Professor Robert Elliott
Emeritus Professor
Counselling
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).
Area of Expertise
• 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
Prize And Awards
- Carl Rogers Award (for contributions to humanistic psychology), Division of Humanistic Psychology, American Psychological Association
- Recipient
- 8/2008
- Distinguished Career Award, Society for Psychotherapy Research,
- Recipient
- 6/2008
Qualifications
Publications
- Neurodiversity-affirming emotion-focused group therapy : an exploratory outcome study
- Robinson Anna, Elliott Robert
- Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Vol 26 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.70075
- Emotion-focused family therapy with families in Iran : effects on parental fear, self-blame and self-efficacy
- Pouralieghbali Ashraf, Farangi Abdolhassan, Mousavi Roghayyeh, Elliott Robert
- Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, pp. 1 - 17 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2025.2597933
- Reimagining emotion-focused therapy : working with emotional injuries from social injustice
- Elliott Robert, Mertens Dominique, van Wanrooij Tim
- Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2025.2585288
- Empathic conjectures in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) : a process microanalytic study
- Fatahian‐Tehran Hamed M, Chatha Simran, Elliott Robert
- Journal of Marital and Family Therapy Vol 51 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.70075
- Psychometric evaluation of the emotion-focused therapy version of person-centered and experiential psychotherapy scale : a measure of therapist adherence and competence
- Monteiro Marina, Elliott Robert, Nogueira Daniela, Mesquita Edgar, Cunha Carla
- Psychotherapy Research, pp. 1-15 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2025.2522386
- Client-identified outcomes of individual psychotherapy : a qualitative meta-analysis
- Ladmanová Michaela, Řiháček Tomáš, Timulak Ladislav, Jonášová Klára, Kubantová Barbora, Mikoška Petr, Polakovská Lucia, Elliott Robert
- Lancet Psychiatry Vol 12, pp. 18-31 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00356-0
Teaching
• Counselling and psychotherapy research methods (PG Diploma and MSc levels)
• Person-centred/experiential counselling and psychotherapy
• Emotion-Focused Therapy
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)
Professional Activities
- EmpoweringEFT
- Organiser
- 10/10/2023
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Conference
- Organiser
- 5/2011
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Conference
- Organiser
- 5/2010
- Dutch Client-centred Psychotherapy Society
- Keynote/plenary speaker
- 5/2009
- Event to be assigned
- Keynote/plenary speaker
- 1/2008
Projects
- An investigation of Mechanisms of Action in oPtimal Psychological therapies for Episodes of more severe Depression in adults
- Stephen, Susan (Principal Investigator) MacIntosh, Hannah (Co-investigator) Flowers, Paul (Co-investigator) Elliott, Robert (Co-investigator) Murphy, David (Co-investigator) Barkham, Michael (Co-investigator) Hardy, Gillian (Co-investigator) Saxon, David (Co-investigator) McIlree, Rachel (Co-investigator)
- This is a standalone mechanistic study investigating the mechanisms of action in the effective treatment of severe depression using Person-Centred Experiential Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the two psychological therapies most frequently delivered by NHS England's Talking Therapies program. We will be conducting a secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data (including recordings of therapy sessions) collected in the PRaCTICED trial (ISRCTN06461651) using a mixed methods comparative case study design. We expect to find evidence that the mechanisms of action in good outcome cases in both therapies are consistent with the rationale for the specific treatment enhanced by elements common to both treatments.
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2027
- Resolving Self-Attack in EFT-SA - A Mixed Methods Task Analytic Validation Study
- Capaldi, Kay (Principal Investigator) Elliott, Robert (Principal Investigator) Casson, Megan (Post Grad Student) Cleary, Michael (Post Grad Student) Leonard, Avril (Post Grad Student) McGeever, Koren (Post Grad Student) Nikolozaki, Stavroula (Post Grad Student) Orkisz, Katy (Post Grad Student)
- 23-Jan-2020
- Empowering Emotion-Focused Therapy practice in Europe (Erasmus +)
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator) Elliott, Robert (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2023
- An Exploration of Self-Attack Patterns of Change in EFT-SA - A Discourse Analytical Study
- Capaldi, Kay (Principal Investigator) Elliott, Robert (Principal Investigator) Bell, Stuart (Post Grad Student) Hamilton, Duncan (Post Grad Student) Linkute, Evelina (Post Grad Student) Malik, Faseehah (Post Grad Student) Murray, Alison (Post Grad Student) Welsh, Megan (Post Grad Student)
- 25-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2020
- Evaluating the Self-Relationship Questionnaire in EFT-SA - A Psychometric Study
- Capaldi, Kay (Principal Investigator) Elliott, Robert (Principal Investigator) Allen, Karen (Post Grad Student) Kesoglou, Elvira (Post Grad Student) Nind, Louise (Post Grad Student) Pauzaite, Urte (Post Grad Student) Walterson, Dominique (Post Grad Student)
- 26-Jan-2018 - 26-Jan-2019
- A Systematic Review of Humanistic-Experiential Psychotherapies for People with Chronic Medical Conditions
- Capaldi, Kay (Principal Investigator) Elliott, Robert (Principal Investigator) Cionca, Teodora (Post Grad Student) Hendron, Rachel (Post Grad Student) MacPhee, Alison (Post Grad Student)
- 27-Jan-2017 - 27-Jan-2018
Contact
Professor
Robert
Elliott
Emeritus Professor
Counselling
Email: robert.elliott@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted