Staff profiles

Mental Health and Psychological Wellbeing Research Group

• Within the vast area of clinical psychology, Dr. Sundin’s research draws upon the full range of empirically grounded psychological theory, not only in psychopathology but also in other areas such as social and developmental psychology in order to allow consideration of context and lifespan development.
• The principle area of study is psychological treatment and treatment training research. Dr. Sundin’s current research focuses on how psychotherapy supervision impacts on trainees’ knowledge attainment and psychotherapy outcome, and how trainees develop cooperative and teamwork skills in group supervision.
• Another research strand focusses on how adaptive and maladaptive emotional regulation (e.g., shame, aggression, anxiety, and fear) impacts on psychological wellbeing.
• A third interest is interdisciplinary research in areas where knowledge and expertise as clinical psychologist can be applied. A recent example of such interdisciplinary research is a study of homelessness where Dr. Sundin together with researchers at NTU and University of Salford secured an ESRC grant.

Sponsors:

• ESRC
• The Swedish Research Council
• University of California, San Francisco
• Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden
• The Swedish Council of Social Research
• Magnus Bergvalls Foundation, Sweden
• JC Kempe's Memorial Foundation, Sweden

Collaborators:

• Mardi Horowitz, Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.
• Mark Shevlin, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
• Stephen Joseph, University of Nottingham
• Stephen Regel, University of Nottingham
• Helene Ybrandt, PhD, Umea University, Sweden
• Bengt-Ake Armelius, Professor of Psychology, Umea University, Sweden.
• Siv Boalt Boethius, Professor of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
• Marie-Louise Oegren, PhD, Stockholm University, Sweden.
• Gunnar Carlberg, PhD, Erica Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden.

• 2011-2012 (approx £12k): Principal Investigator: Development of a network research project researching the trainee led psychotherapeutic treatment provided at three Swedish universities (Umea, Gothenburg, Lund). Funded by Umea University, Sweden
• 2009- (£5k): Principal Investigator; A validation study of the Mindfulness Based Awareness Training Programme (MBAT) as a psychological health intervention in public and private sectors.
• 2009- ( approx £116k): Co-Investigator with Dwyer (PI): The support priorities of multiply excluded homeless people and their compatibility with support agency agendas.  Funded by ESRC.

Past projects:

• 2009 (£5k): Principal Investigator: A cross-sectional pilot study of the relationship between neurophysiology, psychological wellbeing and meditation.  The pilot study was funded by the Division of Psychology, NTU.
• 2003-2005 (approx £150k): Principal Investigator with Ogren: A study of group supervision in psychotherapy. Funded by the Swedish Research Council.
• 1999-2000 (approx £6k): Principal Investigator: Studies of student therapists' psychotherapeutic work at the Psychology Clinic, Umea University.  Funded by Department of Applied Psychology, Umea University.
• 1998-1999 (approx £32k): Principal Investigator: A study of the psychological impact of genetic testing for breast cancer.  Awarded by University of California.
• 1997-1998 (approx £22k): Dr Sundin received a Postdoctoral Award from the Swedish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
• 1995-2000 (approx £250k): Co-Investigator with Professor Bengt Armelius (PI): Treatment within the Swedish NHS for people with alcohol, drug abuse and psychological disorders.  Funded by the National Board of Institutional Care.
• 1995-1997 (approx £20k): Principal Investigator: A study of the capacity to relate in people with severe psychopathology.  Funded by the Swedish Council of Social Research.
• 1992-1994 (approx £20k): Principal Investigator: A study of psychological resources and social adjustment in individuals with severe psychiatric disorder.  Funded by the Swedish Council of Social Research, Magnus Bergvalls Foundation, JC Kempe's Memorial Foundation.
• 1989-2000 (approx £1100k): Co-Investigator with Professor Bengt Armelius (PI): A longitudinal study of milieu therapy for psychotic patients in 28 Swedish NHS trusts.  Funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and the Swedish NHS trusts that took part in the study.

• Visiting Professor of Psychology, Umea University, Sweden (2011-)
• Member of St Mungo's Peer Support Intervention Consortium for initiating dialogue and valuable research (2011-)
• Consultant clinical psychologist (part-time), Nottingham City Primary Care Trust (2010-2011)
• Grant reviewer for The Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Canada (2011)
• Lectures and seminars, 2 weekends/year on how to develop a quality assurance packet, The City Mental Health Clinic, Gothenburg NHS (2004-)
• Invited consultant on assessing and evaluating psychological group treatment, The Couple Counselling Bureau, Umea City Council, Sweden (2003-2007)
• Invited lecturer, 1-2 times/year, research guidance and advice to physicians and nurses, Women's Health Clinic Umea NHS (2000-2003)
• Invited lecturer, the Council for the Welfare of Disabled persons, Vasterbottens NHS (May 2001)
• Invited lecturer, current views on systematic evaluations a quality assurance work, The Hearing and Tinnitus Clinic, Umea NHS (2001)
• Invited speaker, Grand Rounds, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA (1998)

Journal referee: 

• Psychosomatic Medicine
• Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
• British Journal of Psychiatry
• Nordic Journal of Psychology

Dr Sundin's research areas include topics in the vast sub-discipline of clinical psychology.  Her current and past research topics include a cross-cultural comparison of emotional regulation in women stress and traumatic experiences; evaluation of psychological treatment methods; learning and skills attainment in group settings.  Students who wish to discuss research projects in any of these areas are welcome.

Dr Sundin's has previously supervised research projects, for example:

• Gender difference in the use of emotion control strategies
• Group dynamics in online discussion groups
• Can too little stress be a bad thing
• An in-depth study of experiences of family members to people with schizophrenia
• How do people handle criticism and stress?
• Attachment, coping resources and fatigue - a quantitative study of personal vulnerability to stress
• The relationship between burnout, treatment ideology, ward climate and psychosocial work conditions
• Children's collaboration when interacting with a multi-user system