Dr Kate Hefferon is a chartered psychologist and a senior lecturer at the University of East London. Kate graduated from the University of Ottawa with a BA in english literature and psychology, followed by a BA Honours in psychology from Carleton University. This led to the completion of an MSc in performance psychology at Edinburgh University. Kate’s PhD thesis was on the experience of post-traumatic growth among female breast cancer survivors and the role of the body and physical activity in the recovery and growth process. Other areas of interest are existential psychology, optimal experiences, the psychology of physical activity and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Kate’s career has led her to work with top sport scientists and individuals from internationally renowned dance companies, in addition to working with multiple elite Canadian performers.

She is the author of several peer-reviewed papers, books and book chapters (see publications section) and has presented at conferences nationally and internationally. She is also the co-founder of the Scottish Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Group and former co-facilitator of the London Regional IPA group.

Kate is currently a member of the British Psychological Society (Division of Teachers and Researcher in Psychology),  a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an associate member of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM).

• MAPP Programme Leader

• MSc in Applied Positive Psychology
• BSc Psychology

• Module leader for Positive Psychology (BSc third-year option)
• Module leader for PYM708: Foundations of Positive Psychology (MAPP)
• Module leader for PYM711: Research Methods and Dissertation (MAPP)
• Contributing to other modules on MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and MSc in Applied Psychology

Grants

1. 2012/2013: ‘Promoting Psychological growth: a multi-method evaluation of the Cancer Resilience Growth Program (CRGP)’. Research Development Fund grant, £3,920.00 to K. Hefferon and I. Ivtzan.
2. 2011/2012: ‘Understanding the experience of a Boxercise programme among individuals with mental health difficulties.’ MIND research grant, £5,000.00 to K. Hefferon.
3. 2009/2010: ‘The role of physical activity in psychological growth following prostate cancer diagnosis: a collaborative study.’ Promising Researcher Award, £14,374.00 to K. Hefferon.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

1. Hefferon, K., Gokcen, N., Painter, J., Davies, M., & Boniwell, I. (in press). The influence of community occasions on satisfaction with life and wellbeing. British Journal of Wellbeing, 2, 36–39.
2. Mapham, A., & Hefferon, K. (in press). “I used to be an Offender — now I’m a Defender”: positive psychology approaches in the facilitation of posttraumatic growth in offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.
3. Gokcen, N., Hefferon, K., & Attree, E.A. (2012). University students’ constructions of ‘flourishing’ in British higher education: an inductive content analysis. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(1), 1-21.
4. Hefferon, K., & Gil-Rodriguez, E. (2011). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: reflecting on the rise in popularity of interpretive phenomenological analysis. The Psychologist, 24(10), 756–759.
5. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2010). Transforming from cocoon to butterfly: the potential role of the body in the process of posttraumatic growth. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 50(2), 224–247. doi:10.1177/0022167809341996
6. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2009). Posttraumatic growth and life threatening physical illness: a systematic review of the qualitative literature. British Journal of Health Psychology, 14(2), 343–378. doi:10.1348/135910708X332936
7. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2008). The perceived influence of an exercise class intervention on the process and outcomes of post-traumatic growth. Journal of Mental Health and Physical Activity, 1, 32–39. doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2008.06.003

Books

1. Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (2011). Positive psychology: theory, research and applications. UK: Open University Press.
2. Hefferon, K. (2009). Growing from breast cancer: finding benefits from physical illness. Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing.

Book Chapters

1. Hefferon, K. (in press). Emotions in coaching and mentoring. In J. Passmore (Ed.), Handbook of coaching and mentoring. London: Wiley Press.
2. Hefferon, K., & Mutrie, N. (in press). Physical activity as a ‘stellar’ positive psychology intervention. In Oxford handbook of exercise psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (in press). Applied positive psychology. In R. Bayne & G. Jinks (Eds.), Applied psychology: practice, training and new directions (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
4. Joseph, S., & Hefferon, K. (in press). Posttraumatic growth: eudaimonic happiness. In I. Boniwell & S. David (Eds.), Oxford handbook of happiness. UK: Open University Press.
5. Hefferon, K. (2011). Creating ‘positive bodies’: corporality in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In C. Martin-Krumm (Ed.), Handbook of positive psychology. France: Debouk Université.
6. Hefferon, K. (2011). Positive psychology and coaching. In L. Wildflower & D. Brennan (Eds.), Theories, concepts and applications of evidence based coaching: a users manual. USA: Jossey-Bass.

Book Editor

1. Hefferon, K. (in press). Development and change (Section Ed.) In I. Boniwell & S. David (Eds.), Oxford handbook of happiness. UK: Open University Press.

Conference Papers

1. Gokcen, N., & Hefferon, K. (2011). Learning to flourish: an inductive content analysis of students’ constructions of flourishing in British higher education. Paper presented at the London International Conference in Education, London, UK.
2. Hefferon, K. (2010). Breast cancer, physical activity and well being: a large scale qualitative study. Paper presented at the 5th European Conference on Positive Psychology, Copenhagen, Denmark.
3. Hefferon, K. (2009). The body and positive psychology. Paper presented at the International Positive Psychology Association World Congress, USA.
4. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2008). Understanding the experience of posttraumatic growth among breast cancer patients: the perceived influence of an exercise intervention on the process and outcomes of posttraumatic growth. Paper presented at the European Positive Psychology Conference, Opatija, Croatia.

Invited Talks

1. Hefferon, K. (2011). Positive education, Keynote presentation at the Trainee Educational Psychologist Conference. London, UK.
2. Hefferon, K. (2011). Understanding exercise participation 5 years post cancer diagnosis, Presentation at Strathclyde University. Glasgow, UK.
3. Hefferon, K. (2010, October). Posttraumatic growth, Presentation at Healthy Deaf Minds. London, UK.
4. Hefferon, K. (2010, 14 July). Positive psychology, Presentation at the Fitness Industry Association Flame Conference. Cheltenham, UK.
5. Hefferon, K. (2010, March). Evaluating well being interventions, Presentation at the Oxfordshire mental health conference. Oxford, UK.
6. Hefferon, K. (2010, January). Growing from breast cancer: finding benefits from physical illness, Presentation at the Penny Brohn Cancer Clinic. Bristol, UK.
7. Hefferon, K., & Freij, A. (2009, 25 October). When the going gets tough: mindsets, Workshop presented at the National Academy for Gifted Children. Birmingham, UK.
8. Hefferon, K. (2009, 12 May). Positive psychology and physical activity: a perfect pair, Presentation at the Wales National Obesity Conference Forum. Cardiff, Wales.
9. Hefferon, K. (2009). Resilience, Presentation at the Croydon Mental Health Conference. Croydon, UK.

Poster Sessions

1. Mutrie, N., Campbell, A., Hefferon, K., Emslie, C., Kearney, N., McConnachie, A., et al. (2008, 10 June). Exercise provides somatopsychic benefit for clinical patients: the case of breast cancer survivors. Poster session presented at the University Research Day, University of Strathclyde.

Reports

1. Hefferon, K. (2011). Understanding the experiences of SPARK resilience programme: a multi-participant perspective: Newham Council Government report.
2. Hefferon, K. (2011). A small-scale evaluation of the Newham TaHMS project: a multi-method perspective: Newham Council Government report.
3. Hefferon, K., Sparkes, A., & Painter, J. (2011). Understanding the relationship between spinal cord injury and posttraumatic growth: Rugby Football Union Report.
4. Hefferon, K., & Booth, J.N. (2011). A quantitative evaluation of the impact of two outreach workers within a special school environment: Newham Council Government report.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

1. Hefferon, K., & Ollis, S. (2006). “Just clicks”: an interpretive phenomenological analysis of professional dancers’ experience of flow. Research in Dance Education, 7, 141–159. doi:10.1080/14647890601029527

Conference Papers

1. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2007). Posttraumatic growth and physical activity. Paper presented at the Department of Sport, Culture and the Arts, Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
2. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2007). Understanding the experience of post-traumatic growth among breast cancer patients. Paper presented at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Annual Conference, University of Bath.
3. Hefferon, K. (2006). Positive psychology and physical activity: a perfect pair. Paper presented at the Department of Psychology Research Day, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Poster Sessions

1. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2007, 6 June). Understanding the experience of post-traumatic growth among breast cancer patients. Poster session presented at the University Research Day, University of Strathclyde.
2. Hefferon, K., Grealy, M., & Mutrie, N. (2007, 18–20 April). Understanding the experience of post-traumatic growth among breast cancer patients. Poster session presented at the 1st Annual Centre for Applied Positive Psychology Conference, University of Warwick.

Consultancy

• Targeted Mental Health in School Programme (TaMHS)
• Workplace Applied Positive Psychology Courses
• Newham Resilience Initiative
• London Metropolitan Police Driving School
• Haberdashers Education project
• Health Text Harley Street Clinic
• UEL Management Training

Research Groups

• Member of Health Psychology Research Group, University of East London.
• Member of Early Researcher Group, University of East London.
• Cofounder of Scottish Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Research Group

Journal Reviewer

• Psycho-Oncology
• Journal of Mental Health and Physical Activity
• Psychology and Health
• Journal of Traumatic Stress
• Qualitative Health Research
• Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

• www.katehefferon.com