Kay Capaldi

As a tutor and researcher within the Counselling Unit (School of Psychological Sciences & Health), I teach on the MSc Counselling & Psychotherapy course, and coordinate the Strathclyde Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Clinic.  The clinic, led by Professor Robert Elliott, offers free person-centred and experiential counselling and psychotherapy to members of the public who are willing to take part in our research protocol.

At present, part of my role also involves evaluating the impact of Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) training offered at the University of Strathclyde and elsewhere.

I am currently undertaking PhD studies on change in self-critical processes in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Social Anxiety (EFT-SA).  This study is the continuation and development of my previous MSc research, Pernicious Influences and Harmful Effects: A Discourse Analysis of Self-Critical, Self-Harming & Resulting Emotion Processes in Socially Anxious Clients. Following this earlier research, which mapped the nuances of self-attacking discourse, the current series of studies will examine closely the measurement of self-attack and its patterns of change throughout the course of EFT-SA. 

My wider research interests include the measurement and study of the self-relationship, the process and outcome of EFT, and experiences of learning and development in EFT training.  

Having worked therapeutically over the past 18 years in private practice, and both the voluntary and corporate sectors, I have gained experience in supporting and teaching many diverse groups. In my work, I aim to empower positive emotional, cognitive, behavioral and relational development for both clients and students alike.

I offer caseload supervision for other counselling and psychotherapy professionals, and am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (MBACP), working by their Code of Ethics and Professional Standards for Practice. 

Outside the University, I have been providing a person-centred counselling counsultancy service for Kilbryde Hospice over the past 8 years, working alongside their team of multidisciplinary health care professionals. I have also undertaken Master Firewalk Instructor & Spiritual Leadership Training, utilising the firewalk, arrow break and re-bar bend in order to create dynamic empowerment workshops for groups and organisations.