Personal profile

Biography

I joined Aston University in 2016 for the newly created position within Psychology of Graduate Teaching Assistant. In October 2022, I started a new role as Teaching Associate and Deputy Programme Director and from September 2023 onwards, I have been the Programme Director for Joint Honours Psychology programmes. I support the delivery and assessment of taught materials across the Psychology programmes. Alongside these responsibilities I completed my PhD, part-time, submitting in December 2023. I was supervised by Professor Rachel Shaw, Dr Michael Larkin (associate) and Dr Dan Shepperd (associate). 

My PhD research sought to understand individuals’ experiences of living with chronic 'unseen' illnesses within the wider context of health-based welfare systems (Employment and Support Allowance; Personal Independence Payment; Universal Credit). My work takes a 'pluralistic' approach; that is combining phenomenological (focusing on the meanings of people’s experiences) and discursive approaches (examining language use and its performative functions) to consider both the micro and macro implications of government policies, from a health/social psychology perspective. I make use of multiple modalities of data (interviews, photography, images, film, news media, policy documents etc.), as I look to explore the holistic ways in which belonging, health, stigma and wellbeing are constructed and experienced by individuals. 

Qualifications

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (PGCert). Aston University. Awarded with distinction; 2018.
  • MSc. in Health Psychology. Aston University. Awarded with distinction; 2016.
  • Graduate Diploma in Psychology. Aston University. Awarded with merit; 2015.
  • BA (Hons) Psychology & Philosophy. Heythrop College, University of London; 2010. 

Employment

  • Teaching Associate and Programme Director for Joint Honours Psychology programmes, School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University. September 2023 to present. 
  • Teaching Associate and Deputy Programme Director in Psychology, School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University. October 2022 to September 2023. 
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant in Psychology, School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University. October 2016 to September 2022.
  • Prior to this position, I worked for 5 years within the private sector. Most recently auditing the administration of welfare reforms. 

Research Interests

  • Living with chronic and 'unseen' illnesses.
  • Phenomenological understandings of illness and how the incorporation of existential lifeworld concepts can assist a 'deeper' understanding of these phenomena. 
  • Discourses around modern welfare and benefit reforms (Employment and Support Allowance [ESA], Personal Independence Payment [PIP], Universal Credit [UC]).
  • Innovative approaches to qualitative data collection, such as utilising longitudinal approaches, photo elicitation and creative methods. 
  • The epistemological challenges of combining core qualitative approaches, such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Critical Narrative Analysis.
  • Individuals’ experiences of nostalgia and hauntology. 

Membership of Professional Bodies

  • MBPsS: Graduate Member of the British Psychology Society.
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).  

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