I am a trainee Clinical Psychologist (2024-2027) at the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Research (OXICPTR). My first placement is within a Community Mental Health Psychological Team (CMHPT) and Mental Health Integrated Community Service (MHICS) for working-age adults. Prior to training, I was primarily involved in research, conducting qualitative and quantitative studies on the role of religiosity in one’s conceptualisation of psychological distress, experiences of secular therapeutic intervention, and perceptions of the barriers and facilitators of mental health help-seeking. In addition, I also completed a MSc (Oxon) in Experimental Psychology, submitting a thesis on the associations between aortic and carotid artery phenotypes and markers of cerebrovascular and neurocognitive health in ageing adults in a well-established longitudinal cohort in the UK. This work involved longitudinal follow-up at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), using vascular sonography, neurocognitive test batteries, and multimodal MRI (e.g., cerebrovascular reactivity measures to hypercapnia challenges, and FLAIR, DTI, VEPCASL, and structural imaging measures). For this research work, I was funded with an Abelian Scholarship and awarded the George Humphrey departmental prize. Following my MSc (Oxon), I continued to research mid-life modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia (e.g., depression and diabetes), becoming particularly interested in the aetiological role of brain insulin resistance in cognitive decline and mood disorders and the use of digital technology to track cognitive changes at scale, as well as the repurposing of GLP-1 agonists (e.g., exenatide) to target inflammation pathways in dementia. For this work with the Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) within the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, I was funded by industry partners and the Medical Research Council (MRC) and was awarded an Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) prize for my research. Clinically, I have worked with adults with acquired and/or traumatic brain injury, as well as young people with presentations of commonly experienced psychological distress. Going forward, I continue to be interested in (modifiable) risk and resilience in distress and trauma across the lifespan, drawing upon systemic, attachment, cognitive-behavioural, and somatic models of psychological functioning. I am particularly keen on further developing our understanding of the mediating role of implicit and explicit memory processes in psychological distress and trauma, and how we can leverage imagery-based and body-based interventions to facilitate memory reconsolidation and promote psychological wellbeing and adjustment.
