Colleges
Daniel Freeman
PhD DClinPsy CPsychol FBPsS FBA
Chair of Psychology
- Lead, Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP)
- National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Psychological therapies theme co-lead, NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre
- Founder of Oxford VR
- Professorial Fellow, Magdalen College Oxford
- Fellow, British Psychological Society
- Fellow, British Academy
My work aims to help improve the lives of people with mental health conditions by developing, testing, and implementing new cognitive-behavioural interventions. A key focus is on paranoia. Over the past decade I have developed the most effective psychological therapy for persecutory delusions: the Feeling Safe programme. This is a translational treatment built upon advances by my research group in the theoretical understanding of paranoia.
I have pioneered the use of virtual reality (VR) to assess, understand, and treat mental health conditions. These treatments are automated: a virtual therapist guides the patient through the program. This means the interventions can be supported by a range of staff, thereby increasing access to effective psychological therapy. gameChange, a ground-breaking VR treatment for people with psychosis, is now being used in mental health services in the UK and USA. Development of gameChange was supported by the inaugural National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation Mental Health Challenge Award.
My current work includes producing a more accessible version of the landmark Feeling Safe programme (Feeling Safer); conducting a clinical trial of a new automated VR therapy for young patients with psychosis (Phoenix); developing and testing a new automated VR therapy for needle fears; running a large multi-centre clinical trial testing the effects of treating sleep difficulties in patients with psychosis (Sleeping Better); a randomised controlled trial evaluating psychological therapy for patients at crisis with suicidal ideation (RAPID); and carrying out new psychological studies of paranoia, grandiose delusions, and hallucinations. My research has been supported by the NIHR, UK Medical Research Council (MRC), and the Wellcome Trust.
I studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge and then completed a PhD and a doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsy) at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. I have held a Wellcome Trust Fellowship, a Medical Research Council Senior Clinical Fellowship, and an NIHR Research Professorship. In 2011 I moved to the University of Oxford as Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and set up the Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis (O-CAP) research group.
I joined the Department of Experimental Psychology in 2023 to hold the Chair of Psychology. I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, an NIHR Senior Investigator, founder of the University spinout Oxford VR, Professorial Fellow at Magdalen College Oxford, and Fellow of the British Academy. I am the recipient of the 2020 British Psychological Society Presidents' Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge.
Key publications
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Journal article
Freeman D. and Loe BS., (2023), BMJ Ment Health, 26
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Freeman D. et al, (2023), Lancet Psychiatry, 10, 836 - 847
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Freeman D. et al, (2022), Lancet Psychiatry, 9, 375 - 388
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 696 - 707
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Freeman D. et al, (2021), Lancet Public Health, 6, e416 - e427
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Freeman D. et al, (2020), Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 628 - 637
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Freeman D. et al, (2018), Lancet Psychiatry, 5, 625 - 632
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Freeman D. et al, (2017), Lancet Psychiatry, 4, 749 - 758
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Freeman D., (2016), Lancet Psychiatry, 3, 685 - 692
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 305 - 313
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Freeman D. et al, (2015), Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 975 - 983
Recent publications
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Diamond R. et al, (2024), Int J Soc Psychiatry, 70, 1525 - 1532
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Journal article
Jenner L. et al, (2024), Psychol Med, 1 - 9
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Potential research priorities for understanding and treating severe paranoia (persecutory delusions): a priority setting partnership between patients, carers, mental health staff, and researchers.
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Sher D. et al, (2024), BMJ Mental Health
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Aunjitsakul W. et al, (2024), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 15
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Rovira A. et al, (2024), Sci Rep, 14
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Rosebrock L. et al, (2024), JMIR Serious Games, 12
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Wei S. et al, (2024), Sci Rep, 14
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Pyle M. et al, (2024), Trials, 25
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Freeman D. et al, (2024), Behav Cogn Psychother, 52, 277 - 287
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Freeman D., (2024), Br J Psychiatry, 224, 147 - 149
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Isham L. et al, (2024), Behav Cogn Psychother, 1 - 15
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Freeman D., (2024), Schizophr Bull
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Diamond R. et al, (2024), BMJ Ment Health, 27
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Paranoia: A Journey Into Extreme Mistrust and Anxiety
Book
Freeman D., (2024)
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Conference paper
Wei S. et al, (2024), Proceedings - 2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2024, 891 - 892
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Freeman D. et al, (2023), BMJ Open, 13
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Freeman D. et al, (2023), Lancet Psychiatry, 10, 836 - 847
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Journal article
Freeman D. and Loe BS., (2023), BMJ Ment Health, 26
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Explaining Paranoia
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FREEMAN D. and Loe BS., (2023), BMJ Mental Health
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Tolmeijer E. et al, (2023), Trials, 24
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A psychological framework to understand interpersonal violence by forensic patients with psychosis.
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LAMBE S. et al, (2023), British Journal of Psychiatry
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Raffard S. et al, (2023), Encephale
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Measuring dissociation across adolescence and adulthood: Developing the short-form Černis Felt Sense of Anomaly scale (ČEFSA-14)
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Cernis E. et al, (2023), Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
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Waite F. et al, (2023), Lancet Psychiatry, 10, 706 - 718
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Wei S. et al, (2023), Sci Rep, 13
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AN EARLY CLINICAL PHASE COMPARISON OF AN AUTOMATED VR COGNITIVE THERAPY WITH VR MENTAL RELAXATION THERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF PERSISTENT PERSECUTORY DELUSIONS IN PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH PSYCHOSIS (THRIVE): A PARALLEL GROUP, SINGLE-BLIND, RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL IN ENGLAND WITH MEDIATION ANALYSES.
Journal article
FREEMAN D., (2023), Lancet Psychiatry
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Waite F. et al, (2023), Psychol Med, 53, 4121 - 4129
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Freeman D. et al, (2023), Psychol Med, 53, 4373 - 4384
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Henry AL. et al, (2023), J Affect Disord, 339, 58 - 63
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Preprint
Černis E. et al, (2023)
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Journal article
Isham L. et al, (2023), Schizophr Bull
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Freeman D. et al, (2023), Psychol Med, 53, 1185 - 1195
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Sheaves B. et al, (2023), Clin Psychol Rev, 100
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Lambe S. et al, (2023), Psychol Med, 53, 1233 - 1243
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The Oxford Positive Self Scale: psychometric development of an assessment of cognitions associated with psychological well-being
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FREEMAN D. et al, (2023), Psychological Medicine
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Bond J. et al, (2023), JMIR Serious Games, 11
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Sheaves B. et al, (2023), Schizophr Bull, 49, 151 - 160
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Finnegan SL. et al, (2023), PLoS One, 18
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Badger JR. et al, (2023), Virtual Real, 27, 2623 - 2632
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Moussa-Tooks AB. et al, (2023), Clinical Case Studies
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UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SLEEP IMPROVEMENT ON ANXIETY SYMPTOMS USING DIGITAL CBT FOR INSOMNIA
Conference paper
Henry A. et al, (2023), SLEEP, 46
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Journal article
Brown P. et al, (2022), Hum Vaccin Immunother, 18
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Journal article
Bond J. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother, 95, 1108 - 1125
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Freeman D. et al, (2022), Schizophr Res, 250, 50 - 59
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Altunkaya J. et al, (2022), J Med Internet Res, 24
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Havers L. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 1 - 13
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Freeman D. et al, (2022), Psychol Med, 52, 3127 - 3141
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Diamond R. et al, (2022), Mental Health and Physical Activity, 23
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Taylor MJ. et al, (2022), JAMA Psychiatry, 79, 889 - 897
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Greenwood KE. et al, (2022), Psychol Psychother, 95, 680 - 700