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
Effectiveness of a Cancer Bereavement Therapeutic Group.
Journal article
Jerome H. et al, (2019), J Loss Trauma, 23, 574 - 587
Impaired allocentric spatial processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Journal article
Smith KV. et al, (2015), Neurobiol Learn Mem, 119, 69 - 76
Recent publications
protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial of an online cancer bereavement group.
Journal article
King L. et al, (2026), Pilot Feasibility Stud
Desire thinking as a cognitive mechanism of yearning after bereavement.
Journal article
Comtesse H. and Smith KV., (2026), J Affect Disord, 395
Prolonged grief disorder symptoms and posttraumatic growth among Chinese shidu parents: A latent transition analysis.
Journal article
Xu X. et al, (2026), Psychol Trauma, 18, 427 - 434
Co-designed unguided internet cognitive behaviour therapy for grief in adolescence: a pilot randomised controlled trial.
Journal article
Egan SJ. et al, (2026), Cogn Behav Ther, 1 - 18
Supporting those bereaved by cancer: a service evaluation and investigation of cognitive behavioural mechanisms in the treatment of prolonged grief.
Journal article
Smith KV. et al, (2025), Eur J Psychotraumatol, 16