- B228 Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 586623
- sophie.homer@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Dr Sophie Homer
Lecturer in Psychology
School of Psychology (Faculty of Health)
Dr Sophie Homer can be contacted through arrangement with our Press Office, to speak to the media on these areas of expertise.
- Wellbeing
- Loneliness
- Anxiety
- Social anxiety
- Mental health
- Correlation study
- Cross-sectional studies
- Experimental methods
- Mixed-methods
- Psychometrics
- Surveys
Email publicrelations@plymouth.ac.uk to enquire.
Biography
Biography
Lecturer in Psychology
Qualifications
PhD in Clinical Psychology
Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Distinction)
MPsych (Hons) Advanced Psychology – Foundations in Clinical Psychology (First Class)Professional membership
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Teaching)
Roles on external bodies
Member of the Vitae Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
I enjoy teaching in:
- Clinical and applied psychology, including mental health and wellbeing, formulation, and intervention
- History and philosophy of psychology
- Critical and transpersonal psychology, particularly in relation to clinical psychology
Research
Research
Research interests
My research interests are in clinical, critical, and transpersonal psychology.
My PhD research explored the classification and theoretical understanding of social anxiety, and its overlap with paranoia. I am also interested in the role of negative, intrusive mental imagery in mental health and its potential as a target for intervention, as well as critical and transpersonal psychologies and their overlap with clinical psychology.
My grant-funded projects have been on the topic of student mental health. Following my PhD, I developed an award-winning intervention for postgraduate research student wellbeing. More recently, I have led and been part of several projects seeking to better understand, and reduce, student loneliness.
I am also involved in projects seeking to understand experiences of menstruation within higher education.
I like to take a mixed-methods approach to research, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyse data. Methods I use include interviews, surveys, experiments, and psychometric scale construction and validation.
Grants & contracts
Office for Students / Research England CATALYST funding: £139,000 - March 2018. Peer Support for Postgraduate Research Student Wellbeing.
UKRI / SMaRteN Student Mental Health Research Network: £10,000 - May 2020. Social Connectedness and Wellbeing in Students.
PIHR Arts & Health Collaboration fund: £2,000 - November 2021. Public health messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic.University of Plymouth, Faculty of Health Strategic Investment Fund: £7,307 - March 2022. Understanding menstruation in academia.
MRC / AHRC / ESRC ADOLESCENCE, MENTAL HEALTH AND THE DEVELOPING MIND: Methodological Innovation projects: £1,050,000 - November 2022. The time of their lives? Developing concepts and methods to understand loneliness in students.
Creative practice & artistic projects
Squire, V., Squire, R., & Homer, S. R. (2020). Love Letter. Knowledge Sharing and Exchange in a Pandemic. The Culture Capital Exchange.
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2024) 'The conceptualisation and measurement of engagement in digital health' Internet Interv 36, , DOI
(2023) 'Potential associations between behavior change techniques and engagement with mobile health apps: a systematic review' Frontiers in Psychology 14, , DOI Open access
(2022) 'Associations between Behaviour Change Techniques and engagement with mobile health apps: Systematic review protocol' JMIR Research Protocols 11, (3) , DOI Open access
(2021) 'The researcher Toolkit: A preventative, peer-support approach to postgraduate research student mental health' Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education , DOI Open access
(2020) 'Under pressure: Psychological perspectives on letterpress, craft and well-being' Craft Research 11, (1) 97-114 , DOI Open access
(2017) 'Eye movement attenuation of intrusive social anxiety imagery: A pilot study' Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 59, 87-91 , DOI Open access
(2017) 'Voluntary and Involuntary Imagery in Social Anxiety' Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 1-15 , DOI Open access
(2015) 'Negative mental imagery in public speaking anxiety: Forming cognitive resistance by taxing visuospatial working memory' Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 77-82 , DOI Open access
Designs
Love Letter: Poster.
Personal
Personal
Reports & invited lectures
HOMER, S. R. (2019, December). Addressing the mental health crisis in postgraduate research students: A positive and proactive approach. Keynote presentation delivered at the Positive Interactions: Enhancing the Student Experience Event, Glasgow Caledonian University, London.
HOMER, S. R. (2019, June). Addressing the mental health crisis in postgraduate research students: Can critical pedagogies help? Oral presentation delivered at Exploring Critical Pedagogies for Postgraduate Researchers: A Conversation, University of Derby.
HOMER, S. R. (2019, April). Addressing the mental health crisis in postgraduate researchers: An Office for Students funded peer support initiative. Keynote presentation delivered at the 8th Annual PedRIO Conference, University of Plymouth.
Conferences organised
Cognition Institute Conference 2016, University of Plymouth.
Links
Youtube: