Miss Paisley McManus

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Associate Lecturer

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Qualifications:BSc Psychology, Level 4 Counselling Skills Certificate, Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (HCPC), BACP Registered Therapist
Position:Associate Lecturer
Department:College of Health, Science and Society School of Social Sciences
Email:Paisley.Mcmanus@uwe.ac.uk

About me

Hello! I am an Associate Lecturer at UWE Bristol. This means that I work part-time supporting the School of Social Sciences, particularly BSc Psychology and related courses such as Psychology conversion courses, and the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.

In my role at UWE, I have enjoyed teaching about research methods, autoethnography, research ethics, and career pathways in Psychology. I have an interest in critical approaches to mental health and psychology, whereby dominant ways of thinking are questioned and examined with curiosity. I support with Academic Personal Tutoring, marking assessments, and supervising dissertations and doctoral research projects that utilise autoethnography. More recently, I have supported the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology with placement administration.

As well as being an Associate Lecturer, I have a long history of being a student here, having completed my Psychology degree, Level 4 Counselling Certificate, and the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, all at UWE. As a Trainee Counselling Psychologist, I completed 3 years of taught modules and assignments and 450 hours of supervised therapy practice. I achieved my doctoral qualification in January 2026.

Outside of UWE, I work in the NHS, as a Counselling Psychologist, in secondary mental health care settings.

Area of expertise

My current research, practice, and professional interests include: autoethnography and bringing the self to research, reflexivity in psychotherapy training, neoliberalism and how it shapes understandings of mental health, social class, experiences of familial caring, mental health stigma, critical approaches to mental health and psychology, and creative approaches to research.

I also have a keen interest in teaching/mentoring/supporting Psychology/Counselling Psychology students. I welcome anyone to ask me questions about their journey in Psychology.

In practice, I enjoy working in a relational way with clients, often building long-term relationships and holding in mind my integrative learnings, having practiced primarily psychodynamic and CBT ways of working during training.

Publications

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