Research and Selected Publications
Research
Before training as a clinical psychologist I worked for a number of years at a leading think-tank, and also held posts at the Universities of Liverpool and East London. During this time I published widely on the psychology of happiness and wellbeing. To give a few examples:
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I co-authored the influential Five Ways to Wellbeing, which is now a widely-used framework for mental health promotion, endorsed by the NHS and leading charities such as Mind.
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I contributed to the landmark Oxford Handbook of Happiness, editing the section on “Happiness and Society” and co-authoring a chapter on the relationships between wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
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I wrote a chapter for the Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology, exploring the challenges of defining and measuring psychological states such as “flourishing”.
Although in recent years I have focused on clinical practice, I have continued to be involved in research. I am particular interested in the relationship between socio-economic factors and mental health difficulties, and am currently a member of the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology subcommittee on Public Health and Prevention.
Selected Publications
Thompson, S. (2018). Wellbeing, mental health and the false promise of the medical model. In N. J. L. Brown, T. Lomas, & F. J. Eiroá-Orosa. The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology. London, UK: Routledge.
Gabbay, M., […] Thompson, S., et al. (2017). Debt counselling for depression in primary care: an adaptive randomised controlled pilot trial (DeCoDer study). Health Technology Assessment, 21(35), https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21350
Thompson, S. (2016). Qualitative methods and public policy. Journal of Positive Psychology, 12, 321-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262623
Thompson, S. (2014). On the diagnosis debate. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1, 498. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00065-0
Thompson, S. (2013). Editor of section ‘Happiness and Society’. In S. David, I. Boniwell & A. Conley-Ayers (Editors at large), The Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, S., Marks, N., & Jackson, T. (2013). Well-being and sustainability. In S. David, I. Boniwell & A. Conley-Ayers (Editors at large), The Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kjell, O. N., Thompson, S. (2013). Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. PeerJ, 1, e231 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.231
Aked, J., & Thompson, S. (2011). Five Ways to Wellbeing: New Applications, New Ways of Thinking. Report commissioned by NHS Confederation and the National Mental Health Development Unit.
Mahony, S., Thompson, S., & Seaford C. (2011). Ways to Wellbeing: Exploring the barriers to promoting public mental health. Report commissioned by the Department for Health and Sciencewise-ERC.
Thompson, S., Michaelson, J., Abdallah, S., Johnson, V., Morris, D., Riley, K., & Simms, A. (2011). Moments of Change as Opportunities for Influencing Behaviour. Report commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Michaelson, J., Abdallah, S., Steuer, N., Thompson, S., & Marks, N. (2009). National Accounts of Well-being: Bringing real wealth onto the balance sheet. London: New Economics Foundation.
Thompson, S., & Marks, N. (2008). Measuring Well-being in Policy: Issues and applications. Report commissioned by the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Well-being.
Aked, J., Marks, N., Cordon, C., & Thompson, S. (2008) Five Ways to Well-being: The evidence. Report commissioned by the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Well-being.