RESEARCH PROFILE
- Number of academic staff: 42.
- Number of research students: 31.
- Current research projects:
- Research in clinical, health, forensic and neuropsychology.
- Pioneering development of cognitive behaviour therapy for the prevention and treatment of a range of problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, psychosis, and physical illness.
KEY FACTS
Student destinations
Students have gone on to work as researchers, lecturers and clinical psychologists in the National Health Service (after additional professional training).
Head of group/division
Professor Richard Brown
Duration
Three years FT; six years PT. Accelerated PT rates available - email
iop.educationsupport@kcl.ac.uk for further information. Registration is carried out at four points in the year: October, January, April and July.
Denmark Hill Campus, Guy’s Campus (Health Psychology).
Year of entry 2013
Offered by
Institute of Psychiatry
Department of Psychology
Closing date
Four months before planned date of admission.
Intake
No set number.
Fees
CONTACTS
Contact information
For MPhil/PhDs: Susanna Ruparalia (Business Support Officer) Tel: 020 7848 0254. For DClinPsy: Catherine Thickett, Programme Administrator Tel: 020 7848 0152.
Email
Website
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
The Department of Psychology was founded in 1950 by Hans Eysenck. Following a merger in 2004 with Psychology in Guy’s, King’s, and St Thomas’ School of Medicine (GKT), the Department represents one of the world’s largest groupings of clinical and health psychologists (see staff list).
The Department has established a strong and multi-stranded international reputation for:
- Its research in clinical, health, forensic and neuropsychology
- Its pioneering development of cognitive behaviour therapy for the prevention and treatment of neurosis, psychosis, and physical illness; this includes cognitive remediation and family therapy
- Its postgraduate training course in clinical psychology, now a Doctorate (which helped to establish the scientist/practitioner model that is now almost universal in the field) and its other postgraduate courses in health psychology, and cognitive behaviour therapy
- An intercalated BSc for medical students in undergraduate psychology and neuroscience.
Members of the Department offer an expert psychology service to the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital and Guy’s Hospital. Staff also provide the psychology teaching for undergraduate medical students in the King’s College London School of Medicine.
The Department is based on two sites. At theInstitute of Psychiatry, it is mainly housed in theHenryWellcomeBuilding for Psychology (completed in 2000 and part funded by the Wellcome Trust). At Guy’s Hospital, it is based in Thomas Guy House. The Head of Department is Professor Elizabeth Kuipers. The Head of Health Psychology Section at Guy’s is Professor Rona Moss-Morris.
Staff interests associated with the research programme and its research groups
Interests:
Position: Aikaterini (Katerina) Fotopoulou is a lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology at the Institute of Psychiatry. She is also an Associate Member at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.
Biographical Note: Fotopoulou studied psychology in Athens (Greece); cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology and theoretical psychoanalysis at University College London (UK); and conducted her PhD in these fields at the University of Durham (UK). She is currently also completing clinical doctorate training in psychotherapy (see below).
Research: Dr Fotopoulou's research focuses on topics and disorders that lie at the borders between neurology and psychiatry, aiming to understand the complex dynamic relation between mind and body. She is particularly interested in understanding how our physical body, our emotions and personal goals, as well as our relations with other people influence the function of our brain and ultimately shape how we understand ourselves and our new experiences. She conducts studies on self-consciousness, pain, emotions and memory in healthy volunteers, in patients that have suffered a stroke or other brain pathologies, as well as in individuals with psychological disorders such as somatisation, functional disorders, chronic pain and depression.
Research Fellowships, Awards and Grants: For these studies, and the many resulting publications in scientific peer-reviewed journals of international standing, Dr Fotopoulou was awarded an ESRC-MRC fellowship in 2005, a Neuropsychoanalysis Fellowship and the Clifford Yorke Prize for Early Career Contributions to Neuropsychoanalysis in 2006, as well as the Papanicolaou Prize from the World Hellenic Biomedical Society (2010). She was also recently awarded the British Neuropsychological Society's Early Career Award: The Elizabeth Warrington Prize (2011).
Finally, having won an earlier European competition of junior investigators (European Platform for Life Sciences, Mind Sciences and the Humanities ; supported by the Volkswagen Foundation), Dr Fotopoulou has more recently (2010) been awarded a further project grant from the Volkswagen Foundation to lead and coordinate an Interdisciplinary European Research Group that considers neuroscientific, psychological and philosophical perspectives in the study of interpersonal body awareness and pain perception. The London-based branch of this group has further won a project grant for the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (2010) to study the neural correlates of these effects in depressed patients.
Clinical Interests, Training and Activities: Dr Fotopoulou is completing a 4-year Doctorate Degree in Counselling and Psychotherapeutic Psychology, accredited by the British Psychological Society. This degree provides formalisation to her long standing interest and extensive volunteer placements in neuropsychological rehabilitation and translational research.
Dr Fotopoulou has been a member of the Neuropsychoanalysis Society's executive and organizational committee since 2003 and has run a monthly Neuropsychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Neuroscience group in London since September 2009. In 2007 she and Professor Martin Conway were awarded a grant from the British Economic and Social Sciences Council to host a two-year long seminar series in London. Bringing together distinguished scholars and researchers from the fields of psychology, neuroscience and psychoanalysis, the resulting publication (Eds. A. Fotopoulou, D. Pfaff & M.A. Conway), entitled 'From the Couch to the Lab: Trends in Psychodynamic Neuroscience' is due to be published by Oxford University Press in March 2012.
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020 7188 0183
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Cognitive, behavioural and physiological factors in aetiology and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.
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020 7848 5033
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My current research interests cover menopause, body image and the impact of attitudes towards bodily symptoms and/or illness, with a particular focus on developing evidenced based interventions in these areas.
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0207 188 9558 / 077223 28638
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To investigate the causal role of cognitive processes (e.g. imagery, worry, interpretation, attention and working memory) involved in the maintenance of anxiety disorders such generalised anxiety disorder and social phobia, and to develop interventions to ameliorate these problematic processes and thus reduce anxiety and distress.
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020 7848 0697
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Cognitive models of delusions and hallucinations; cognitive therapy for psychosis.
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020 7848 5003
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Cognitive processes in the maintenance and treatment of social phobia; post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder; virtual reality in the treatment of anxiety disorders; dissemination of psychological treatments.
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020 7848 0245
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Obsessive-compulsive (spectrum) disorder; anxiety; chronic fatigue; emotion; neuroimaging; neuropsychology; CBT; outcome predictors.
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020 7848 0543
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Body dysmorphic disorder, cosmetic surgery, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), vomit phobia.
Tel:
020 3228 3461
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020 3228 5215
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Clinical psychology; obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in adolescents; philosophical issues in psychology and psychiatry.
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020 7848 5011
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Evaluation of treatment trials in psychosis; family intervention and individual cognitive-behaviour therapy; cognitive processes in delusions and hallucinations; burden of care in psychosis; expressed emotion in carers, including staff carers; staff stress in mental health settings.
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020 7848 0232
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Medically unexplained symptoms, primary care mental health, health psychology applied to children.
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020 7188 0180
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Psychosis, including role of cognition and emotions in psychosis; psychological models of delusions and hallucinations; processes of change in CBT for psychosis; schizotypy and the continuum of mental illness; psychosis and spirituality.
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020 7848 0347
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Developing and evaluating CBT interventions for people with emotional and physical problems, anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, psychophysiology, neuropsychology.
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020 7188 9559
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Forensic psychology, reliability of evidence, false confessions, psychological vulnerabilities during detention, motivation for offending and attribution of blame.
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020 7848 0768
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The evaluation of psychological treatments particularly for eating disorders but also other areas such as substance misuse, depression and self-harm. His other areas of interest are family therapy, family interaction research and attachment.
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020 7919 2545
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Health psychology; illness cognition and self-regulation; stress and wound healing.
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020 7188 0180
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Dr Chilcot has particular expertise surrounding the psychological factors associated with chronic illnesses (e.g. End-Stage Renal Disease), including illness representations, psychological distress, health behaviour and outcomes (non-adherence and survival). His current research is focused on developing and evaluating psychological interventions in dialysis patients designed to improve psychosocial and clinical outcomes.
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020 7188 2597
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Large-scale health promotion; stress and depression workshops; development of psychoeducational approaches; primary care.
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020 7848 5004
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Neuropsychological aspects of epilepsy and other neurological / neuropsychiatric disorders; cognitive -behavioural treatment of epilepsy and non-epileptic (dissociative) seizures; psychological processes in adults with non-epileptic (dissociative) seizures; cognitive changes, neuroimaging, psychological impact and quality of life in Motor Neurone Disease.
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020 7848 5040
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Motor learning and motor control, movement disorders; neuropsychology of imagery, working memory, related cognitive functions and performance in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders; neuroimaging.
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020 7848 0761
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020 7848 0416
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020 7848 0958
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020 7848 0952
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Developing and evaluating cognitive behavioural interventions in women's health, cardiology and oncology.
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020 7188 0180
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Chronic pain, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), insomnia, sleep.
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020 7848 5010
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020 7848 5037
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- The attitude-behaviour relationship
- Behavioural interventions
- Motivation, cognition, and emotion
- Dual-process models of cognition
- Cognitive dissonance, self-affirmation, and information processing
- Emotional intelligence
- Mindfulness meditation and its cognitive and emotional benefits
- Meta-cognition and self-knowledge
- Persuasion and social influence
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Developmental/genetic disorders (eg autism, Williams-Syndrome); cognitive/behavioural phenotypes; adult outcomes.
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020 7848 0455
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Aetiology and treatment of post-traumatic stress reactions in children and adolescents.
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020 7848 0506
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Cognitive models of psychosis, delusions and hallucinations; cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis.
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020 7848 5046
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Role of fronto-basal ganglia systems in neurological and psychiatric disorder; goal-directed behaviour; motivation; depression; functional imaging; impact of chronic disease on patients and carers.
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020 7848 0773
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Neuropsychology of executive and memory functioning; spatial orientation and hippocampal function in humans; investigation of memory using functional magnetic resonance imaging; the cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia.
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020 7848 0849
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Interests:
(i) Using cross sectional, prospective and experimental methods to develop models which help us conceptualise and treat medically unexplained conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and post concussion syndrome.
(ii) Understanding adjustment to chronic illness from both the patient and family perspectives.
(iii) Developing self-management and CBT based interventions for people with chronic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, IBS and CFS including telecare and web interventions.
(iv) RCT's of psychological interventions.
(v) Exploring the role of people's perceptions and responses to their symptoms, illness and treatments in affecting outcome. Recent projects include developing measures of perceptions of multi-morbidity and children's perceptions of parental illness.
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0207 188 0180
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Childhood anxiety disorders; post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive-behavioural treatment.
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020 7848 5011
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Behaviour change, including the use of financial incentives.
Emotional and behavioural responses to biomarker feedback.
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020 7188 0192
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Evaluation of treatments for psychosis; health service evaluations; group cognitive behaviour treatment for hallucinations, stigma and its effects, cognitive predictors of outcome in schizophrenia; models of cognition personality and individual differences; measurement and theory; social and political attitudes; sexual attraction, deviation and dysfunction; psychology as applied to performing arts.in psychosis and cognitive remediation therapy for schizophrenia; disordered language and psychoses; consumer involvement in research.
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020 7848 5040
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Neurobiology of cognitive and affective deficits and their treatment in Schizophrenia.
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020 7848 0233
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Applicants should possess a minimum of an upper second class honours degree from a UK university or the overseas equivalent. Applicants whose qualifications have been gained outside the UK will be checked by the Health Schools Admissions Centre to establish equivalency with these standards before an offer is sent and applicants will need to demonstrate at interview that their background and experience, general education and scolarship are appropriate. All applicants need to possess an adequate level of English competence. Please contact iop.educationsupport@kcl.ac.uk for further information.
To apply for graduate study at King's you will need to complete our graduate online application form. Applying online makes applying easier and quicker for you, and means we can receive your application faster and more securely.
King's does not normally accept paper copies of the graduate application form as applications must be made online. However, if you are unable to access the online graduate application form, please contact the relevant admissions/School Office at King's for advice.
Firstly identify a suitable supervisor within the relevant department: for a list of academic staff and their interests, refer to our departmental pages and view the academic staff lists. Visit www.kcl.ac.uk/iop for a list of departments.
Alternatively, you can contact the department directly for general guidance on potential supervisors whose research interests most closely match those of your own (see Contacts, below). You will then need to complete an application form, available from our website: https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/ and provide two references. Successful applicants will be required to obtain approval for their research project prior to registration. Further details of the application and project approval process can be found at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/research/pgr/apply.aspx
Forms should be completed in collaboration with your prospective supervisor. For general information on application and project approval procedures please contact educationsupport@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Applicants should summarise their research experience to date and their research interests.
Individual studentships are advertised on the Institute's website and externally when they become available. Applicants may also apply if they have already obtained formal funding (eg from their employer, government or charitable foundation). Any offer of study will be conditional upon funding being obtained. Applications will be considered from students intending to fund study through their own means subject to assessment of their ability sustain that funding for the duration of their studies. Queries to the Education Support Team at