Dr Anna Robinson
Senior Lecturer
Education
Personal statement
I am a Senior Lecturer in autism and neurodiversity in the Strathclyde Institute of Education. My research, teaching and knowledge exchange is in the field of education and psychology. I am a chartered psychologist specialising in psychotherapy. My research interests primarily relate to autism and neurodiversity in three areas: emotional psychology, an emotion-focused-experiential approach to psychotherapy, counselling and coaching, and trauma and post-traumatic growth. While these areas may be considered discretely, my work often demonstrates the overlap between these. My PhD Counselling & Psychotherapy: 'Enhancing Emotional Processing in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Clients with Autistic Process' received the Outstanding Research Award by The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (2017). I welcome opportunities to discuss collaboration around areas that align with my research interests.
My current research projects are focused on exploring trauma, transformative emotional healing, human flourishing and compassionate practice:
- PI on Exploring how Emotion-Focused Therapy impacts mental health, trauma & healing and empathy & compassion in clients with autistic process
- PI on Creating Autistic Trauma Stories exploring the impact expressive & creative art has on trauma sense making and healing funded by The John & Lorna Wing Foundation
- PI on Emotional State Estimation for Emotion-Focused Group Therapy for Autism Spectrum an interdisciplinary project funded by ESRC
- CI on 'Because we Care' exploring the lived experiences of siblings of children with life limited conditions funded by the AHRC
I have established and lead the TLC Network. This group brings together interdisciplinary practitioner researchers with an interest in understanding Trauma through lived experience, Love and Compassion focused practice.
Internal positions:
- 2025 - Director of Post Graduate Research (Progression) - This is a Co-Director role with a remit of student progression to completion.
- 2025 - Leading an internal Faculty Equality, Diversity & Inclusion project Exploring staff and PGR experiences of neurodiversity-affirming practice within the university of Strathclyde.
- 2022/25 Development of a new Post Graduate Certificate (PgCert) / EdD specialist pathway in Neuro-Affirmative Creative-Relational Inquiry through participatory co-design
- 2019 - Lead for the EdD (Autism) and PhD in Applied Autism Research
- 2010 -2020: Course Leader for the MSc/MEd in Autism Studies
External positions:
- 2023 - 2025 NUI University of Galway: External Examiner for the DPsychSc Clinical Psychology
- 2020 – 2024 Liverpool John Moore University: External Examiner for the MA Counselling & Psychotherapy
- 2018 – 2022 University of Swansea: External Examiner for the MSc Autism & Related Condition
- Editorial Board Member: Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders
- Committee Member: Scottish Autism Research Group (SARG)
- Associate Consultant: AT-Autism, International Autism Consultancy
- Research Associate: Centre for Practice Innovation, Scottish Autism
I am a member of the British Psychological Society, British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, Society for Psychotherapy Research and the International Society for Emotion-Focused Therapy.
Autism Practice: Prior to joining the University I was the Head of Autism Expertise and Knowledge Exchange; Head of the Centre for Education & Training in Autism and the Autism Family Advisory & Consultancy Service for Scottish Autism. I was a member of the Senior Management Team responsible for the design of the first Autism School in Scotland (New Struan School: A Centre for Autism) and an author for the original 'The Autism Toolbox: A Resource for Scottish Schools'.
Area of Expertise
- autism and neurodiversity
- emotional psychology
- emotion-focused-experiential psychotherapy, counselling and coaching
- trauma, healing & post-traumatic growth
- emotion-focused & compassion-focused practice: parents, teachers, practitioners
- expressive/creative methods and affective technology
Prize And Awards
- Highly Commended #CATS Creating Autistic Trauma Stories
- Recipient
- 30/4/2024
- Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
- Recipient
- 9/3/2021
- North Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Partnership: Celebration of Learning: Transformative Skills
- Recipient
- 21/11/2018
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Outstanding Research Award
- Recipient
- 13/4/2017
- Chartered Psychologist
- Recipient
- 1/11/2015
Publications
- Experiences of chairwork and working with parts in emotion-focused therapy for clients with autistic/neurodivergent (AuND) process
- Robinson Anna, Elliott Robert
- SPR 55th International Annual Meeting (2024)
- Autistic youth as active agents for societal change
- Robinson Anna, Highcock Kerrie
- The Lives of Children and Adolescents with Disabilities (2024) (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003102915-13
- Extending empathy to physical symptoms
- Nicolaou Thalia, Elliott Robert, Robinson Anna
- Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapies Vol 23, pp. 20-38 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2022.2159503
- Experiences of the step-out technique in emotion-focused therapy for clients with autistic process
- Robinson Anna, Kalawski Juan Pablo
- Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies Vol 22, pp. 265-282 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2022.2115941
- Autistic adult experiences of interpersonal process recall as a therapeutic task in emotion-focused therapy
- Robinson Anna
- International Society for Emotion-Focused Therapy (2023)
- Experiences of interpersonal process recall as a therapeutic task in emotion-focused therapy-group for clients with autistic process
- Robinson Anna
- Society for Psychotherapy Research (2023)
Teaching
My teaching focus is around autism and neurodiversity, emotional psychology, factors that contribute to stigma, social exclusion, trauma and how to promote positive psychological growth. I predominantly teach Emotion-Focused Counselling Skills for Autism Spectrum and for other hard to reach populations. In 2024-2025 I am the academic lead for the new participatory co-design PgCert Neuro-Affirmative Creative-Relational Inquiry
I can offer inter-disciplinary PhD supervision where there is a focus on autism and neurodiversity. These include: PhD in Applied Autism Research/EdD Education (Autism); Counselling & Psychotherapy; & Psychology. I offer PGT Masters research projects that align with my own research interests: Emotion-Regulation; Emotion-Focused Counselling; Emotion-Focused Coaching Skills for parents of neurodivergent children; psychotherapy process and outcome research; pre-therapy; trauma,healing emotional injuries, and post traumatic growth; compassion focused practice; creative methods to support voice and self-expression.
Research Interests
My research mainly focuses on autistic/neurodivergent process with a particular emphasis on exploring mental health and wellbeing. My research explores emotional processing, trauma-related experiences, psychological growth and compassionate practice. As a psychotherapy researcher, I have particular interest on process and outcome research for clients with autistic process, both in individual and group emotion-focused therapy. This includes neurodiversity-affirming counselling and psychotherapy and the use of expressive and creative art to explore emotional experiences, and trauma and healing. I am interested in giving voice to clients’ experiences and use creative methods and affective technology to aid those who have difficulties speaking, exploring non-verbal strategies of expression and narration.
PGR Supervision: I supervise a range of PhD, EdD, Masters students in Applied Autism Research, Education, Counselling & Psychotherapy and Psychology.
Current areas of supervison include: Vicarious trauma in parents who witnessed victimization of their autistic child; empathy blocks in Emotion-Focused Therapy; Person-Centred Counselling in adults with an ADHD process; authentic autistic play; relational connections between autistic gamers and their avatars; emotion responses to parenting an autistic child; autistic girls experiences of mainstream school; voice elicitation in autistic young people with complex communication needs; 'autism support' in mainstream secondary school; relationships between autistic daughters and their non-autistic mums
PhD/EdD Recruitment:
Please contact me if you would like to pursue a PhD in Applied Autism Research; Counselling & Psychotherapy; Psychology or PhD/EdD in Education, with focus on areas related to:
- Promoting positive outcomes in the lives of autistic/neurodivergent people
- Trauma, healing and positive growth
- Trauma-Informed Practice & Compassion-Focused Practice;
- Therapeutic/creative/expressive methods to enhance relational connections;
- Affective technology for supporting emotional healing and psychological growth
Professional Activities
- Autism Europe International Conference (Event)
- Member
- 11/9/2025
- Neuro-EFT
- Organiser
- 12/2/2025
- Scottish Autism's Centre for Practice, Policy and Research launch
- Participant
- 30/1/2025
- Disability Research Showcase
- Speaker
- 12/12/2024
- Consultation Launch of the Centre for Autism and Research at Strathclyde
- Organiser
- 13/11/2024
- Education (Organisational unit)
- Member
- 30/10/2024
Projects
- Autism Dialogue Approach®
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator) Drury, Jonny (Co-investigator)
- This six session Knowledge Exchange training course explores neuro-affirming theories and practices for the classroom.
It explores the impact of trauma-related experiences for autistic young people and for those in an educator role.
We introduce the concepts around dialogue, with the introduction of the Autism Dialogue Approach®.
This series is delivered through short presentations of relevant theory and research and experientially through engagement in a series of Autism Dialogues. - 24-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2024
- Using Philosophical Dialogues with Children to Understand Care and Wellbeing for Siblings of those with Life-Limiting Conditions
- Cassidy, Claire (Principal Investigator) Robinson, Anna (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2025
- Emotional State Estimation for Emotion-Focused Group Therapy for Autism Spectrum
- Robinson, Anna (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2028
- Creating Autistic Trauma Stories: CATS: Healing Arts Model
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator)
- 06-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2025
- Implementing Trauma Informed Practices in the Classroom
- Robinson, Anna (Academic)
- This two session Knowledge Exchange training course explores trauma-informed practice in the classroom. It explores the impact of trauma for the person and the practitioner supporting trauma-experienced young people. It explores the presence of trauma for children and young people reviewed through the medical lens and domains of trauma, the importance of self-care and a range of experiential and practical tasks for practitioners working in the field.
- 28-Jan-2022 - 19-Jan-2022
- Supporting autistic wellbeing through meaningful interaction: Evidencing relational support in social care
- Robinson, Anna (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2022