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Kate Rimes

Professor Kate Rimes

Professor of Clinical Psychology

  • Programme Director, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
  • Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Research interests

  • Mental Health
  • Psychology

Biography

Professor Kate Rimes is the Programme Director for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.  She conducts transdiagnostic research into cognitive and behavioural processes involved in mental health problems and applies the findings to improve interventions. Self-esteem, self-criticism, perfectionism, shame, self-compassion, mindfulness and emotion processing are examples of processes she investigates. She also researches the psychological impact of stigma/prejudice/discrimination, for example in relation to sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, mental illness and race/ethnicity. She co-leads the KCL LGBT+ mental health research group. Previously she researched chronic fatigue syndrome and maintains some research into fatigue and other persistent physical symptoms. She published a book on this topic: “Overcoming chronic fatigue in young people: A cognitive behavioural self-help guide”; Rimes & Chalder, 2015; Routledge. 

Kate joined the DClinPsy programme in 2013 after having worked on the University of Bath DClinPsy course. Before that she had an academic position in the Psychological Medicine Department at the IoPPN. She undertook her clinical psychology training (DClinPsy) at the Institute of Psychiatry, having completed a DPhil and BA(Hons) in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford.  

Membership of Professional Bodies: 

  • Clinical Psychologist and Health Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) 
  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, accredited by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) 
  • Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of British Psychological Society (BPS) 

Research Interests: 

  • Transdiagnostic processes in psychological disorders, including self-esteem, self-criticism, perfectionism, shame, self-compassion, mindfulness, emotion processing.  
  • Psychological effects of stigma/prejudice/discrimination and interventions for coping with these experiences 
  • LGBT+ mental health 
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome and other persistent physical health symptoms. 

Teaching: 

  • LGBT+ mental health 
  • Perfectionism  
  • Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy 
  • Gender differences in mental health  
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / ME 

Expertise and Public Engagement:

Kate Rimes works as an honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist for Talking Therapies Southwark at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She is an Associate Editor for the journal Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy and she is an editorial board member for the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy

Her work on expert committees / working groups includes: 

  • British Psychological Society’s Psychology of Sexualities Committee 
  • NHS Leadership Academy’s Senior LGBT+ Influencer Group 
  • Clinical Advisory Group for Student Minds, a mental health charity 
  • Oversight Committee for Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre’s Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) 

Kate regularly engages in activities that help to disseminate research findings outside of academia. For example, she was a consultant and contributor for the KCL LGBT+ mental health film “Through the Rainbow Lens”. Watch the film here via youtube.  

She organises LGBT+ mental health events, including joint events with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Read a report from one of such events here.

 

    Research

    lgbtq-
    LGBTQ+ Mental Health Research Group

    Research at LGBT + Mental Health investigates factors which contribute to the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual and gender minority individuals (LGBT+)

    STEP logo
    The Schools Training to Enhance support for LGBT+ young People (STEP) Study

    The STEP Study investigates what training is available to schools to support LGBT+ young people and how this training can be improved.

    Project status: Ongoing

    LGBTQ+ policymaking
    LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK

    Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.

    Project status: Ongoing

      Research

      lgbtq-
      LGBTQ+ Mental Health Research Group

      Research at LGBT + Mental Health investigates factors which contribute to the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual and gender minority individuals (LGBT+)

      STEP logo
      The Schools Training to Enhance support for LGBT+ young People (STEP) Study

      The STEP Study investigates what training is available to schools to support LGBT+ young people and how this training can be improved.

      Project status: Ongoing

      LGBTQ+ policymaking
      LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK

      Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.

      Project status: Ongoing