Prof. ( Mike ) Startup
| Work Phone | (02) 4921 5979 |
|---|---|
| Fax | (02) 4921 6980 |
| Mike.Startup@newcastle.edu.au | |
| Position |
Professor
School of Psychology
|
| Office | W211, Behavioural Sciences |
Biography
In 2002 I moved from the United Kingdom to take up my post here at the University of Newcastle. Previously, in the UK, I had worked half-time as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the UK National Health Service in North Wales, heading up a service for people with serious mental illnesses. In this post I focused on the development, delivery and evaluation of psychological treatments for psychotic disorders, especially Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, and established training courses for mental health professionals in psychosocial treatments for serious mental illness. The other half of my post was spent as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Bangor, where I contributed mainly to postgraduate training in Clinical Psychology. Previous to this post I was a Senior Scientist at the MRC/ESRC Social and Applied Psychology Unit at Sheffield University where I collaborated on the Second Sheffield Psychotherapy Project, which was a comparative outcome trial of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy for depression.
When I arrived at Newcastle, I was appointed as program director for postgraduate training in professional psychology (a post I held until 2010). In this role I introduced four new coursework degrees: a Master of Clinical Psychology; a Doctor of Clinical Psychology; a PhD (Clinical Psychology) - which is a Research Higher Degree with coursework components equivalent to the Master of Clinical Psychology; and a Doctor of Clinical and Health Psychology.
I was an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1996-2007.
Member of the editorial team of Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice (formerly British Journal of Medical Psychology), 1997 - 2006.
Advisory editor for Psychotherapy Research, Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 1990 - 1996
Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, 2004 - present
Qualifications
- PhD, University of London
- Master of Science, University of Surrey - UK
- Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), University of London
Research
Research keywords
- At risk mental states
- Bipolar disorder
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Insight (unawareness of psychotic illness)
- Psychosis
- Schizophrenia
- Ultra-high risk
Research expertise
My chief interest lies in improving psychological treatments for mental health problems. I believe that such improvements require increased understanding at three levels: what causes, precipitates and maintains the problems; what interventions are effective in resolving the problems; and how therapists should proceed during the moment-by-moment implementation of an intervention strategy. I have contributed to such improvements by conducting research designed to increase understanding at all three levels, for example: Formulation - studies of cognitive processes underlying (1) depressive and manic episodes among people with bipolar affective disorder, (2) dissociation and deliberate self-harm among people with borderline personality disorder, (3) delusions of reference, (4) persecutory delusions, (5) negative symptoms, and (6) insight among people with schizophrenia, (7) depression following childhood sexual abuse; Choice of intervention - randomised controlled trials of (1) cognitive behavioural and psychodynamic-interpersonal therapies for depression (the Second Sheffield Psychotherapy Project), with one-year follow-up, (2) cognitive therapy as an adjunct to standard treatment for acute schizophrenia (the North Wales Trial of CBT for Acute Schizophrenia), with two-year follow-up, and, currently, (3) cognitive therapy to prevent transitions to psychotic disorders among young people who are at ultra-high risk (DEPTh project - Detection, Evaluation and Psychological Therapy); Therapy process - studies of (1) therapist adherence to treatment manuals for psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy for depression and schizophrenia, and (2) therapist responsiveness to client interpersonal styles, (3) interactions between therapist interventions and client recovery styles (4) adherence to self-help assignments (homework). In addition, I have conducted research on the structure, reliability and validity of several psychological measures, have conducted an economic evaluation (cost-benefit analysis) of cognitive behavioural therapy for acute psychosis, and have conducted a prospective analysis of risk factors for the development of psychotic disorders.
Collaboration
In North Wales I was Principal Investigator A on the North Wales randomised controlled trial of cognitive behaviour therapy for acute schizophrenia spectrum disorders. My chief collaborators on this project were Dr Mike Jackson and Sue Bendix (now Sue Startup). We have continued publishing research from this project until recently.
In Bangor I also collaborated with Prof. Richard Bentall and Prof. J Mark G Williams.
Since arriving in Newcastle, my main collaboration has been on the DEPTh (Detection, Evaluation and Psychological Therapy) project, a randomised controlled trial of cognitive behaviour therapy versus Non-directive Reflective Listening for young people at clinical high risk for developing psychotic disorders. I have been PI A on this project and my main collaborators have been Professors Amanda Baker, Vaughan Carr, Ulrich Schall and Dr Helen Stain. This was a trial which was conducted at both urban (Newcastle) and rural (Central West of NSW) sites.
Other recent collaborators have included: Dr Oliver Mason (University College, London); A/Prof Robyn Langdon (Macquarie University); Prof. David Fowler (University of East Anglia); Prof. Andrew Heathcote (University of Newcastle)
Languages
- English
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 170106 | Health, Clinical And Counselling Psychology | 80 |
| 150399 | Business And Management Not Elsewhere Classified | 15 |
| 110399 | Clinical Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | 5 |
Centres and Groups
Centre
Memberships
Body relevant to professional practice.
- Member - 2005The Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy
- Member - Australian Psychological Society
- Chartered Clinical Psychologist - British Psychological Society
- Member - British Psychological Society
- Member - Division of Clinical Psychology, British Psychological Society
- Member - International Early Psychosis Association
- Member - International Society for the Psychological Treatment of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (ISPS)
Committee/Associations (relevant to research).
- Organising committee, annual conference of the Australian Society for Psychiatric Research
Editorial Board.
- Associate Editor - British Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Member - Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice
Learned Academy.
- The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (nominated by the founder, A. T. Beck)
Appointments
|
New South Wales Early Psychosis Research and Evaluation Work Group
Centre for Mental Health, NSW Health Department (Australia) |
01/11/2003 |
Invitations
|
Society for Psychotherapy Research, Australia Regional Group Meeting
Society for Psychotherapy Research, Australia Regional Group Meeting, Australia (Keynote Address) |
2007 |
|
External examiner for the Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia, UK
University of East Anglia, UK, United Kingdom (External Examiner.) |
2002 |
|
Australasian Schizophrenia Conference, Invited international keynote speaker
Australasian Schizophrenia Conference (7th. biennial), Australia (Keynote Address) |
2002 |
|
First NSW APS State Conference, Newcastle, NSW. Invited keynote address
First NSW Australian Psychological Society State Conference , Australia (Keynote Address) |
2003 |
Administrative
Administrative expertise
Introduced new degrees, 2002-2006, at University of Newcastle: Master of Clinical Psychology, Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Doctor of Clinical and Health Psychology, PhD (Clinical Psychology)
Program Convenor for these degrees 2002-2009
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- Clinical Psychology
Teaching expertise
Most of my teaching has always been of postgraduate course-work students undertaking
professional training in Clinical and Health Psychology