Projects per year
Personal profile
Personal Statement
I trained in the US as a Clinical Psychologist and am licensed as a Psychologist in the State of Ohio. I have expertise in Person-Centred-Experiential psychotherapy and counselling in general and specifically in Emotion-Focused Therapy, of which I am one of the originators. I am a psychotherapy research methodologist with experience in a wide variety of research methods. I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA in 1978. I taught at the University of Toledo 1978-2006, where I am now Professor Emeritus of Psychology. I have also held visiting faculty positions as Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), York University (Canada), University of Sheffield (UK), and La Trobe University (Australia). I served as President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (2000-2001) and as co-editor of the journal Psychotherapy Research (1994-1998). I co-authored Facilitating emotional change (1993, with Leslie Greenberg and Laura Rice), Learning process-experiential psychotherapy (2004, with Jeanne Watson, Rhonda Goldman, and Leslie Greenberg), Research methods in clinical psychology (3rd ed., with Chris Barker & Nancy Pistrang), Emotion-Focused Counselling in Action (2021, with Leslie Greenberg), and Elements of Descriptive-Interpretive Qualitative Research (2021, with Ladislav Timulak), as well as more than 170 journal articles or book chapters. I am a Fellow in the Divisions of Psychotherapy, Clinical Psychology, and Humanistic Psychology of the American Psychological Association. In 2008 I received the Carl Rogers Award for Contributions to Humanistic Psychology form the American Psychological Association, as well as the Distinguished Career Award of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. I also served as co-editor of the journal, Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies (2001 – 2005).
Expertise & Capabilities
• Person-Centred-Experiential psychotherapy and counselling
• Emotion-Focused Therapy
• Research methods in applied psychology
• Psychotherapy research, including process and outcome research
• Single case research
• Measure development
• Meta-analysis and qualitative meta-synthesis
Research Interests
In general, my main research focus is on how clients change in humanistic-experiential psychotherapies, especially Person-Centred and Emotion-Focused therapies for social anxiety. By necessity, this encompasses studying the outcome of these therapies, as well as clients' experiences of what they found helpful or unhelpful. I believe that a range of research methods are appropriate for studying change processes, including quantitative and qualitative, group designs and single case studies, measure development research, meta-analyses and meta-syntheses, and even, where appropriate, randomised clinical trials.
More specifically, my current research focuses on the process and outcome of Emotion-Focused Therapy with Social Anxiety. I am also involved the following:
• Measure development research to support research on humanistic-experiential psychotherapies (eg, individualised outcome assessment; assessment of person-centred-experiential therapist competence)
• Meta-analytic research on the effectiveness of humanistic-experiential psychotherapies across a variety of client populations (eg, depression, anxiety, psychosis)
Teaching Interests
• Counselling and psychotherapy research methods (PG Diploma and MSc levels)
• Person-centred/experiential counselling and psychotherapy
• Emotion-Focused Therapy
Industrial Relevance
• Mental health assessment and intervention
Academic / Professional qualifications
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, How Clients Perceive Helper Behaviors, University of California
Award Date: 1 Jan 1978
Bachelor of Arts, University of California
Award Date: 1 Jan 1968
Keywords
- Humanistic-Experiential Psychotherapy
- Research methodology
- Psychotherapy Research
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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MAPPED: An investigation of Mechanisms of Action in oPtimal Psychological therapies for Episodes of more severe Depression in adults
Stephen, S., MacIntosh, H., Flowers, P., Elliott, R., Murphy, D., Barkham, M., Hardy, G., Saxon, D. & McIlree, R.
1/02/24 → 31/08/27
Project: Internally funded project
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Resolving Self-Attack in EFT-SA - A Mixed Methods Task Analytic Validation Study
Capaldi, K., Elliott, R., Casson, M., Cleary, M., Leonard, A., McGeever, K., Nikolozaki, S. & Orkisz, K.
23/11/20 → …
Project: Research
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Experiences of chairwork and working with parts in emotion-focused therapy for clients with autistic/neurodivergent process
Robinson, A. & Elliott, R., 29 Jun 2024.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
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Session Reactions Scale-3: initial psychometric evidence
Řiháček, T., Elliott, R., Owen, J., Ladmanová, M., Coleman, J. J. & Bugatti, M., 18 May 2024, In: Psychotherapy Research. 34, 4, p. 434-448 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile47 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Data for: "A pragmatic randomised controlled trial assessing the non-inferiority of counselling for depression versus cognitive-behaviour therapy for patients in primary care meeting a diagnosis of moderate or severe depression (PRaCTICED): Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial"
Saxon, D. (Creator), Ashley, K. (Creator), Bishop-Edwards, L. (Creator), Connell, J. (Creator), Harrison, P. (Creator), Ohlsen, S. (Creator), Hardy, G. E. (Creator), Kellett, S. (Creator), Mukuria, C. (Creator), Mank, T. (Creator), Bower, P. (Creator), Bradburn, M. (Creator), Brazier, J. (Creator), Elliott, R. (Creator), Gabriel, L. (Creator), King, M. (Creator), Pilling, S. (Creator), Shaw, S. (Creator), Waller, G. (Creator) & Barkham, M. (Creator), figshare, 16 Feb 2023
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3706750.v1
Dataset
Prizes
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Carl Rogers Award (for contributions to humanistic psychology), Division of Humanistic Psychology, American Psychological Association
Elliott, Robert (Recipient), Aug 2008
Prize: National/international honour
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Distinguished Career Award, Society for Psychotherapy Research,
Elliott, Robert (Recipient), Jun 2008
Prize: National/international honour
Activities
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EmpoweringEFT
Lorna Carrick (Organiser), Anna Robinson (Organiser), Ligia Manastireanu (Organiser) & Robert Elliott (Organiser)
10 Oct 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organiser of special symposia
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British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Conference
Robert Elliott (Organiser)
May 2011 → …Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organiser of major conference