Dr Anna Robinson
Senior Lecturer
Education
Area of Expertise
- emotional psychology
- emotion-focused-experiential psychotherapy, counselling and coaching
- trauma, healing & post-traumatic growth
- counselling clients with autistic process
- emotion-focused & compassion-focused practice: parents, teachers, practitioners
- expressive/creative methods and affective technology
Prize And Awards
- Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
- Recipient
- 9/3/2021
- North Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Partnership: Celebration of Learning: Transformative Skills
- Recipient
- 21/11/2018
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Outstanding Research Award
- Recipient
- 13/4/2017
- Chartered Psychologist
- Recipient
- 1/11/2015
Publications
- Extending empathy to physical symptoms
- Nicolaou Thalia, Elliott Robert, Robinson Anna
- Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapies Vol 23, pp. 20-38 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2022.2159503
- Experiences of the step-out technique in emotion-focused therapy for clients with autistic process
- Robinson Anna, Kalawski Juan Pablo
- Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies Vol 22, pp. 265-282 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2022.2115941
- Autistic adult experiences of interpersonal process recall as a therapeutic task in emotion-focused therapy
- Robinson Anna
- International Society for Emotion-Focused Therapy (2023)
- Experiences of interpersonal process recall as a therapeutic task in emotion-focused therapy-group for clients with autistic process
- Robinson Anna
- Society for Psychotherapy Research (2023)
- Autistic youth as active agents for societal change
- Robinson Anna, Highcock Kerrie
- The Lives of Children and Adolescents with Disabilities (2023) (2023)
- Podcast #38 : Meet an academic: Anna Robinson
- Robinson Anna, Cassidy Claire
- (2022)
Teaching
My teaching focus is around autism, emotional psychology, factors that contribute to stigma, social exclusion, trauma and how to promote positive psychological growth. I predominantly teach Emotion-Focused Counselling Skills for Autism Spectrum and for other hard to reach populations. In 2022-2023 I am the academic lead for the new participatory co-design PgCert Neurodiversity-Affirmative Creative-Relational Inquiry
I supervise PhD in Applied Autism Research/EdD Education (Autism) & PGT Masters research projects that align with my own research interests: Emotion-Focused Counselling and Coaching Skills; humanistic-experiential psychotherapy; pre-therapy; trauma; creative methods to support voice, self-expression and healing emotional injuries and compassion focused practice.
Research Interests
My research mainly focuses on Humanistic-Experiential Autism Research Therapy (HEART) with a particular emphasis on exploring emotional processing, trauma-related experiences, and psychological growth. I have particular interest on process and outcome research in Humanistic-Experiential Psychotherapies (HEPs) for clients with autistic process. This includes accessibility of counselling, group psychotherapy and the use of expressive and creative art to explore emotional experiences, self and other intersubjectivity. I am interested in giving voice to clients’ experiences and use creative methods and affective technology to aid those who have difficulties speaking, exploring non-verbal strategies of expression and narration.
PGR Supervision: I am the primary supervisor to the following doctoral students:
PhD Students:
- Elise, Stirling (Applied Autism Research, 2021 -) on exploring authentic autistic play and teacher professional learning to promote successful inclusion of autistic children in education
- Christine, Sousa Marmoy (Applied Autism Research, 2020 -) on exploring how autistic players relate to their avatars to learn and collaborate in MPOGs
- Mert Ozakca (Turkey PhD Scholarship, 2019-2022) on exploring cross-cultural analysis of parenting autistic children and emotion-focused parent coaching
- Owen McGill (Education, 2017-) on exploring autistic girls experiences of education through a feminist lens to inform teacher professional learning
EdD Students:
- Kat McClure (2022) On exploring of how to elicit voice of autistic young people with complex communication needs to influence educational experiences
- Lynn McNally (2021) On investigating autistic children exploring me with mum and art
- Kerrie Highcock (2021) On exploring experiences of 'autism support' in mainstream secondary school
- David Duncan (2019-) On Capturing the voice of bereaved children through a participatory and arts based approach
PhD/EdD Recruitment:
Please contact me if you would like to pursue a PhD in Applied Autism Research or PhD/EdD in Education, with focus on areas related to:
- Promoting positive outcomes in the lives of autistic people through Humanistic-Experiential practice;
- Emotional Processing;
- Trauma-Informed Practice;
- Therapeutic/creative/expressive methods to enhance relational connections;
- Emotion-Focused and HEPs skills training: parents, teachers and practitioners;
- Affective technology for supporting emotional healing and psychological growth;
HEART
Head of the HEART Hub conducting research and Knowledge Exchange in the following areas:
- Positive therapeutic approaches to healing trauma and emotional injuries
- Training Parents, Teachers and Practitioners in Emotion-Focused Counselling/Coaching Skills
- Emotion-Focused Therapy for clients with autistic process
We have collaborative research partnerships with Scottish Autism and HOPE for Autism; AT-Autism and Donaldson School.
International collaborators: Universidad Autónoma de Chile; Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.
Selected Masters Supervision (Alumni):
- Anna, Stopinska-Lewucha (MEd 2021) "My Child is a Happy Flapper": Parents celebration of happiness in autistic children
- Christine, Sousa Marmoy (MSc 2020) The World I Sense is the World I Live in!
- Highcock, Kerrie (MEd 2019) on Young Autistic Activists Use of Art for Self-Expression
- Friedman, Samantha (USA Fulbright Scholarship MSc 2019) on Exploring Outdoor Learning Environments on Emotional Processing Skills in Students with Autism
- Yong, Ennie (Chevening Scholarship MSc 2019) on Developing an Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents from Experiences of Expert Trainers
- Galbraith, Ian (MSc 2018) Practitioners Experiences of Applying Person-Centred and Pre-Therapy Counselling Skills with Clients with Autistic Process
- Owen, McGill (MSc 2017) Autistic Adult Reflections of Applied Behavioural Analysis Experiences in Childhood: A Thematic Analysis
- Christina Symeonidou (MSc 2017) An Investigation into the effectiveness of nurture groups in supporting autistic children: A Scottish teacher’s perspective
Professional Activities
- Chairwork Research Group: Adapting Experiential Tasks and Chairwork for People with Autistic/Neurodivergent Process
- Speaker
- 29/1/2024
- Clinical Research Seminar: Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and how to adapt our practice for people with autistic and neurodivergent process
- Speaker
- 18/1/2024
- HEART: Healing Emotions and Relational Transformation: Emotion-Focused Training for Parents of Autistic Children
- Speaker
- 8/11/2023
- Adaptions of Emotion-Focused Therapy for Clients with Autistic Process
- Invited speaker
- 10/10/2023
- EmpoweringEFT
- Organiser
- 10/10/2023
- Marsden Fund: Royal Society of New Zealand (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/8/2023
Projects
- Autism Dialogue Approach
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator)
- This six session Knowledge Exchange training course explores neuroaffirming practice for autistic young people and educators in Scottish schools through the Autism Dialogue Approach. It explores research around trauma for autistic people and how we can bring neuroaffirming theory and practice to bring about positive change to a dominant negative narrative. It introduces dialogue as a method of exploration. The course is delivered through presentation of neuroaffirming research and theory and experientially through Autism dialogues.
- 24-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2024
- Autism Dialogue Approach
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator) Drury, Jonny (Co-investigator)
- This six session Knowledge Exchange training course explores neuroaffirming theories and practices for the classroom. It explores the impact of trauma-related experiences for autistic young people and for those in an educator role. We introduce the concepts around dialogue, with the introduction of the Autism Dialogue Approach. This series is delivered through short presentations of relevant theory and research and experientially through engagement in a series of Autism Dialogues.
- 24-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2024
- Using Philosophical Dialogues with Children to Understand Care and Wellbeing for Siblings of those with Life-Limiting Conditions
- Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Robinson, Anna (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2024
- Creating Autistic Trauma Stories: CATS: Healing Arts Model
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator)
- 06-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2024
- Implementing Trauma Informed Practices in the Classroom
- Robinson, Anna (Academic) Robb, Catriona (Academic)
- This two session Knowledge Exchange training course explores trauma-informed practice in the classroom. It explores the impact of trauma for the person and the practitioner supporting trauma-experienced young people. It explores the presence of trauma for children and young people reviewed through the medical lens and domains of trauma, the importance of self-care and a range of experiential and practical tasks for practitioners working in the field.
- 28-Jan-2022 - 19-Jan-2022
- Supporting autistic wellbeing through meaningful interaction: Evidencing relational support in social care
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2022