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Valerie Fletcher

Senior Lecturer

Valerie works as a psychological therapies lecturer and MA Integrative Counselling Course Leader in the School of Health. She is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

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Valerie Fletcher

About

Valerie works as a psychological therapies lecturer and MA Integrative Counselling Course Leader in the School of Health. She is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

Valerie is currently conducting EdD research into counselling/psychotherapists' experiences of working with clients with a diagnosis of a personality disorder and has experience of setting up and running a drop in centre within a HM Prison.

As an accredited practitioner, Valerie has conducted research into therapists perceptions of the evidence based guidelines used in psychotherapy for depression and is passionately interested in the promotion of the counselling/psychotherapy profession.

Valerie is also involved in research into resilience amongst mental health students and is interested in concepts of empowerment and confidence as vital facilitators for the modern mental health professional.

Academic positions

  • Senior Lecturer
    Leeds Beckett University, England | 01 August 2018 - present

  • Therapeutic Counselling Diploma Course Leader
    Wakefield College, Wakefield, United Kingdom | 2017 - 2018

Non-academic positions

  • Private (Accredited) Psychotherapist/Counsellor
    valeriefletchertherapy.co.uk, Leeds and Wakefield | 2016 - present

  • Psychological Therapist
    IAPT/NHS, Bradford | 2017 - present

  • Counsellor
    Mosaic 2 | 2014 - 2016

  • Counsellor
    New Mind Counselling | 2016 - 2017

  • Counsellor and Committee Member
    Bradford Bereavement | 2014 - 2016

  • Wellbeing Tutor and Drop in Centre Manager
    HMP SERVICE | 1993 - 1995

  • State Qualified Nurse
    NHS | 1980 - 1987

Degrees

  • M A Psychotherapy
    Leeds Beckett University, England

Certifications

  • Accredited Counsellor
    British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy

  • Fellow Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
    Leeds Beckett University

Postgraduate training

  • P G Diploma Counselling and Psychotherapy
    Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

Related links

School of Health

Research interests

Valerie is currently conducting EdD research into counselling/psychotherapists' experiences of working with clients with a diagnosis of a personality disorder and has experience of setting up and running a drop in centre within a HM Prison.

As an Accredited practitioner Valerie has conducted research into therapists perceptions of the evidence based guidelines used in psychotherapy for depression and is passionately interested in the promotion of the counselling/psychotherapy profession.

Valerie is also involved in research into resilience amongst mental health students and is interested in concepts of empowerment and confidence as vital facilitators for the modern mental health professional.

Publications (6)

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Conference Contribution

An Interpretative Phenomenological analysis of a pilot resilience programme in educational support for first year mental health degree students

Featured 15 May 2021 BACP Research Conference- Promoting Collaboration in Research, Policy and Practice Online

Aims/Purpose: The purpose of this research was to explore the experience of University students who have engaged voluntarily in a 12-week resilience training programme during their first year of study. Design/Methodology: Initially we conducted a scoping literature review guided by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and (Peters et al. 2015b; Khalil et al. 2016) methodology, this helped us to formulate our research question. The pilot study involved facilitating a focus group with seven students who were all on an undergraduate degree relating to the field of mental health. The participants, drawn from 70 cohort had engaged & completed a minimum of 80% of the resilience programme which had met 12 times weekly. The focus group enabled participants to speak freely enabling the moderator of the group to ‘access participants everyday vocabularies’ (Silverman 2020: 223). The group interview was transcribed verbatim and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Ethical Approval: Ethical approval was granted through the Leeds Beckett University School of Health and Community Studies Ethics Board. Results/Findings: The in-depth analysis of the group’s account captured participants’ journeys through the process of learning resilience skills and implementing them in their everyday lives. The findings suggested that most participants considered resilience skills beneficial in terms of helping them to cope with the emotional and cognitive challenges of not only their educational experience but also life in general. Research Limitations: The ‘clients’ were selected from one cohort of students on the same course; therefore the perspective is of the experience of the same programme. There was also a time limitation in that the study results are drawn from a short time of engagement with the programme rather than a longitudinal study. Conclusions/Implications: Seven themes provided in-depth information about participants’ lived experiences of attending and being in the resilience group, implicating exploration of current practice and development in resilience training/programme service provision in higher education/other organisations supporting mental health students. Recommendations from this study offer ways in which students’ resilience could be strengthened and ways their multiple needs may be met. The findings can inform students’ mental health and wellbeing policies as well as education strategies for teaching first year students many of whom are away from home for the first time.

Conference Contribution

Therapists' Views on the Evidence-based Guidelines for the Treatment of Depression in Adults

Featured 17 May 2019 BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) Research Confererence Belfast

Therapists’ Views on the Evidence-based guidelines for the Treatment of Depression in Adults. Abstract Aims The purpose of the study was to consider therapists’ opinions of working with the Evidence Based Guidelines for Depression. Method Structured interviews took place using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009, p49) with a sample of four practising psychotherapists from different modalities who had worked with the Evidence Based Guidelines for Depression. Ethical Approval The research was granted ethical approval by The Leeds Beckett University Ethics Board. Findings • Positivity was revealed regarding the use of the guidelines as a reference/safety tool, however they were perceived to be too broad and restrictive. • There was an underlying anxiety, fear and frustration regarding job security in relation to the EBG, one therapist felt deskilled. • There was a variation in the extent to which the methodology and the quality of the data used in guideline formulation, was understood by therapists. • There was a consensus that the number of sessions recommended for clients, particularly when other issues presented such as trauma and bereavement were not adequate. • The therapists of differing modalities considered the other methodologies as unethical. • One therapist had experienced conflict when trying to reconcile the EBG with other guidelines. Research Limitations Although care was taken to select therapists from a range of modalities, the research required a limited number of (4) therapists, due to time restrictions and was also limited to those therapists who had experience of working with the guidelines. Conclusions A professional’s standpoint on the appropriateness of EBG may correlate with whether EBG favours the application of their methodology. Reeves (2017) expresses concern for the future of the counselling and psychotherapy and the researcher found anxiety and frustration recorded in this study alongside known concerns with the application of RCTs (exclusion criteria, publication bias, use of non-inferiority design) and systematic reviews (small studies and/or of low quality, publication bias) to this field. Recommendation The confidence of psychotherapists with the guidelines could be strengthened by a dissemination of information by professional bodies concerning the evidence upon which guidelines are based.

Conference Contribution

Developing Anti-Opressive Psychological Tools: Experiences of Working With Minority

Featured 05 August 2022 APA Annual Conference 2022 Minneapolis
Conference Contribution

Relational Psychotherapy as a Successful Intervention for Complex Clients: Including Those Diagnosed Disorders

Featured 27 October 2020 Forensic Mental Health Awareness Conference Chicago University , Washington DC

Relational Psychotherapy as a Successful Intervention for Complex Clients: including those diagnosed disorders. Relational Psychotherapy is an integrative, primarily humanistic force focusing on the relationship between client and therapist, whilst integrating aspects of psychodynamic, cognitive and or approaches. This approach allows the therapist to refresh and develop their practice in line with a continually changing evidence base. This is an ongoing project for the author to establish the experience relational counselling/psychotherapy students have when working with clients with personality disorder diagnoses. What are their experiences? Do they feel prepared? Does it affect emotional wellbeing? Do the complexities the client may present affect the therapist’s ability to work at relational depth?

Journal article

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE INTERPRETATION OF TRIAL RESULTS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR DEPRESSION IN ADULTS, WITH REFERENCE TO SUICIDAL BEHAVIOUR

Featured 01 September 2019 Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies19(2):1-14 International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health
AuthorsFletcher V, Evans V

The results of randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses of trials in medicine have led to major improvements in treatments, and thereby significant reductions in mortality and morbidity worldwide. The implications of specific aspects of trial methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of psychotherapy for depression are explored, with reference to trial size, quality, bias, eligibility criteria and the use of non-inferiority design. In contrast to the treatment of systemic disease, pill placebo control in trials of psychotherapy for depression is not ‘no treatment’, and the use of such can reduce measured treatment effect. Trials have entry criteria, and thus use a selective sample, findings may therefore not be generalizable. For example, in psychotherapy, specific trial exclusion criteria (suicidal behaviour) appear to raise a concern that a therapy may be widely adopted and include the treatment of a category of individual excluded from a practice-informing trial. A diagnosis of depression is associated with a higher mortality, notably suicide, and the inter-relationship between depression and suicidal behaviour is explored. Aside from the direct utilisation of specific psychotherapies for suicidal behaviour; the effective treatment of depression, notably major depression, by psychotherapy, may lead to a reduction in the prevalence of suicidal behaviour. Keywords: psychotherapy, depression, suicide, randomised controlled trial, meta-analysis, non-inferiority trial, subgroup analysis

Chapter

Technology and Digital Literacy

Featured 12 April 2022 A Student's Guide to Placements in Health and Social Care Settings From Theory to Practice Critical Publishing
AuthorsAuthors: Fletcher V, Matthews T, Hills J, Editors: Williams S, Conroy D

This is a key resource for placement experience with insights from experts and advice direct from students who have already been on placement.

Current teaching

  • Course Leader - PG Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • Course Leader - Short Courses in Counselling
  • Module Leader - Relational Framework (HE and PG Diploma In Counselling and Psychotherapy)
  • Module Leader - Therapeutic Supervision (HE and PG Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy)
  • Module Leader - Mental Health and Practice (BSc Counselling and Mental Health)
  • Module Tutor - Becoming a Therapist (HE and PG Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy)
  • Module Tutor - Therapeutic Skills (HE and PG Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy)
  • Module Tutor - Psychological Foundations (BSc Counselling and Mental Health)
  • Module Tutor - Counselling Skills (BSc Counselling and Mental Health)
  • MA Psychotherapy Supervisor
  • Academic Advisor

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Valerie Fletcher
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