Dr Debbie Spain PhD

Debbie is a visiting researcher at King’s College London. By background, she is an accredited cognitive behaviour therapist, a dual qualified learning disability and mental health nurse, and a systemic practitioner. She has substantial clinical experience of working with adults with autism and ADHD, many of whom have had comorbid mental health conditions, and their families – and she currently works clinically in the NHS and in independent practice. In keeping with this, Debbie is an editor on the recent book: A Clinician’s Guide to Mental Health Conditions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Assessment and Interventions 

She has completed an NIHR-funded doctoral fellowship at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, which focused on social anxiety in adults with autism. She has also collaborated on several research studies with colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. These have principally focused on understanding and treating mental health symptoms in adults with autism, and the mental health of, and evidence-based interventions for, underserved populations.