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Staff Profiles

Professor Mark Freeston

Research Director, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Background

Introduction

My main research interests are in the field of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and other disorders dominated by intrusive thoughts, worry and rumination. The current focus is to extend psychological models of these disorders through increasing the degree of specification. Through this strategy I believe we will ultimately develop a knowledge base that will enable treatments to become more effective for those who currently benefit little with existing psychological treatments.

In recent years I have been investigating the role of Intolerance of Uncertainty along with colleagues and students. We first became interested in Intolerance of Uncertainty (IoU) in 1993 at Université Laval (Quebec) when we realized that although people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder had difficulty solving problems, they actually had good knowledge of problem solving.  So what got in the way?  Our clinical hunch was that they could not tolerate situations where the outcome was not yet known, and that this was independent of any negative consequences.  That is, for some people uncertainty was part of the threat or threatening in and of itself. From a hunch came a questionnaire published in 1994, the Laval model of GAD with IoU at its heart, then a treatment with several RCTs, and much more work on the model. There has also been snowballing interest in the scale and indeed in the construct.  It appears to have face validity, resonates as a concept with clinicians and patients alike and it is being used with different populations and in different areas of psychological research.  Along with a range of collaborators, our current lines of research in this area include the nature of IoU and its manifestations in everyday life; its possible origins and developmental course, its potential contribution to anxiety (including performance anxiety), depression, psychosis, and autism spectrum disorders; its possible role in physical health conditions, its presentation and role in non-western cultures, IoU and healthy ageing, developing IoU-specific treatment strategies, etc.

In the last two years we have been looking at IoU as a trans-situational factor and how people react to real life events that occur and have both uncertainty and threat as their defining features.  Since the pandemic we have been developing and testing the model, developing interventions, and providing training for uncertainty distress. Ongoing tests of the model include the various uncertainties of the pandemic that also go beyond health (finances, occupation, social change, etc.), climate change and extreme weather, Long Covid, and we will soon be considering vaccines.

The UNcertainty in COronavirus Research Network is an international group of researchers and clinicians developing understanding, models and treatments for uncertainty distress.  We are conducting research in English, Italian, Spanish and Greek and post a range of materials clinical and otherwise, blogs, and links to the surveys.

Our website is here: UNiCORN | COVID-19 | Uncertainty | Incertezza | Incertidumbre | Αβεβαιότητα (covid19an.com) 

Background

Studies:

Mark Freeston completed a Maîtrise en Psychologie (M.Ps.) in 1990 at Université Laval in Québec, including clinical training in CBT, and was recipient of a scholarship awarded by Fonds pour la formation des chercheurs et de l'aide à la recherche (FCAR) from the Quebec provincial government. He then completed a Doctorat en psychologie (Ph.D.) in 1995 on the conceptualisation and treatment of obsessive thoughts at Université Laval, Québec and was supported by a scholarship awarded by the Medical Research Council of Canada. Post-doctoral studies followed at le Centre de recherché Université Laval Robert-Giffard researching factors related to the maintenance and treatment of GAD. During this time he received a post-doctoral fellowship awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Positions:

After completing post-doctoral studies, Mark Freeston took up a position as Assistant Professor (Research) at Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin in Montréal supported by les Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (1997-1999) and then as Research Scholar by the Medical Research Council of Canada (1999-2000). He moved to Newcastle in September 2000 to take post as Director of Research and Training at the Newcastle Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre and Honorary Professor at the University of Durham. In March 2001, he was appointed Professor of Clinical Psychology at Newcastle University where he is Senior Research Tutor for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.  From 2003 to 2006 he chaired the NICE Guideline Development Group for CG 31 (Obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment). He was Course Director for the NCBTC Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Therapy from 2000 to 2010 and Head of Research and Development at Newcastle Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Centre until 2018.

Roles and Responsibilities

I teach research methods in clinical psychology, with a particular interest in “smallish-N” designs in clinical settings and Single Case Experimental Design. I provide research supervision to PhD, DClinPsy, MPhil, MSc and undergraduate students and have supervised or co-supervised over 50 students in recent years.

I regularly provide workshops on the cognitive behavioural treatment of OCD and GAD in the UK, Europe and elsewhere as well as experiential approaches to training in CBT for anxiety, workshops on clinical supervision in CBT, approaches to comorbidity and complexity, and Intolerance of Uncertainty as a Transdiagnostic Construct.

Area of expertise

  • Anxiety
  • CBT
  • Research Methods
  • Intolerance of Uncertainty

Languages

I am fluent in French.

Research

Research Interests

My main research interests are in the field of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and related disorders dominated by intrusive thoughts and rumination. The current focus is to extend psychological models of these disorders through increasing the degree of specification. In particular we are looking at complex emotions such as guilt and shame, and also the anticipation of guilt and regret, and they may contribute to a range of disorders.

From a transdiagnostic standpoint we have been examining the roles of Intolerance of Uncertainty and threat across disorders, include GAD, OCD, BDD, Body Focused-Repetitive Behaviours, Eating Disorders and Psychosis. 

Through these strategies I believe we will ultimately develop a knowledge base that will enable treatments to become more effective for those who currently benefit little with existing psychological treatments.

Other past research interests include Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) formulation, training and supervision research.

Other Expertise

I have a particular interest in "smallish N" and single case designs that under the right circumstances can provide a high level of inference in response to focused clinically-relevant questions.

Current Work

In the last two years we have been looking at IoU as a trans-situational factor and how people react to real life events that occur and have both uncertainty and threat as their defining features.  Since the pandemic we have been developing and testing the model, developing interventions, and providing training for uncertainty distress. Ongoing tests of the model include the various uncertainties of the pandemic that also go beyond health (finances, occupation, social change, etc.), climate change and extreme weather, Long Covid, and we will soon be considering vaccines. We are also examining the role of interoception and how it contributes to IoU and whether an increased focus on the body may potentiate our current interventions.

The UNcertainty in COronavirus Research Network is an international group of researchers and clinicians developing understanding, models and treatments for uncertainty distress.  We are conducting research in English, Italian, Spanish and Greek and post a range of materials clinical and otherwise, blogs, and links to the surveys.

Our website is here: UNiCORN | COVID-19 | Uncertainty | Incertezza | Incertidumbre | Αβεβαιότητα (covid19an.com) 

Future Research

The current research will ultimately lead to new cognitive behavioural treatment strategies. These are initially will be developed and piloted using experimental single case designs or through designs that potentially allow the identification of mediators.

Research Roles

I am Research Director for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Postgraduate Supervision

I provide supervision in the areas of interest noted above.

Teaching

Postgraduate Teaching

I am module leader for the Research Module for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I provide a significant amount of teaching into the module, especially on quantitative research methodology and the particular issues for effective research in clinical settings.

I provide teaching into the Postgraduate Diploma in CBT.

I lead the CBT module for the MSc in Foundations in Clinical Psychology.

Supervision

I provide research supervision for undergraduate students in Psychology, for MSc in Foundations of Clinical Psychology, and for doctoral students on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Programme.

Publications