Dr. Brendan Dunlop

Dr Brendan J Dunlop (he/him) is a principal clinical psychologist working as clinical lead for an emerging psychological workforce: the Trainee Associate Psychological Practitioners (TAPPs). As well as this, Brendan is a Clinical Lecturer in Clinical Psychology on the University of Manchester’s Doctorate in Clinical Psychology training programme. Brendan has worked within psychology and mental health for almost 10 years, and he has experience working with clients across the lifespan, with a wide range of presenting difficulties.

Brendan’s research and clinical interests centre around minoritised mental health (particularly LGBTQ+ people), self-harm and suicide prevention. Brendan supervises Trainee Clinical Psychologist research projects in these areas, and lectures on these topics. Brendan is also the author of the new upcoming book: “The Queer Mental Health Workbook” that will be published in March 2022 and aims to help young people and adults identifying as LGBTQ+ with a variety of mental health challenges that are particularly prevalent within this population.

Brendan obtained his BSc degree in Psychology and Language Sciences from University College London (UCL) in 2015. He has recently completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Manchester.

Clinical Psychologists are trained in a variety of therapies and therapeutic approaches. For Brendan, he primarily works with clients using Narrative Therapy techniques, relational concepts and theories (particularly from Cognitive Analytic Therapy) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Brendan will always give a choice of approaches to clients that he is working with and discuss why he believes a particular approach (based on the evidence base for the primary difficulty a client may be experiencing) could be most beneficial.

Within therapy, Brendan believes that core considerations should be given to a client’s social and cultural context, interpersonal relations, and the interaction between intersecting aspects of an individual’s experience of the world. This is so that difficulties can be considered within context, so that any changes or progress in therapy will have a greater likelihood of success ‘in the real world’.

Whilst Brendan is trained to work with a multitude of mental health and wellbeing challenges, he has particular expertise working with late adolescents and adults that have difficulties with:

– Interpersonal trauma (trauma resulting from difficulties with relationships)
– Self-harm/self-injury (in the broadest sense; including physically injuring the body, self-harmful eating behaviours, self-harmful sexual behaviour, or self-harmful substance misuse)
– so-called ‘Personality disorders’
– Low mood/depression
– Feelings of anxiety
– Difficulties with emotional regulation
– Other mental health difficulties that particularly present in, or affect, LGBTQ+ people, or those from other minoritised backgrounds (such as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour, people that are neurodivergent or people that are disabled). This includes managing microaggressions, gender identity concerns, intersectional challenges and experiences of oppression.
– Adjustment to physical health conditions, in particular a diagnosis of HIV

Brendan recognises that people can often experience multiple mental health concerns or challenges at the same time. Exploring the links between these challenges and how they fit with a client’s story and experience, as well as current contextual information at the time, are crucial to working out a plan for intervention. Sometimes people need specific strategies or techniques to manage, and sometimes people just need a safe, reflective, and compassionate space to discuss what is going on for them. Brendan works with clients to collaboratively create a plan for therapy and will discuss this in the context of a client’s specific goals.

Brendan is open to feedback from clients, and if a particular therapeutic approach is not working for a particular client, then that’s OK! Brendan can discuss alternatives, including the pros and cons of specific approaches, for a client’s specific circumstances.

Brendan is a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (PYL039850).