Dr Alison Bennetts is the Deputy Academic Director and Sustainabilty Lead for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) at The University of Southampton. Up until 2024, she also worked as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist in the National Health Service (NHS). 

I completed my DClinPsy at The University of Southampton, with specialist skills in Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa (FT-AN) and a research thesis comprising a systematic review of experimental investigations of paranoia and original empirical research into the role of mental imagery in non-clinical paranoia.

Since joining the DClinPsy programme at The University of Southampton, I have been appointed to leadership positions including Deputy Academic Director and Sustainability Lead. I act as third-year Module Lead, and I am involved in teaching and assessment on a number of other modules. I have a keen research interest and supervise projects on the  DClinPsy programme, as well as generating my own papers on formulation and models of wellbeing. I am particulalry interested in supervising research projects in the following areas:

- Psychological effects of yoga practice and therapy (and other holistic approaches) and the relationship to transdiagnostic processes

- Investigation of alternative holistic approaches, specifically nature-based approaches such as forest bathing and wild/cold water swimming

- Sustainability and planetary health, and the link to psychological wellbeing and professional practices

- Mental health and wellbeing in diversity, with a particular interest in male psychology and spirituality

- The effect and impact of education practices in the NHS and higher education settings

Alongside my published papers, I have disseminated my research at international (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies [BABCP], 2018; The International Association for Yoga Therapists [IAYT] Symposium on Yoga Research [SYR], 2021) and UK (Towards Developing Psychologically Led Services: The Comprehend, Cope and Connect book and the Role of the Approved Clinician for Clinical Psychology within Acute Inpatient Wards, 2018; Research Council for Complementary Medicine, 2023) conferences, and led the development of national teaching practices through facilitating workshops at Higher Education conferences (Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology [GTiCP] Annual Conference, 2024) and publication of professional guidance through Professional and Statutory Regulatory Bodies (British Psychological Society [BPS], 2024). 

At a national level, I Co-Chair the GTiCP Planetery Health subgroup and contribute as an external examiner at other Higher Education Institutions. 

Alongside my role at the University, I have worked clinically in the NHS specialising in severe and enduring mental health presentations and indirect ways of working in inpatient settings. I have held a role as Lead Therapist on a national therapy trial for people with a diagnosis of psychosis, and have specialist therapy training in  Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) and family and systemic approaches.