Dr Mary Lavelle is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Queens University Belfast. Mary completed her PhD at Queen Mary University of London in 2012, where she employed 3D motion capture techniques to investigate social deficits in psychosis. From here, she moved to King’s College London (2013) and Imperial College London (2017) where she held the position of Research Fellow in patient safety. In 2019 she was appointed as Senior Research Fellow in mental health at City, University of London where she developed a programme of research focusing on communication and safety in mental health settings.

Mary’s research focuses on how people engage in social interaction in the context of healthcare. She examines social exchanges in clinical populations where communication may be problematic (e.g. psychosis) and in healthcare teams where communication is critical to patient safety. ​Alongside peer reviewed publications, this research has led to the development of observational frameworks and self-report tools that can be used to evaluate clinical training and analyse communication in clinical teams.

Mary currently leads a programme of research funded by the NIHR designed to identify the communication that characterises successful de-escalation of challenging behaviour in acute mental health wards. This research will provide empirical evidence that can inform training and practice, ultimately reducing the need for restrictive practices such as physical restraint or seclusion in the management of patients in mental health settings.