Academics receive counselling research award

University of East London (UEL) Senior Lecturers Dr Paul Galbally and Dr Fevronia Christodoulidi have been named the recipients of the Counselling Research Award 2024 for a recent research paper. The award is made by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) which works closely with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) to draw up the shortlist.

The research paper, titled Living the Curriculum: adopting personalised learning pedagogies towards honouring the lived experience of trainee counsellors, delves into innovative methodologies aimed at enhancing the student experience and personalised learning within the BSc Counselling program at UEL.

The paper stood out among a competitive pool of submissions, reflecting the calibre of research conducted at UEL’s School of Psychology.

Dr Christodoulidi said, 

We are thrilled that our work has been acknowledged with this award. Paul and I collaborated closely on this paper and also engaged students as co-researchers via focus group sessions and we intend to use the same successful method in future papers.

“The award will allow us to increase publicity around the impactful work that the School carries out and we look forward to being ambassadors for our School and University at the award ceremony.”

Dr Galbally said, “In our paper, we set out to explore links between student satisfaction and study completion; and how personal learning strategies can develop confidence and motivation. We’re delighted this work has been recognised as significant and meaningful.”

The award will be presented at the upcoming BACP Research Conference in May, held in Birmingham where Dr Galbally and Dr Christodoulidi will share insights from their research with colleagues and industry professionals.

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