Photo of Dr Steven Gillespie

Dr Steven Gillespie PhD, FHEA

Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology | Research Director, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme Primary Care & Mental Health

About

Personal Statement

I am the Research Director for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme and I conduct research at the intersection of clinical and forensic psychology. Topics that I work on include violent and sexual offending, personality disorder, emotion, and social cognition.

Our work on the cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying aggressive and antisocial behaviours, including sexual offending, has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. I have active collaborations with the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, and G-Map Services in Manchester, who provide therapeutic services to children who show harmful sexual behaviours.

Before joining the University of Liverpool, I worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, and later as a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at Newcastle University. I have also worked as a Research Psychologist for the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a UK based charitable organisation dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse.

I would be pleased to hear from potential PhD students interested in research in the following areas:
-Psychopathic personality traits in forensic and non-forensic populations
-Sexual interests and sexual offending
-Clinical science and psychopathology