John Read

John Read

Professor

Department of Professional Psychology , School Of Psychology

Professor John Read worked for nearly 20 years as a Clinical Psychologist and manager of mental health services in the UK and the USA, before joining the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1994, where he worked until 2013. He has served as Director of the Clinical Psychology professional graduate programmes at both Auckland and, more recently, the University of Liverpool.

Areas Of Interest

 

​​​​​​The relationships of life events (e.g.childhood neglect and abuse) and circumstances (e.g. poverty, ethnicity) to the development of psychopathology (e.g. psychosis, depression and suicidality); and the need for primary prevention programmes, especially in the early years of life. This stream includes a focus on the biological and psychological (e.g. attachment, dissociation) processes by which adverse early life experiences lead to negative outcomes.

  1. The relationships of life events (e.g.childhood neglect and abuse) and circumstances (e.g. poverty, ethnicity) to the development of psychopathology (e.g. psychosis, depression and suicidality); and the need for primary prevention programmes, especially in the early years of life. This stream includes a focus on the biological and psychological (e.g. attachment, dissociation) processes by which adverse early life experiences lead to negative outcomes.
  2. The extent to which mental health professionals are asking about, and responding appropriately to histories of childhood abuse and neglect, and the development and evaluation of training programmes to improve this area of clinical practice.
  3. The stigmatisation of people with mental health problems, especially the roles of causal beliefs and amount of contact with users of mental health services.
  4. Evaluating the effectiveness of services for severely disturbed mental health patients.
  5. The phenomenology of psychotic experiences, especially how people who hear voices (hallucinations) and have unusual beliefs (delusions) understand those experiences, including Maori perspectives.
  6. The influence of the pharmaceutical industry on public opinion, research and clinical practice.