Psychologist Dr JF Leader (JFL) focuses on mental health and digitalisation through practice, research, policy and outreach:
Practice
Chartered psychologist and cognitive scientist. Consultant, therapist, trainer and supervisor who specialises in communication, experiential learning and the intersection of psychology and technology. Focus on bodymindself and mixed reality therapy: navigating the physical, the virtual and the imaginary. Utilises cognitive, behavioural, systemic and third wave approaches. Works with organisations and individuals on mental health and behavioural change. Advises on research and policy.
Research
Psychology/technology research. Adjunct Research Fellow at the Media & Entertainment Psychology Lab at University College Dublin’s School of Psychology. Focus on artificial intelligence and experiential learning. Combining multimedia techniques with psychological research to build installations and simulators to make psychological interventions more interactive, fun and effective. Director of the Mixed Reality Therapy programme. This open source initiative draws on inclusive design principles to support therapy, training and assessment. Overseeing experimental design and reviewing and writing peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Policy
Elected to the Board of Directors and Mental Health Liaison of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations. Liaison to the Standing Committee on Psychology in Health. Liaison to Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Appointed to the European Council of the Liberal Professions’ Healthcare and Digitalisation groups. Liaison to the WHO Pan-European Mental Health Coalition. Contributor to European Commission and UN policy. European AI Alliance appointee. Elected to the American Psychological Association’s Committee for Global Psychology. Elected Council Member, Director and International Liaison of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Representative of Ireland at the International Union of Psychological Science and the Global Psychology Alliance. Advisory Chairperson of PSI Psychologists in Private Practice. Chartered full member of the PSI Division of Psychotherapy and the PSI Division of Teachers and Researchers. Founding Member of the Metaverse Standards Forum, their Oversight Committee and Privacy, Cybersecurity & Identity Group. Member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, the Inclusive Design Research Centre, the Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights and the Cognitive Science Society.
Outreach
Regular contributor to discussions about wellbeing and the relationship between psychology and technology in the media. Advocate for inclusivity and expertise by lived experience. Conducts organisational training programmes and delivers keynote speeches (i.e. TEDx, Mater Hospital, Science Foundation Ireland). Host of #bodymindself, available on Youtube, Spotify and iTunes, which focuses on the themes of perception, presence and control.