Dr Cintia Faija PhD, CPsychol
Lecturer in Clinical Psychology & DClinPsy Research Tutor Year 3 Primary Care & Mental Health
About
Personal Statement
I joined the DClinPsy Programme Team at the University of Liverpool in July 2023.
I am currently leading an NIHR RfPB grant looking at how to maintain and improve long-term benefits for patients with anxiety and depression following successful recovery from Step 2 NHS Talking Therapies Services. This work is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield and the University of York.
Prior to joining the University of Liverpool, I worked in the Mental Health Research Group within the Division of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work at the University of Manchester and at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
In my previous roles as a post-doctoral researcher, I worked as a:
-Research Associate at the University of Manchester in the EQUITy NIHR Applied Research Grant Programme led by Professor Penny Bee and Professor Peter Bower. The aim of the EQUITy Programme is to improve the quality of psychological interventions delivered by telephone (January 2019-June 2023).
-Senior Researcher at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust in the PATHWAY NIHR Applied Research Grant Programme led by Professor Adrian Wells. The aim of the PATHWAY Programme was to evaluate metacognitive therapy in cardiac rehabilitation patients experiencing anxiety and/or depression (January 2016-January 2019).
I am originally from Argentina and came to the UK in 2012 when I was awarded the School of Psychological Sciences PhD Studentship by the University of Manchester. My PhD project was focused on understanding the emotion of pride in restrictive eating disorders and developed a measure to assess pride in eating pathology. I was supervised by Prof John Fox, Dr Trish Gooding, Dr Stephanie Tierney and Prof Sarah Peters. In 2016, I successfully completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology. Alongside my PhD I contributed as a teaching assistant for the BSc and the MRes in Psychology programmes at the University of Manchester.
Prior to coming into the UK, in 2006 I graduated in Psychology in Argentina. I worked as a registered practitioner psychologist in Argentina for over 6 years treating adult patients with anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorders and eating disorders. Over the years, I was trained and qualified in different psychological therapies, i.e. cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behavioural therapy. More recently, I undertook formal training in Metacognitive Therapy and in 2019 I became qualified as a Metacognitive Therapist Level 1 (UK).
My research interests are in mental health, emotional processes, psychological therapies, recovery and long-term benefits, improving care and service efficiency and effectiveness.
I would be keen to hear from PhD students who wish to pursue a PhD within these areas.