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The University of Southampton
Psychology
Phone:
(023) 8059 6897
Email:
[email protected]

Professor Lusia Stopa BA, MPhil, DPhil

Professor of Clinical Psychology, Director of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych)

Professor Lusia Stopa's photo

Professor Lusia Stopa is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Southampton.

My path to my current role as Director of the Doctoral programme in Clinical Psychology is an unusual one because I started my academic career studying English Literature. In order to pursue a career in Psychology, I studied Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and then moved to the Institute of Psychiatry (Kings College, London) to study for an MPhil in Clinical Psychology. I had always been interested in cognitive therapy and chose placements with a CBT focus during clinical training. I moved back to Oxford and completed a DPhil in cognitive processes in social anxiety, under the supervision of David Clark once I had qualified as a Clinical Psychologist.

Following my DPhil, I worked on consolidating my therapy skills and worked in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist. I joined the University of Southampton in 1999 to set up the Diploma in Cognitive Therapy and to work on the Clinical Psychology Programme. During this time, my research focus has been on cognitive models of anxiety and into imagery and the self. I have an honorary contract as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, and in my clinical work I have focused on working with PTSD and social phobia and on using imagery in treatment. After developing our suite of CBT programmes, I took over the directorship of the Clinical Psychology doctoral programme in March 2014.

Research interests

The focus of my research is on how distorted views of the self can maintain disorders such as social phobia and PTSD. These distorted views of the self are often represented by negative images, which both produce distress and can be both causal and maintaining factors in a number of disorders. We have recently conducted as series of studies which show that individuals with social anxiety are less certain about themselves than non-anxious individuals and that experimentally accessing more positive and functional images increases clarity about the self and improves self-esteem, as well as reducing anxiety and improving self-perceived performance. Linked to this interest in imagery and the self, we are also investigating the mechanisms behind the success of imagery rescripting. My other research interests include the role of social anxiety in psychosis and the use of mindfulness training in ante-natal groups.

Research group

Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (CiMH)

I am director of our Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPSych) and I also have overall responsibility for our postgraduate Cognitive Behavioural Therapy diplomas and certificates and for our MSc in Foundations of Clinical psychology.

I am the module co-ordinator for the CBT module and joint-co-ordinator for the Transdiagnostic processes module within the D Clin Psych programme. I teach on both of these modules, and on our postgraduate programmes in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). My teaching reflects my research areas and I specialise in the use of imagery in cognitive therapy and in the anxiety disorders. Our CBT programmes include supervision of clinical practice and I regularly supervise students on our postgraduate diplomas.

Professor Lusia Stopa
Building 44 Highfield Campus University of Southampton SO17 1BJ

Room Number : 44/4061

Facsimile: (023) 8059 4597

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