My research and clinical interests are primarily focused on skill acquisition programmes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For example, developing individualised teaching strategies and evaluating learner preference for those strategies. I have conducted applied research in the university’s Early Intervention Service, two of those studies have now been published in peer-reviewed journals. My PhD research also led to a publication of a systematic review on errorless teaching methods for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as evaluations of errorless learning strategies with the general population. 

Outside of my PhD research I have also collaborated with partners both within and outside of USW on school-based projects. For example,  evaluations of online reading programmes (in collaboration with National University of Ireland, Galway) and learner wellbeing interventions (local NHS School In-Reach team). 

In terms of my own academic background I have completed a BPS accredited first degree in Psychology (awarded 2010), as well as several postgraduate-level courses: Masters in Behaviour Analysis and Therapy (awarded 2013), and my training as a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst via a university-based practicum (completed in 2014). In addition, I successfully defended my PhD in January 2021. My thesis was entitled "Evaluating Barriers to Skill Acquisition for Children with Language Delays Receiving Behaviour Analytic Instruction: An Experimental Analysis." 

Regarding my teaching experience and interests, I have been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2018 and a Chartered Psychologist since 2022. I have taught at both undergraduate (BSc Childhood Development, BSc Psychology, BSc Psychology with Developmental Disorders, BSc Psychology with Counselling) and postgraduate (MSc Behaviour Analysis and Therapy, PgDip Behaviour Analysis Supervised Practice, MSc Clinical Psychology) level since 2015. In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years I was Course Leader for BSc Childhood Development. 

On the BSc Childhood Development course, I have also designed and co-ordinated modules encompassing a range of therapeutic interventions, such as behaviour analysis, play therapy, and CBT. Leading these modules has required effective pedagogic practice in that it requires an understanding of how different therapeutic approaches may be complementary (e.g., practitioners from different backgrounds may work as part of a multi-disciplinary team) and how to arrange this content within a module. To date, I have co-ordinated and developed the following modules: 

PL1D119: Working Therapeutically with Children and Young People

PL2S125: Therapeutic Interventions for Children and Young People

PL3S150: Critical Reflections on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

In terms of my teaching practice and philosophy, I try to ensure that my teaching integrates my clinical and research interests to provide students with a range of applied examples.