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_AJA-18-0174
Want to improve your knowledge of tinnitus? 14/05/24
Audiology World News (International), United Kingdom.
Into You: Part 1 – The Anatomy of Attraction (March 2022)
The Anatomy of Attraction - Into You | Podcast on Spotify
Into You: Part 2 – Attraction in Action (April 2022)
Attraction in Action - Into You | Podcast on Spotify
Gin and Topic - Jacqsons and Tinnitus (Season 2 Episode 6)
Tinnitus – More than just a noise
Leeds International Festival of Ideas 2021: LIFICAST001 – Are we More Lonely?
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Dr Laura De Pretto is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology. Her research focuses on cross-cultural and environmental psychology, mainly through quantitative methods. Laura has an interest in cross-cultural variations in pro-environmental behaviours and connectedness to nature, as well as how these constructs intersect with hope, health, wellbeing and acculturation.
Originally from Italy, Dr De Pretto obtained her PhD in Applied Psychology in 2013 from East China Normal University. After that, she worked as an Assistant Professor for the University of Nottingham Malaysia until 2017, when she joined Leeds Trinity University.
At Leeds Trinity, she currently teaches contemporary issues in psychology, social psychology, professional learning through work and quantitative research methods across bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and supervises BSc dissertations, MSc theses and PhD projects.
Dr De Pretto is also the international coordinator for the department.
Social psychology, Cross-cultural psychology, Conservation psychology.
Sawicki, A. J.,Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M., Balcerowska, J. M., Sawicka M. J., PiotrowskiJ., Sedikides, C., Jonason P. K.,Maltby, J., Adamovic, M., Agada M. G., Ahmed, O., Al-Shawaf, L., Appiah, S. C. Y., Ardi, R., Babakr, Z.H.,Bălțătescu, S., Bonato,M., Cowden, R. G., Chobthamkit, P., ... Zand, S. (2021). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: ItsStructure and MeasurementInvariance Across 48 Countries.Psychological Assessment, in press.
De Pretto, L., Mansilla, O.P., Russo, E.et al.The experience of Hope among Italian undergraduatestudents.CurrPsychol(2020). The experience of Hope among Italian undergraduate students | SpringerLink De Pretto, L.*,Chin, Y. S. J.*, Thuppil, V., & Ashfold, M. J.(2019). Public awareness and support forenvironmentalprotection—A focus on air pollution in peninsular Malaysia.PloS one,14(3), e0212206.
Pauluzzo, R., Guarda, M.,De Pretto, L., & Fang, T. (2018). Managing paradoxes, dilemmas, and change: A case studytoapply theYin Yang wisdom in Western organizational settings.Cross Cultural & Strategic Management,25(2),257-275.
Wong, P.Y.,Varkkey,H., Ashfold,M.,De Pretto, L.,Ives, C.,Masran, S.A., VasanthaKumar, P.(2021).We need totalk about haze. We need to talk about haze | Vision | University of Nottingham
Varkkey,H., Ashfold, M.,De Pretto, L.,Ives, C., Wong, P.Y., Masran, S.A., VasanthaKumar, P.(2021).Haze andgovernment communications in Malaysia(Policy brief003). Haze-POLICY-BRIEF-003.PDF (nottingham.ac.uk)
Alfajri, Setiawan, A.,Varkkey, H., Ashfold, M.,De Pretto, L., Wong, P.Y., and Ives, C.(2021).Religious ValuesandEnvironmental Protection in Indonesia: New Public Opinion Data on Transboundary Haze.ARIscope.
Ashfold, M., Wong, P., Varkkey, H.,De Pretto, L., Miller, M., Astuti, R., . . . Kumar,P. (2020).Public Values andSentimentsregarding Transboundary Haze Pollution in Singapore.ARIscope.
CL Hii, SP Ong, CL Chiang,L De Pretto, CH Pang, DE Tan. Classroom design attributes: An investigation of staffs’and students' preferences. Proceedings of Mechanical Engineering Research Day 2019 (2019), 216-217.
De Pretto, L.,Hii, C.L.,Chiang, C.L.,Ong, S.P.,Tan, D.E.S.Y.,Pang, C.H.(2019).On the KeyFactors in HigherEducation Classroom Design: Physical Aspects of the Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Experience inMalaysia.Preprints, 2019080089 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201908.0089.v1).
Lecturer in Developmental Psychology
Shames Maskeen is a Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, and his research area focuses on widening access and widening participation. In particular, increasing the participation of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in higher education. His research focuses on addressing the interplay of culture, religion, and gender on the lived experiences of people of colour.
In his previous role as Institutional Operational Lead for the Race Equality Charter (REC), he was the driving force in Leeds Trinity University becoming the first University in Yorkshire to achieve the Bronze award. Subsequent success to the REC award includes Leeds Trinity University winning the Gold Student Choice Award in recognition of the work to tackle and champion race equality and shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ in recognition of embedding race equality across the institution at Times Higher Education Awards 2021.
Developmental psychology, Anti-racism, Research Methods (Quantitative and Qualitative).
Shames’ main research interests are on the interplay of culture, religion and gender on the lived experiences of students and staff of colour in higher education.
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Tim Gomersall is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Trinity University. He has published widely in the areas of health psychology, gender-based violence, and theoretical psychology. He is interested in health inequalities, and believes that psychologists can create positive social change through their research and teaching. He has expertise in health psychology, qualitative research methods, and systematic reviews in health-related research.
Tim gained his BSc in Psychology from Lancaster University, followed by an MSc in Qualitative Psychology and Health and a PhD in Psychology, both from the University of Leeds. His PhD examined the experiences of well and poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, and the issues people experience in managing this complex chronic illness. Seeing the impact of social injustices on people’s health first-hand led to a lifelong passion for addressing these problems.
Tim has held research and teaching positions at the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield, and the University of Huddersfield. He currently teaches at Leeds Trinity University across a range of modules on the Psychology programmes.
Contemporary Issues in Psychology; Psychology Professional Development and Placement; Research Methods, Health Behaviour Change in Context.
The relationship between creativity and wellbeing.
Bailey, L., Hulley, J., Kirkman, G., Gibbs, G.R., Jones, A. & Gomersall, T. (2024). "The Networking of Abuse: Intimate Partner Violence and the Use of Social Technologies" Criminal Justice and Behavior, 51(2).
Peters, L., Lucock, M., Booth, A. & Gomersall (2023). Community arts, identity, and recovery: A realist review of how community-based arts activities enables the identity change recovery process from serious mental illness. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 34(1).
Hulley, J., Bailey, L., Kirkman, G., Gibbs, G. R., Gomersall, T., Latif, A., & Jones, A. (2023). Intimate partner violence and barriers to help-seeking among Black, Asian, minority ethnic and immigrant women: A qualitative metasynthesis of global research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(2).
Hulley, J., Wager, K., Gomersall, T., Bailey, L., Kirkman, G., Gibbs, G., & Jones, A. D. (2022). Continuous traumatic stress: examining the experiences and support needs of women after separation from an abusive partner. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(21).1-23.
Mentrup, S., Harris, E., Gomersall, T., Köpke, S., & Astin, F. (2020). Patients’ experiences of cardiovascular health education and risk communication: a qualitative synthesis. Qualitative health research, 30(1), 88-104.
Swindells, J., & Gomersall, T. (2019). Public perception of dementia risk in the UK: a mental models approach. Journal of Risk Research, 23(4), 461-474.
Gomersall, T. (2018). Complex adaptive systems: a new approach for understanding health practices. Health psychology review, 12(4), 405-418.
Carruthers, H., Gomersall, T., & Astin, F. (2018). The work undertaken by mechanically ventilated patients in Intensive Care: a qualitative meta-ethnography of survivors’ experiences. International journal of nursing studies. 86, 60-73
Moeller, C., King, N., Burr, V., Gibbs, G. R., & Gomersall, T. (2018). Nature-based interventions in institutional and organisational settings: a scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 28(3), 293-305.
Gomersall, T., Smith, S.K., Blewett, C. & Astell, A. (2017) It’s definitely not Alzheimer’s: Patient perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of a mild cognitive impairment diagnosis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 22(4).
Other
Is there really a benefit from getting an early dementia diagnosis? The Conversation, Is there really a benefit from getting an early dementia diagnosis? (theconversation.com)
I’ve recently grown to admire the work of Anders K. Ericsson on peak performance. He really taps into how to make the most of human potential.
My students are often surprised when I discuss how an 18th-century prison design has gone on to reshape how people are governed in contemporary society, and how deep the impact of this can be on our psyche.
I like the range of different research I’ve been able to use my psychology skills for. When I started my undergraduate degree I never would have thought I’d have worked analysing clinical studies data to inform NHS decision-making, or travelling around the world to look at the potential of gaming as a tool to reduce gender-based violence.
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Tim joined Leeds Trinity University in 2022 as a Senior Lecturer. He is interested in vision and social cognition, and has published extensively on the perception of social interactions, as well as face recognition. His research combines cognitive and psychophysical methods with questions from social psychology. He was chair of the early career researchers’ forum in York and is passionate about science communication and public outreach.
Tim received his PhD from the University of York where he got interested in how social stimuli influence visual processing. There he also started taking part in public outreach events, later becoming the lead organiser behind many such events. Suring his subsequent time as a postdoctoral researcher at Birkbeck College, University of London, he continued researching the processes involved in social interaction perception, as well as organising academic networking events. At Leeds Trinity University he works to establish a strong cognitive research programme.
Social Cognition, Visual Perception, Face Perception, Research Methods.
Tim is currently investigating how social stimuli can change and distort our perception and memory.
Over, H., Lee, R., Flavell, J., Vestner, T., & Cook, R. (2023). Contextual modulation of appearance-trait learning. Cognition, 230, 105288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105288
Vestner, T., Flavell, J., Cook, R., & Tipper, S. (2022). Remembered together: Social interaction facilitates retrieval while reducing individuation of features within bound representations. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 75(9), 1593-1602. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211056499
Vestner, T., Gray, K.L., & Cook, R. (2022). Sensitivity to orientation is not unique to social attention cueing. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09011-4
Vestner, T., Balsys, E., Over, H., & Cook, R. (2022). The self-consistency effect seen on the Dot Perspective Task is a product of domain-general attention cueing, not automatic perspective taking. Cognition, 224, 105056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105056
Vestner, T., Over, H., Gray, K. L., & Cook, R. (2022). Objects that direct visuospatial attention produce the search advantage for facing dyads. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001067
Vestner, T., Over, H., Gray, K. L. H., Tipper, S. P., & Cook, R. (2021). Searching for people: Non-facing distractor pairs hinder the visual search of social scenes more than facing distractor pairs. Cognition, 214, 104737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104737
Svenning, A., Panzarino, R., Vanryckeghem, M., & Vestner, T. (2021). Life partners’ perceptions of the emotional, speech disruptive, and attitudinal correlates of stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 67, 105821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2020.105821
Vestner, T., Gray, K. L. H., & Cook, R. (2021). Visual search for facing and non-facing people: The effect of actor inversion. Cognition, 208, 104550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104550
Vestner, T., Gray, K. L. H., & Cook, R. (2020). Why are social interactions found quickly in visual search tasks? Cognition, 200, 104270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104270
Vestner, T., Tipper, S. P., Hartley, T., Over, H., & Rueschemeyer, S.-A. (2019). Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(7), 1251–1268. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000545
Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology
Dr Zacharia Nahouli is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at LTU with several years of teaching and research experience. He is a mixed methods researcher whose interests centre primarily on applying psychological principles to forensic topics, such as investigating the social and cognitive aspects of forensic interviewing practices, criminal justice processes and offender rehabilitation programmes/interventions. This research informs his teaching on topics such as police interviewing, eyewitness memory, detecting deception, rapport and empathy, jury expert decision-making, and false memories, amongst others.
Prior to his current role, Zac completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology with Criminology (BSc) at the University of Hull in 2014, a Masters degree in Psychology and Law (MSc) at Maastricht University in 2015, and a doctorate in Psychology (PhD) at the University of Westminster in 2021. He worked as a lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the University of Derby from 2021-2023, where he also completed an Academic Professional Apprenticeship (APA) and Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Higher Education, which gave him fellowship to the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Teaching Areas: Forensic Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, Research Methods
Specialty Areas: Police Interviewing, Rapport/Empathy, Detecting Deception, Eyewitness Memory, False Memories, Jury Decision-Making, Prison & Probation, Offender Rehabilitation.
Dando, C. J., Nahouli, Z., Hart, A., & Pounder, Z. (2023). Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers. Royal Society Open Science, 10(10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231007
Nahouli, Z., Mackenzie, J.-M., Aresti, A., & Dando, C. (2023). Rapport building with offenders in probation supervision: The views of English probation practitioners. Probation Journal, 70(2), 104-123. https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505221137448
Dando, C. D., Taylor, D. A., Caso, A., Nahouli, Z., & Adam, C. (2023). Interviewing in virtual environments: Towards understanding the impact of rapport-building behaviours and retrieval context on eyewitness memory. Memory and Cognition, 51, 404–421. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-022-01362-7
Nahouli, Z., Dando, C. J., Mackenzie, J. M., & Aresti, A. (2021). Rapport building and witness memory: actions may ‘speak’ louder than words. PLOS ONE, 16(8): e0256084. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256084
Mazzoni, G., Clark, A., De Bartolo, A., Guerrini, C., Nahouli, Z., Duzzi D., De Marco, M., McGeown, W., & Venneri, A. (2019). Brain activation in highly superior autobiographical memory: The role of the precuneus in the autobiographical memory retrieval network. Cortex, 120, 588-602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2019.02.020
Wang, J., Otgaar, H., Howe, M. L., Smeets, T., Merckelbach, H., & Nahouli, Z. (2016). Undermining belief in false memories leads to less efficient problem-solving behaviour. Memory, 24, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2016.1249888
Other
Nahouli, Z. (2019). What I learned from my semester studying with prisoners. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/mar/07/what-i-learned-from-my-semester-studying-with-prisoners
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
During your Foundation Year, you'll study four core modules.
You'll be introduced to the key skills to develop your confidence in your abilities to be an independent, reflective learner. Prepare for your degree and learn the different ways of presenting academic information, as well as skills such as how to use library and online resources, planning, note-taking, evaluative skills and avoiding plagiarism.
Understand how to identify and evaluate sources of academic information and how to use these to support an argument.
Develop organisational, time management and stress management skills to enable you to approach your level 4 studies with confidence and you'll learn to reflect on assessment feedback and identify relevant support services to help you in your academic career.
Study an area of psychology which is of particular interest to you. Explore and agree on your topic area of interest through workshop tuitions and one-to-one supervision, to produce a systematic plan and to agree a format for assessment.
You'll be given the opportunity to explore assorted topics that your project can focus upon. You'll focus exclusively on existing academic literature and other secondary sources to produce your project. Formats of how you would like to present your project work are negotiable and may include a written report, presentation or oral examination, film or a series of blog posts.
You’ll be introduced to the main perspectives, investigation methods, studies and controversies in key areas of psychology.
Explore the history of psychology and its themes including cognitive behaviour, sociology, biology and developmental theories.
You'll learn through lectures, discussions and group workshops and become familiar with key concepts through individual research.
Get a foundation in quantitative and qualitative approaches to research in psychology, focusing on research terminology and design, data collection, data handling and analysis.
Learn about the application of psychology in a professional context, considering research, ethics and professional issues in each of the British Psychological Society (BPS) professional areas.
You'll be taught through a blended approach to learning, including lectures, discussions and group work.
During your first year, you'll study a number of core modules as well as selecting a specialist module in your chosen pathway.
During your second year, you'll study a number of core modules as well as specialist modules in your chosen pathway.
During your final year, you'll study two core modules and you'll choose an additional three modules from your preferred pathway.
Experience matters. That's why we embed the chance to gain relevant work-based experience within our Psychology undergraduate degrees.
Careers and Placements will work with you to find the right experience or help you to arrange your own. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence, enhance your employability skills and prepare you for your work experience.
You can gain degree-relevant work-based experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
Your work-based experience may include working regularly with charities, helping academics with their research or spending a block of time in a relevant placement. Previous students have worked with sports organisations, drug rehabilitation charities and researched student barriers to engagement.
Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.
Our British Psychology Society-accredited courses offer the first step on your journey to become a Chartered Practitioner Psychologist in any of the professional areas of psychology, including:
Whichever pathway you choose, your Psychology degree will prepare you for essential postgraduate study, which will then lead to Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration, which is a requirement to practice as a psychologist in the UK.
A typical route to registered or chartered status involves completion of:
You'll also have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience needed for other areas of graduate employment such as health and social care professions, the NHS, social work, teaching, HMPPS, law, local government, the sporting and business sectors and charities, some of which may need additional postgraduate study.
After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.
For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
Information about the large range of qualifications we accept, including A-Levels, BTECs and T Levels, can be found on our entry requirements page. If you need additional advice or are taking qualifications that are not covered in the information supplied, please contact our Admissions Office.
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.
The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.
| UCAS tariff | 64 |
| GCSE requirements | GCSEs in English Language or English Literature and Maths are required at grade C or 4 or higher |
Applications are welcome from mature students with few formal qualifications.
Any previous relevant work experience and learning will be assessed and, where appropriate, we may offer an alternative way to assess suitability to study.
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
£9,790
Full-time
Tuition fees cost £9,790 a year for this course in 2026/2027.
Tuition fees for part-time study are charged at a pro-rata amount of the full-time equivalent.
Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.
Tuition fees for 2027/2028 entry will be set in summer 2026.
Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.
Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees. These include:
For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.
On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.
Please note – your UCAS application should be made for Psychology with Foundation Year (UCAS course code C890), you will choose your pathway during the course of your studies.
As part of your application, you'll need to write a personal statement - we've prepared a guide to help you.
Undergraduate applications for September 2026 entry are now open.
This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.
There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our Admissions team who will be happy to help:
Discover Uni is the official, authoritative source of information and guidance on higher education in the UK. The website allows you to search for and compare data and information on university and college programmes from across the UK.
It helps you make sense of all the information out there by linking to other quality resources and explaining what can be found where. It also allows you to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK.
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