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Last updated 24th March 2023

Mike is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Huddersfield and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Research at the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT). He was Associate Director of Research in SWYPFT until he retired from the NHS in 2022.

He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at the University of Leeds in 1979 and trained as a clinical psychologist at the University of Leeds between 1983 and 1985. He then completed a PhD in health anxiety and medical reassurance at the University of Leeds in 1994 whilst working full time as a clinical psychologist.  His PhD included the development of the Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ).  He then completed a post graduate certificate in cognitive therapy at the University of Durham and the Newcastle Cognitive Therapy Centre in 1997.  He has worked in NHS and community mental health services since 1979 and was an NHS psychological therapies service manager for over ten years. 

Mike's research has been focused on self-help/self-management in mental health and psychological therapies process and outcome research in routine NHS service settings. This includes the development and evaluation of self-help interventions for people with common mental health problems and those with more severe and long term mental health problems. His research has involved a range of methodological approaches, including RCTs, practice based evidence and qualitative research. He was Director of the Centre for Applied Research in Health between 2016 and 2019 and was a founding member of the Northern IAPT Practice Research Network.

Mike has worked on training courses for cognitive behavioural therapists and graduate primary care mental health workers and has led projects supporting healthcare practitioners to provide self help support for people with depression and anxiety problems.  He led the development of the Self Help Access in Routine Primary Care (SHARP) project, which includes a training programme and resources to help healthcare practitioners support people with mild to moderate common mental health problems.  The SHARP website contains brief, CBT based self-help leaflets to help people to understand and deal with depression and anxiety. 

He has also led the development of the Self Management After Therapy (SMArT) intervention, provided in IAPT services, which supports people to stay well after therapy for depression. 

His work supporting access to self help for anxiety and depression is summarised in REF impact case studies from 2014 and 2021.

Current/recent research grants

2021- 2023: NIHR (RfPB): Increasing Physical Activity in a Medium Secure Service: Development and Feasibility of a Physical ACTivity Intervention (IMPACT). Co-investigator.

2021- 2026: NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Reseach. Community-based behavioural Activation Training (ComBAT) for Depression in Adolescents. Co-investigator. 

2018-2021: NIHR (HS&DR). The Effectiveness of Sexual Assault Referral centres with regard to Mental Health and Substance Misuse: A National Mixed methods study. Co-Investigator.  The MIMOS study.