Professor Lusia Stopa BA, MPhil, DPhil
Professor of Clinical Psychology, Director of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych)
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.