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Staff Profile

Dr Kate Swainston

Director of Research (Psychology)

  • Telephone: 0191 2087562
  • Address: School of Psychology
    Newcastle University
    4th Floor, Dame Margaret Barbour Building
    Wallace Street
    Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    NE2 4DR
Background

Dr Kate Swainston is a Chartered Psychologist, HCPC registered Practitioner Health Psychologist, and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Kate is an Applied Psychology Practice Supervisor (RAPPS accredited) for the BPS Qualification in Health Psychology and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is a Reader in Applied Health Psychology within the School of Psychology, a member of the Population Health Sciences Institute (PHSI), and a Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate Research School.


Kate is the Director of Research for the School of Psychology and represents Health Psychologists on the Psychological Professions Network North East and Yorkshire Workforce Council. Kate maintains a clinical case load specialising in medically complex cases, chronic pain, cancer survivorship, and palliative care and has expertise in third wave and resource based therapies. 


Research

Kate is the Director of Research for the School of Psychology and conducts research, enterprise and business engagement projects within applied health psychology and behavioural medicine. Her collaborations are cross-disciplinary and she has received funding from a range of sources including the NIHR, universities, and third sector organisations. Kate sits on numerous steering and professional practice groups and her research focuses on the development of psychological interventions, cancer survivorship and late effects, pain and long-term conditions, optimising surgical outcomes, and women's health. Kate has received awards for her work on menstrual dignity and period poverty. She has an interest in neurological conditions and traumatic brain injury and has expertise as a methodologist and analyst of statistical data and creative qualitative approaches.


Kate is currently working on numerous projects including:

  • Patient and practitioner experiences of the management of Persistent Physical Symptoms (EPPS)
  • Health and lifestyle of patients with mesothelioma (HELP MESO)
  • The psychological impact of hypermobility, the development of a psychometric tool and intervention pathway
  • Novel brief interventions for chronic pain
  • The impact of menstruation, dysmenorrhea and period poverty
  • Breast cancer screening and diagnosis: an international perspective
  • Virtual consultations in palliative care and the meaning of hope for those with advanced disease
  • Long-term monitoring and psychosocial impacts of childhood cancer
  • Implementation of guidelines and service improvement within healthcare
  • Analysis and optimisation of patient-reported outcomes following surgery


Kate is a peer reviewer for numerous journals, is a grant awards referee, and is the former editor of Health Psychology Update. She is an experienced supervisor with completions as Director of Studies of PhD's, clinical, health, and counselling psychology doctorates and MD's. Kate's PhD students conduct research on a range of applied health psychology topics including pre-eclampsia, cancer survivorship, and wellbeing coaching. Kate acts as external supervisor for clinical, health and coaching psychology PhD's and holds external examiner positions at several academic institutions. 

Teaching

Current Teaching and Supervision:

  • Research Skills for Psychological Research in Clinical Settings 
  • Applied Health Psychology
  • Introduction to Health Psychology
  • Dissertation - MSc Foundations in Clinical Psychology
  • UG Empirical Project
  • PhD/MD/MPhil


Doctoral Supervision Examples:

  • Beddard, N. An exploration of the long-term psychosocial impacts and consequences of being diagnosed with retinoblastoma. 
  • Bell, B. How does long term monitoring impact the lived experience of haematogenic stem cell transplant recipients in England? 
  • Berry, A. Self- narratives after traumatic brain injury: How do they relate to the ‘Y-shaped’ model of psychosocial adjustment process?
  • Brewis, C. The narrated lives of people affected by acquired brain injury living in rural areas.
  • Crabtree, K. A social-cognitive approach to a coaching intervention and its multidimensional impacts on wellbeing.
  • Dismore, L. A triangulated double-blinded, prospective, cohort study on patients’ perceptions of pain following forefoot surgery. 
  • Esmonde, L. Examination of non-specific therapist effects in Shiatsu treatment with people with multiple sclerosis.
  • Laidlaw, A. Fathers’ experiences of memory making following stillbirth of their baby.
  • McGregor, F. Organisational barriers and facilitators to the implementation of best practice with forensic radiography practice.
  • Wetherell, B. Women's exeriences of long-term health conditions following pre-eclampsia.


Kate is the Chair of the Board of Examiners for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Low Intensity Psychological Therapy (LIPT) clinical programmes.


Publications