Clinical Psychology

Assistant Professor

Director of the Clinical Psychology Master's Program

Third year student advisor

Office: Room 217, Second Floor, Sloane Hall
Office hours: Please email to schedule.

CV

Education:

• Postdoc, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, 2023
• D Clin Psych, Clinical Psychology, University of Essex - Tavistock, 2021
  • Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust & Tavistock and
• Portman NHS Foundation Trust
• MSc, Mental Health Studies, IoPPN - King’s College London, 2017
  • St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
• BSc, Psychology, Istanbul Ticaret University, 2014
• BA, History, Bogazici University, 2008

Courses Taught

Undergraduate:

• Introduction to Psychology
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Abnormal Psychology
• Child Psychopathology
• Readings and Research in Clinical Psychology, RR Clinical Mental Health, RR Mental Health, RR Mental Health II, R&R In Cultural Adaptations In Clinical Psychology

Postgraduate:

• Clinical Assessment
• Advanced Clinical Psychology
• Individual Approaches to Psychotherapy
• Diagnostic Evaluation
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
• Supervision

Research Interests:

• common mental health difficulties
• trauma
• psychosis
• dissociation
• medically unexplained symptoms
• suicide and self-harm
• psychotherapy effectiveness
• culturally adapted interventions
• migration, race and mental health
• person-centred care
• lived experience, participatory research, ‘mad’ studies
• critical psychiatry, critical psychology

Recent Publications:

• Akan, A; Green, G; Blumenfeld, F; Taggart, D; McPherson, S. (2026). An ox sitting on One's chest”: Experiences and understandings of common mental health conditions of Turkish‐speaking immigrants with lived experience in the UK. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.70084
• Akan, A, Korkut, N. H. (2026). Improving the Emotional Wellbeing of University Students Through Culturally Adapted Cognitive and Dialectical Behavioural Group Interventions (UniWELL): Protocol for Two Parallel Feasibility and Effectiveness Studies. Translational Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibag010
• Akan, A., Rose, E., Maarabouni, R., Thorns, H., Taylor, A., Estien, D., & Hyde, Z. (2026). “We Realised We Were Not in it by Ourselves.” Exploring experiences of a multidisciplinary psychoeducational workshop for parents with a child diagnosed with autism spectrum condition: A thematic analysis. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31(2): 591-613. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045261418179
• Kaptan, S. K., Habtamu, M., Getahun, S., Tadesse, B., Akan, A., Pupat, A., Bizouerne, C., & Husain, N. (2025). Protocol for an exploratory RCT of the traumatic stress relief intervention with persons with lived experience of leprosy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Medicine. 2025, 1307578, 9 pages, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1155/jotm/1307578
• Kaptan, S. K.; Kaya, Z. M; Akan, A. (2024). Addressing mental health need after covid-19: A systematic review of remote EMDR therapy studies as an emerging option. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 14:1336569 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1336569

For the full list, please check the uploaded CV.

Projects:

• This section will be updated when there is active recruitment for research assistants (voluntary or paid) and participants
• Dr Ayse Akan is open to national and international clinical research collaborations