Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

Reimagine

  • Anxiety
  • Autism Spectrum
  • Childhood & Adolescence (3-18 years)
  • Clinical Practice
  • Clinical Psychology, Mental Health & Wellbeing
  • Early Life Stress & Trauma
  • Memory

Dr Alex Lau-Zhu

Youth Mental Health Through the Science of Imagination

Our translational research is curious about the psychological mechanisms that shape risk and resilience in mental health. We focus on imagery-based, emotional, autobiographical thinking as a key yet underexplored process, particularly in youth (ages 13-24), a developmental period that is both a critical window of vulnerability and a powerful opportunity for early, mechanistically driven interventions. 

Despite imagery's potential developmental salience and appeal, it has been historically overlooked in youth. Our work also seeks to generate novel theoretical insights into mental health and its disorders within a developmental context.

A distinctive feature of our work is the integration of experimental and clinical perspectives, rarely fully harnessed for youth mental health research, and with imagery often at the core. Theoretical integration across literatures and through a cognitive lens is also central.

Alongside the imagery focus, some projects extend to other modifiable processes and intervention contexts. Examples include early interventions in clinical/NHS, school, and community settings; trauma and resilience in war-affected contexts; complex trauma, early adversities, and sexual harm; and transdiagnostic work in adults, including across neurodivergence (e.g. ADHD).

Current research areas include:

(1) Flashforward imagery in anxiety (e.g. worst-case imaginings);

(2) Flashbacks and intrusive memories of trauma;

(3) Imagery in autism mental health (e.g. emotional dysregulation and traumatic stress).

We integrate a wide range of methodologies, including experimental psychopathology, cognitive paradigms, systematic reviews, qualitative research, single case designs, trial designs, longitudinal approaches and experience sampling. We strive to work closely with young people and other stakeholders, so that our research remains grounded in lived experience and real-world relevance alongside conceptual rigour.

Our research has been supported by leading funders and charities, including the Medical Research Council, Oxford University Press John Fell Funds, National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centers (Imperial and Oxford Health), Economic and Social Research Council, Oxford Hospital Charities, NHS Health Education England, Cambridge International Trust, China Oxford Scholarship Fund, and philanthropic funding for autism research.

Our team

Selected publications