Current PhD projects
Past PhD projects
Ending treatment with children and young people when clinical improvement is unlikely: considering curability and chronicity
![HollyB… HollyB…](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence_based_practice_unit/files/styles/non_responsive/public/migrated-images/HollyB.jpg?itok=TQ4EWGzE)
PhD researcher: Holly Bear
The topics of interest within this project were: clinical treatment response following routine mental health care, better understanding the association between cognitive illness representations and treatment response expectations among practitioners, children and families, practitioners’ shared or incongruent experiences, feelings and insights surrounding treatment failure and treatment endings across mental and physical healthcare contexts.
Finally, the project looked at the ways in which we can improve understanding, consideration and communication about the limitations of interventions in child and adolescent mental health services in order to inform clinical decision making.
This project concluded in 2020.
Power Up for Parents: parental involvement and shared decision making through technology
PhD researcher: Shaun Liverpool
![Shaun Liverpool](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence_based_practice_unit/files/styles/non_responsive/public/shaun-liverpool.jpg?itok=9qF0UjoE)
Email: shaun.liverpool@annafreud.org
This project concluded in 2020.
A community-led and co-produced intervention to support and promote resilience in schools and services
PhD researcher: Bettina Moltrecht
![Bettina Moltrecht Bettina Moltrecht](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence_based_practice_unit/files/styles/non_responsive/public/bettina_bw4.png?itok=sUY4PrTK)
Email: bettina.moltrecht@annafreud.org
This project concluded in 2020.
What constitutes a good outcome in child and adolescent mental health?
![KarolinK… KarolinK…](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence_based_practice_unit/files/styles/non_responsive/public/migrated-images/KarolinK.jpg?itok=fYGXsF3-)
PhD researcher: Karolin Krause
Over the past decade, there has been a push towards the routine measurement of treatment outcomes in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). At the same time, there is a lack of consensus about the types of change that constitute a ‘good outcome’ and that should be prioritised when evaluating treatments effectiveness.
This PhD project explored what outcomes are considered important by different stakeholders, including clinicians, commissioners and young people themselves, in the UK and overseas. It looked at the importance of symptom change relative to other possible changes in young people’s lives, such as in their interpersonal relationships, identity and self-esteem, or physical health.
The PhD took a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviews, Q-methodology, and quantitative analysis of routine monitoring CAMHS data.
Email: karolin.krause@annafreud.org
This project concluded in 2020.
How can investigations into risk, stressors, and protective factors inform the development of initiatives for the promotion of mental wellbeing?
![MiaE… MiaE…](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence_based_practice_unit/files/styles/non_responsive/public/migrated-images/MiaE.jpg?itok=7e3ZKVxK)
PhD researcher: Mia Eisenstadt
This PhD aimed to examine stressors, risk-factors and protective factors and effects on mental wellbeing from the perspectives of adolescents to inform intervention design. The term ‘risk factors’ refers to variables associated with the increased likelihood of a negative outcome and ‘protective factors’ are those variables that decrease the likelihood of said outcome (Kazdin et al., 1997). The PhD analysed data from a longitudinal qualitative study that involves annual interviews with adolescents in six regions across England as part of HeadStart. HeadStart is a national programme seeking to reduce the rate of mental disorder and promote emotional wellbeing in English adolescents.
Email: mia.eisenstadt@annafreud.org
This project concluded in 2020.