Dr Nicola Cogan

Senior Lecturer

Psychology

Personal statement

Nicola joined Strathclyde in October 2017 having previously worked as a consultant clinical psychologist and clinical lead in mental health services in the NHS. She has over 15 years NHS experience working as a practitioner clinical psychologist in mental health services. She retains an honorary consultant clinical psychologist post in NHS Lanarkshire. Her consultancy work has largely concerned trauma informed practice with first responder and frontline workers. She completed a Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psy) at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to this she completed a PhD in Psychology and Social Policy and Social Work and MA (Hons) Psychology at the University of Glasgow.Her research interests are in the areas of mental health, wellbeing, recovery and citizenship in applied health and social contexts. She is involved with research adopting community participatory research methods. She is a member of the International Recovery and Citizenship Collective led by Yale Medical School, where she has a strong working collaborative.

She has an interest in issues concerning transitions from military to civilian life for veterans and their families. She has a growing interest in health behaviour change, with a focus on vaccination uptake. Finally, she is interested in the uses of technology in health and well-being interventions.

Publications

"It's like a constant black cloud" : a qualitative investigation of the impact of endometriosis on quality of life
Moore Chloe, Williams Lynn, Cogan Nicola
15th World Congress on Endometriosis (2023)
Trauma Informed Practice in Justice Services : Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation
Cogan Nicola, Tse Dwight, Stergiou Christiana, Lawley Samantha, Finlayson Melanie, Hewitson Rhys, Black Jacqueline, MacIntyre Gillian
(2023)
Suicide Thoughts and Behaviour in Later Life
Hafford-Letchfield Trish, Gleeson Helen, Ellmers Toby, Rasmussen Susan, Cogan Nicola, Goodman Jolie, Hanna Jeffrey
(2023)
Implementing trauma informed practice in a stressed out system : exploring the narratives of staff working in justice settings
Cogan Nicola, Tse Dwight, Stergiou Christiana, Finlayson Melanie, Lawley Samantha, Black Jacqueline, Hewitson Rhys, MacIntyre Gillian, Aziz Suzanne
Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2023 (THEconf2023) (2023)
The support needs of people bereaved by suicide in later life : a comparative thematic analysis of older adults and professionals' perspectives
Cogan Nicola, Hanna Jeffrey, Hafford-Letchfield Trish, Rasmussen Susan, Grant Evan, Goodman Jolie, Ryder-Davies Lesley
Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2023 (THEconf2023) (2023)
Understanding the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on railway workers : risks and protective factors
Cogan Nicola, McGibbon Megan, Gardiner Amy, Morton Liza
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Vol 65, pp. 172-183 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002711

More publications

Teaching

Nicola has a range of teaching and citizenship roles at both UG and PG level. She has a specific interest teaching in applied mental health and clinical practice. She utilises a range of teaching methods including didactic approaches, group work, role play techniques and case study illustration. She has the following citizenship roles associated with teaching:

 - Deputy Course Director on MSc in Clinical Health Psychology course 

 - Class leader for the 4th year Psychology of Mental Health class

 - Class leader for Professional Practice (MSc in Clinical Health Psychology

She teaches on the following classes:

  - 2nd year Introduction to Mental Health Difficulties class (Psychology and Counselling)

  - 3rd year Research Methods and Data Analyses class (Psychology and Physical Activity for Health).

 - 4th year Psychology of Mental Health Class

 - Clinical Psychology Related to Medical Conditions (MSc in Clinical Health Psychology)

 - Professional Practice (MSc in Clinical Health Psychology).

She teaches within Social Policy and Social Work on the Mental Health Officer practitioner course and UG course in Social Work.

She also supervises UG and PG dissertation projects.

I am currently supervising the following PhD students:

- Rachel Taylor – Mental health self-stigma and peer victimisation in adolescence

- Chloe Moore –  A multi-method investigation of the role of illness perceptions in endometriosis 

- Nesrine Boussaoui –The distinctive understandings and experiences of mental health and help seeking behaviour among Algerian students

- Enver Ether - LGBT Mental health: a multi-dimensional  psychosocial analysis of LGBT mental health issues in North Cyprus

- Dr Colin Stewart – The role of cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to the treatment of patients with asthma, with a focus on remote delivery via app development and other technology

Research interests

Nicola joined Strathclyde in October 2017 having worked full-time as a consultant clinical psychologist and clinical lead in mental health services in the NHS. She has over 15 years applied NHS experience working as a practitioner clinical psychologist in mental health services. She retains an honorary consultant clinical psychologist post in NHS Lanarkshire. She completed a Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psy) at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to this she completed a PhD in Psychology and Social Policy and Social Work and MA (Hons) Psychology at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests are in the areas of mental health, wellbeing, trauma, resilience, recovery and citizenship in applied health and social contexts. She is involved with research adopting community participatory research methods. She is a member of the International Recovery and Citizenship Collective led by Yale Medical School, where she has a strong working collaborative.

She has an interest in issues concerning transitions from military to civilian life for veterans and their families. She has a growing interest in health behaviour change, with a focus on vaccination uptake. Finally, she is interested in the uses of technology in health and well-being interventions.

Professional activities

Developing and applying skills in psychological science across health, social care and industry
Contributor
10/5/2022
CPD in PSH: Developing and applying skills in psychological science across health, social care and industry
Recipient
10/5/2022
University of Illinois (External organisation)
Advisor
1/9/2020
Public webinar: 'Improving Vaccine Uptake in Scotland: Implications for COVID-19, influenza and other adult vaccines.'
Speaker
29/7/2020
Faculty Unit Hass (Organisational unit)
Advisor
1/6/2020
Trauma and the Railway Industry
Organiser
1/5/2020

More professional activities

Projects

Stage-gate funds for Industry Engagement & Commercialisation support (stage 2)
Cogan, Nicola (Principal Investigator) Kirk, Alison (Principal Investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Principal Investigator)
Awarded 10k funding from gate 2 industry engagement and commercialisation for development of Sentinel
01-Jan-2022 - 22-Jan-2023
Young people as peer researchers in research exploring mental health self-stigma: capturing diverse voices
Cogan, Nicola (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2022
Impact of knife imagery on school-aged children: Knife Eagle project
Coleman, Charlotte (Principal Investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Williams, Damien (Co-investigator)
A mixed methods collaborative project exploring a Kent police initiative to reduce knife crime, that involves the use of different forms of knife imagery. The initiative focuses on the impact of the knife eagle: a model of an eagle made from seized knives.
01-Jan-2021
Mental health self-stigma and young people
Cogan, Nicola (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2022
Exploring Chinese international students’ understanding of loneliness to inform cultural adaptation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
Liu, Xi (Principal Investigator) Anderson, Tony (Co-investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Kelly, Stephen (Co-investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Co-investigator) Tse, Dwight (Co-investigator)
31-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2022
Trauma awareness and the fire brigade
Cogan, Nicola (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2021

More projects