Anke Ehlers

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.