Lisa Oakley

Professor Lisa Oakley holds the chair in Safeguarding and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Chester, where she serves as Post Graduate Research Tutor for Psychology. A core participant in the UK's Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and former chair of the National Working Group for Child Abuse Linked to Faith and Belief, her research defines spiritual abuse mechanisms and develops safeguarding frameworks for faith contexts.

She created the first evidence-based definition of spiritual abuse adopted by UK safeguarding authorities and chairs the British Psychological Society's Safeguarding Advisory Group. Professor Oakley teaches qualitative methods, trauma, and safeguarding while leading international training initiatives for faith organizations.