Associate Professor at University College London,
Department of Experimental Psychology

What are your research interests?

I’m interested in how we can improve people’s lives above and beyond ‘the baseline’. I’m especially interested in how this relates to physical health, and health-related behaviours and events (such as ageing, work-life balance, or chronic illness).

Why should we be interested in resilience?

A lot of research into mental and physical health focuses on getting people back to ‘normal’ – so the point where they are no longer having clinical problems. Resilience focuses on taking health and wellbeing beyond that. It says ‘why should a lack of problems mean that you’re doing well?’ Resilience acknowledges that with the right support people can do better than ‘normal’ and that, despite physical, mental, or social limitations they can still have very fulfilling lives. As such, I believe that resilience is integral to supporting people’s rights to a happy life, and developing comprehensive (preventative and curative) interventions and care.

What ways are you coping or being resilient in 2020/21?

Over the Covid pandemic I’ve had to rethink the places in my sphere of influence that I can, and cannot, make a difference. An important part of resilience that has definitely come into play this year is the ability to recognise, and accept your limitations. No one person can do everything alone: and that’s ok. Accept that you need to care for yourself in order to have the resources to care for other people, and celebrate the things that you do complete.