Lauren Gillies-Walker
Teaching Fellow in Health in Social Science
Contact details
- Email: lgillie3@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Background
Lauren Gillies-Walker is a Teaching Fellow in Health in Social Sciences within the department of Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Sciences. Lauren completed a BA (Hons) in Psychology at the University of The West of Scotland, followed by an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at The University of Strathclyde and is currently due to complete a PhD at The University of The West of Scotland. Her PhD explores the use of technology based on physiological signals to support Autistic emotion regulation. Previously, Lauren was a Lecturer in Psychology/Health and Social Care in Further Education (2016-2022) and also worked as an Associate Lecturer in Psychology/Social Science at The University of The West of Scotland (2015-2019, 2021-2022).
Outwith academia Lauren spent several years working within the Health and Social Care sector (2013-2019). Here, Lauren specialised in crisis response, providing bespoke training for staff teams who supported people with disabilities and/or mental health issues/mental illness. This focused on managing behaviours of concern (e.g self-harm, harming others) using communication strategies and verbal de-escalation. She also worked briefly within the NHS within a drug and alcohol unit where she was involved in relapse prevention and health promotion.
Lauren has also previously worked as a research assistant in projects such as: Improving dementia care in prisons, The under-valuation of care home workers during COVID 19 and Investigating F(0) contour shape in infant and foreigner directed speech.
Lauren’s teaching practice is underpinned by both her clinical and research experience, particularly in relation to how psychological research and theoretical frameworks can be applied within health and social care settings. Lauren has an interest in promoting inclusion within higher education and is keen to explore new ways this can be achieved within teaching and learning practice.