Helen Manley

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher within the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry. As part of the TOPIC research group, I work on the iCATS:i2i (Identifying Child Anxiety Through Schools: identification to intervention) project: a large school-based randomised controlled trial to evaluate approaches for identifying and supporting primary school children with, and at risk for, anxiety disorders.  

I completed my DPhil with the Department of Psychiatry in 2024. My mixed-methods thesis focused on the design, development and preliminary evaluation of practitioner-informed training for primary school staff on managing anxiety in primary schools through day-to-day classroom practice. I was supervised by Professor Cathy Creswell and Dr Tessa Reardon and my research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Before joining the TOPIC research group, I worked as a primary school teacher, where I spent 11 years teaching across the primary age range. I completed my MA in Education at Oxford Brookes University in 2017. My final dissertation focused on the effectiveness of school-based counselling interventions in reducing anxiety in primary school children.

I received a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in 2001 before working in Communications for an international organisation supporting children at risk before completing my PgCertEd in 2009. 

Research interests

• Child & adolescent mental health
• Qualitative research methods
• Co-design and other participatory research methods
• Implementation Science (in particular translating and embedding research into real-world settings/ practice) 
• Primary Education
• Parental engagement and collaboration in education