Professor Helen Dent

Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology

Programme Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, delivered jointly by Staffordshire and Keele Universities.  Graduates from this programme are eligible for registration with the Health Professions Council and for chartership with the British Psychological Society.  I also have responsibility for awards in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and post qualification research.

I received a BA(Hons) in Psychology from Hull University; a PhD in Psychology from Nottingham University and an MPhil in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry, London University. My PhD and post Doctoral research concerned the reliability of children’s evidence in court. My interest in this continues and I am often invited to be an Expert Witness in legal proceedings. I am currently supervising a PhD student.

Since obtaining my clinical qualification I have worked in various specialties in the NHS, including adult and child, substance misuse and neuropsychological assessment. Most recently I have worked with children in care and now work one day a week in a local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). My clinical research interests centre on Attachment Theory, which I find to be a very useful model to explain the difficulties experienced by people who have suffered adverse experiences in childhood. 

I have worked in Higher Education on training programmes for clinical psychology at Leeds, Birmingham and Staffordshire/Keele Universities, where I developed the current Clinical Psychology Doctorate. I enjoy encouraging new trainees and I regularly supervise DClinPsy research projects.

I have recently enjoyed training as a Coach on an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM)validated module at Staffordshire University.

BA (Hons)  Psychology University of Hull, 1973

PhD   University of Nottingham, 1978

MPhil  Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, 1982

Registered Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical and Forensic) - Health Professions Council

Chartered Psychologist (Clinical and Forensic) and Associate Fellow - British Psychological Society

Member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

My clinical and forensic expertise centres around vulnerable young people and their parents. I conduct assessment, intervention and research in this area. I have held research grants and have acted as a Professional Consultant to the Department of Health, the British Psychological Society and other national organisations. I regularly act as an External Examiner and as a reviewer for other clinical psychology Doctoral programmes.

In 2007 Dr Christine Blincoe and I were awarded A HEIF grant to explore Police Officers’ adherence to Child Witness interview training. As part of We delivered workshops to Police officers in Birmingham, legal professionals in Stoke on Trent and in 2009, were invited to address the Designated Civil Judges’ Annual Conference at the University of Warwick. We plan to develop further workshops designed to enhance the understanding of vulnerable witness for relevant professionals.

• Children as Witnesses
• Attachment Theory
• Inter-professional Education

Dent, H.R. & Blincoe, C. (2009). Experts from the Experts’ Perspective. Invited presentation to the Designated Civil Judges’ Annual Conference, 25th & 26th June, University of Warwick

Dent, H.R. & Dobbing,R. (2009). Vulnerability & Resilience: The role of childhood factors. Invited presentation to Protecting Women, the Annual Conference for Genito-Urinary Nurses, 2nd May, Staffordshire University

Priest, H., Roberts, P., Dent, H., Blincoe, C., Lawton, D. & Armstrong, C. (2008). Interprofessional education and working in mental health: in search of the evidence base. Journal of Nursing Management, 16, 474–485

Golding, K., Dent, H.R., Nissim, R., & Stott, E. (2006) Thinking Psychologically about Children who are Looked After and Adopted: Space for Reflection.  Chichester: Wiley

• Introductory Clinical Psychology (undergraduate)
• Attachment Theory (undergraduate & post-graduate)
• Working with vulnerability (post-graduate)
• Child Clinical Work (post-graduate)