Professor Paula Reavey

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.

Professor of Psychology & Mental Health
Director of Research & Education for the Design in Mental Health Network, UK
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

Psychology of Mental Health & Distress Exploring distress in the clinic and community Visual methods in qualitative research Gender, sexuality and relationships