Research groups
Colleges
Anke Ehlers
Dipl-Psych PhD Dr rer nat habil CPsychol
Professor of Experimental Psychopathology and Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow
- Co-Director, Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma
- NIHR Senior Investigator
Anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorder
Research Summary
My research mainly focuses on anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. My Wellcome Trust funded group uses experimental paradigms and prospective longitudinal studies to identify psychological factors that help explain the development and maintenance of these disabling conditions. The results of these studies help us develop new psychological treatments that target these factors. The treatments are evaluated in randomised trials and cohort studies.
The cognitive therapy programme for PTSD developed by our group has been shown to be highly acceptable to patients and very effective. It has been successfully disseminated to provide effective treatment services for victims of the bombings in Omagh and London, and to National Health Service clinics.
My contributions to the field have recently been recognised by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022.
Current research projects investigate whether the treatment can be delivered more efficiently, and what the mechanisms of treatment are. Experimental studies investigate mechanisms of intrusive memories after trauma.
I am a Supernumerary Fellow of Wolfson College. I am a Fellow of the British Academy, The Academy of Medical Sciences, the Association for Psychological Science, and an elected Member of German National Academy of Scientists Leopoldina and the Academia Europaea.
Recent publications
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Early intervention in post-traumatic stress disorder without exposure to trauma memories using internet-delivered cognitive therapy: A pilot case series.
Journal article
Thew GR. et al, (2023), Br J Clin Psychol
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More than doubling the clinical benefit of each hour of therapist time: a randomised controlled trial of internet cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder.
Journal article
Clark DM. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 11
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External locus of control but not self-esteem predicts increasing social anxiety among bullied children
Journal article
Graham B. et al, (2022), Clinical Psychology in Europe, 4
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Cognitive Therapy for PTSD: Updating Memories and Meanings of Trauma
Chapter
EHLERS A. and WILD J., (2022), Evidence Based Treatments for Trauma-Related Psychological Disorders., 181 - 210
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Guided, internet based, cognitive behavioural therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (RAPID).
Journal article
Bisson JI. et al, (2022), BMJ, 377