Ms Jennifer Darling
School of Health & Society
Current positions
Lecturer
Biography
I am a part-time Lecturer at the University of Salford, where I have served as Programme Director for the MSc/PGDip/PGCert in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy in prior years and contribute to postgraduate nursing education. I have over 25 years of experience across inpatient, community, and specialist mental health services, and have held senior clinical, academic, and leadership roles in both the NHS and higher education.
Alongside my university role, I am Director of Adult Training Programmes at the Psychological Therapies Training Centre (PTTC), Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. In this senior leadership position, I have strategic oversight of all adult psychological therapy training provision based at Prestwich, including NHS England-funded Talking Therapies and Serious Mental Illness (SMI) programmes. I also lead the development of new, psychologically informed training for nurses programme, thereby strengthening the integration between mental health nursing and evidence-based psychological practice.
I am a BABCP-accredited therapist, supervisor and trainer, and a registered mental health nurse.
My research focuses on evidence-based psychological therapies, workforce development, and experiential learning in professional training. A central strand of my work examines the role of experiential learning in the development of therapeutic competence, particularly within mindfulness-based interventions. I have recently submitted a peer-reviewed publication exploring the importance of experiential learning in mindfulness training. I publish in academic journals and present regularly at national conferences.
Areas of Research
My research sits at the intersection of evidence-based psychological therapies, professional training and experiential learning. A central focus of my work is the role of experiential learning and embodied practice in developing therapeutic competence for trainees in psychological therapies and nursing. I am particularly interested in understanding how and why self-practice and self-reflection enhance clinical skill acquisition and reflective capacity in CBT training contexts.
I have recently submitted a peer-reviewed paper examining whether practitioners need to have a regular mindfulness practice to facilitate mindfulness groups exploring the experiential dimensions of mindfulness training and their impact on therapeutic embodiment. Building on this, I am undertaking a piece of research at the University of Salford investigating self-practice self-reflection (SPSR) and its use with CBT trainees, aiming to clarify how reflective practice contributes to clinical competence and professional development. My wider scholarly interests include workforce development, training innovation, and integrating psychologically informed approaches within nursing and allied health curricula
Qualifications
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M.Sc. Leadership in Healthcare
2014 - 2018 -
M.Sc. with Distinction in Teaching Mindfulness based Practices
2012 - 2016 -
M.Sc. with Merit in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy
2006 - 2008