Kay Capaldi

Kay Capaldi is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde's School of Psychology, affiliated with the Centre for Research in Psychological Wellbeing. She holds a PhD in Counselling & Psychotherapy from the same institution and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (MBACP). Her academic roles include curriculum development, research supervision, and training future practitioners in psychology and counselling. She currently serves as an External Investigator at the Strathclyde Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Clinic within the School of Psychological Sciences & Health.

Education:

• PhD in Counselling & Psychotherapy, University of Strathclyde
• MSc in Counselling & Psychotherapy, University of Strathclyde
• Postgraduate Certificates in Academic Practice, Emotion-Focused Therapy, and Supervision Practice

Research Interests: Dr. Capaldi’s work focuses on self-relationship dynamics, negative self-treatment, and therapeutic outcomes, particularly within Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and social anxiety. She employs both qualitative discourse analysis and quantitative psychometric methods to explore client experiences and therapy efficacy.

Recent Research Trends: Her publications examine the impact of the pandemic on therapy delivery, self-criticism in social anxiety, EFT training processes, and discourse patterns in client-therapist interactions.

Awards & Affiliations:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (MBACP)

Advising & Grants: Capaldi has led or co-led 7 projects since 2014, including studies on self-attack patterns in EFT, psychometric validation of measurement tools, and pandemic-related clinic adaptations. Her work often involves interdisciplinary collaborations and mixed-methods approaches.

Labs & Teams: Central to her activities is the Strathclyde Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Clinic, where she contributes to advancing clinical research and practitioner training.