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Staff Profile

Dr Mma Yeebo

Clinical Lead

Background

I am the Clinical Lead at the Psychological Therapies Training and Research Clinic (PTTRC). The PTTRC offers one to one psychological therapy in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to students at Newcastle University. The PTTRC is staffed by qualified Clinical Psychologists and CBT therapists, trainee Clinical Psychologists from the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme and trainee therapists from the Postgraduate CBT diploma programmes.


In my second role I am the lead of the mental health strand of the Pro.NE project.


I trained as a Clinical Psychologist at Newcastle University from 2019-2022. I had a number of clinical placements across the lifespan in a number of secondary and tertiary mental health care services. This included community adult mental health services, community child mental health services, community older adult mental health services, and inpatient and community older adult mental health services. My final year elective placement was split between a secure children’s home and the PTTRC. My research explored whether dissociation mediated the relationship between unusual sensory experiences and trauma and how individuals with unusual sensory experiences made sense of them. I spent three years as the DClinPsy representative within the Graduate School Research Committee which sits in the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS). I also spent two years (2019-2021) as the co-chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Sub-Committee (EDI-SC) within the DClinPsy course and was heavily involved with initiatives emanating from this subcommittee including the introduction of anti-racism teaching on the DClinPsy course, the interrogation of selection procedures for the DClinPsy course, the introduction of an LGBTQ workstream, and a mentor scheme supporting individuals from racially and minoritised backgrounds to access clinical training.

 

Prior to my clinical training I worked as an Assistant Psychologist in a number of high risk, high harm, and high vulnerability secure environments including community mental health teams, psychiatric hospital, a Category B remand prison for men, and a psychiatric ward within this prison. I worked closely with individuals struggling with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. I also worked closely to support staff within their role, to develop psychological perspectives, reflect on their practice, reflect on their experiences in such settings, and to explore and address psychological burnout.


Before my time as an Assistant Psychologist, I worked in a number of support roles with individuals with severe autism spectrum disorder and severe and enduring mental health needs. I also worked within a highly specialised setting offering community-based mental health support for racially and ethnically minoritised adults with severe and enduring mental health needs.

Teaching

I have also co-facilitated teaching for trainee clinical psychologists from the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme at Newcastle University.

Research

I am interested in increasing the accessibility of psychological therapies for all, but especially for those from racially, ethnically, and sexually minoritised backgrounds. I am currently involved in a number of research projects exploring unusual sensory experiences, trauma and dissociation, ethnic disparities in admission rates to a secure children’s home and staff experiences of working within settings. I am also working on a research project exploring the experiences of racially minoritised students at Newcastle University who are seeking care and support for their mental health needs.

 

My wider research interests include cross cultural mental health and how mental health needs are conceptualised and understood across cultures, especially exploring the intersection of spirituality and healthcare. I am interested in how individuals in countries without an established and freely accessible health care system understand mental health difficulties, how support is obtained within such contexts and who offers such support.

Publications