Research groups
Colleges
Websites
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The Loss Foundation
Trustee and Head of Research
Collaborators
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Anke Ehlers
Professor of Experimental Psychopathology
Kirsten Smith
MA (HONS), DClinPsy, DPhil
MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow
- Clinical Psychologist
Research Interests
My interests include psychological and neurobiological responses to traumatic experiences and the clinical translation of experimental research. My DPhil research focused on increasing our understanding of the processes involved in an intense or enduring grieving process or Prolonged Grief (PG) with a view to developing more effective psychological treatments to manage distress.
I was awarded an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship to develop and provide initial empirical support for a new therapist-assisted digital cognitive therapy for Prolonged Grief Disorder (ICT- PG).
I am a trustee on the board of a registered charity providing free facilitated group support to those who have lost loved ones to cancer (www.thelossfoundation.org). In acknowledging the scale and impact of loss to cancer, we aim to encourage discussion, provide information and raise awareness through our bereavement support services across the UK.
Key publications
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Impaired allocentric spatial processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Smith KV. et al, (2015), Neurobiol Learn Mem, 119, 69 - 76
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Effectiveness of a Cancer Bereavement Therapeutic Group.
Jerome H. et al, (2019), J Loss Trauma, 23, 574 - 587
Recent publications
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Prolonged Grief Disorder
Killikelly C. et al, (2025), The Lancet
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Can self-distancing benefit adjustment to bereavement? A multi-method investigation
Zhou N. et al, (2025), Social Science and Medicine
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Grief and coping among relatives of patients who died of COVID-19 in intensive care during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
Rodriguez-Villar S. et al, (2024), BJPsych Open, 10
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A protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial of unguided internet cognitive behaviour therapy for grief in adolescents
Egan S. et al, (2024), Internet Interventions
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From Loss to Disorder: The Influence of Maladaptive Coping on Prolonged Grief
SMITH K. et al, (2024), Psychiatry Research