Matthew Leavesley

Biography

Matthew is a BACP Senior Accredited Person-Centred and Experiential Counsellor, EMDR Practitioner, Clinical Supervisor, Lecturer and Researcher. He has over 20 years of experience across the NHS, higher education, and the private, public and third sectors. His early career in the helping professions included working within bereavement, victim support, domestic abuse, and rape crisis services.

Matthew currently works within NHS Talking Therapies as a High Intensity Therapist and Clinical Supervisor, providing specialist psychological interventions for individuals experiencing mental health difficulties including Long Covid and other long-term health conditions (LTCs). His clinical practice emphasises multidisciplinary collaboration, integrated physical and mental healthcare, and psychologically informed approaches to chronic illness and emotional wellbeing.

Alongside his clinical work, Matthew works on the MSc Counselling and Psychotherapy programme at Keele University and teaches on the Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD) training programme at York St. John University. This means he continues to actively contribute to the development of practitioners' therapeutic skills and clinical competence. He also works for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) helping to assess and maintain professional standards within the counselling profession.

Matthew's doctoral research explored the impact of counter-terrorism policy (Prevent) on young people in full-time education, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. His academic interests include mixed-methods research, psychological wellbeing, health inequalities and the integration of psychological therapies within healthcare settings. Previously, he worked as a researcher at the University of Birmingham on an EU-funded Erasmus+ project in the Kingdom of Bhutan, aimed at improving the mental wellbeing of staff and students within higher education.

Research and scholarship

Matthew’s research interests span the social sciences. He has a particular interest in mixed-methods research, especially Q Methodology, alongside qualitative approaches such as autoethnography. His recent publications include an NHS service evaluation exploring the effectiveness of Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression (PCE-CfD) for people living with Long COVID, published in Health Expectations (2025). He has also contributed book chapters on counselling within NHS primary care and the globalisation of extremism, alongside articles in BACP Therapy Today exploring professional identity and therapeutic practice.

Matthew regularly presents at national and international conferences, including those hosted by the BACP and British Psychological Society (BPS). His work seeks to strengthen the evidence base for person-centred therapies, promote multidisciplinary collaboration and advance psychologically informed healthcare.

Teaching

• PSY-40026 Research Methods
• PSY-40027 Dissertation