Joanna Omylinska-Thurston

About

Dr Joanna Omylinska-Thurston, DCPsych, CPsychol, AFBPsS, MBACP, HCPC Reg

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Contact:  [email protected]

Dr Joanna Omylinska-Thurston is an Associate Professor in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Salford and a Counselling Psychologist at the Greater Manchester Health NHS Foundation Trust.

She is a co-founder of a creative psychotherapy Arts for the Blues https://artsfortheblues.com/ which integrates evidence-based interventions for depression with creative modalities such as drawing, writing and movement. Arts for the Blues is based on Joanna’s prior British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded projects into clients’ perceptions of helpful and unhelpful factors in psychological therapies.

Joanna has been awarded NIHR Fellowship and is currently developing a Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trail for Arts for the Blues in NHS Talking Therapies, building the evidence base for this approach.

Additionally, she is collaborating on Arts Humanities Research Council funded projects focused on scaling up interventions such as Arts for the Blues and developing Arts for the Blues CPD training.

Selected publications include:

Omylinska-Thurston, J, Aithal, S., Clark, R, Liverpool, S, Moula, Z., Viliardos, L., Rodriguez-Doran, E., Wood, J., Farish-Edwards, F., Parsons, A., Eisenstadt, M., Karkou, V., Bull, M, Dubrow-Marshall, L, Thurston, S., (2024) Systematic review of digital psychotherapies for depression Journal of Medical Internet Research (Mental Health) https://mental.jmir.org/2024/1/e55500

Karkou, V. Perris., E., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Widnall, L-A., Fletcher, K., Konstant, T.N., Brocklehurst, S., Hird, C., Hutton, J (2024) Supporting the wellbeing of clinical staff in healthcare settings through a multi-levelled creative psychological intervention: a feasibility study. Arts and Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2024.2376710

Karkou, V., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Thurston, S., Clark, R., Perris, E., Kaehne, A., Pearson, M. (2024) Developing a Strategy to Scale up Place-Based Arts Initiatives that Support Mental. Health and Wellbeing: A Realist Evaluation of ‘Arts for the Blues’ Plos One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296178

Omylinska-Thurston, J., Gardner, L. (2023) Using creative arts therapies to working with trauma developed from experiences of domestic violence. In J. Roddy (Ed) Working with experiences of domestic abuse: A handbook for Counsellors, Psychotherapists, and other Mental Health Professionals. London: Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003253266-13

Parsons, A. S., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Turner, R., Thurston, S., Starkey, J., Omylinska-Thurston, J., & Karkou, V. (2022). The Importance of Psychological Flow in a Creative, Embodied and Enactive Psychological Therapy Approach (Arts for the Blues). Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2022.2130431

Thurston, S., Griffin, J., Davismoon, S., Omylinska-Thurston, J., & Karkou, V. (2022). Dancing the Blues: An interdisciplinary collaboration between artists and therapists. Journal of Applied Arts & Health. https://doi.org/10.1386/jaah_00107_1

Karkou, V., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Parsons, A., Nair, K., Starkey, J., Haslam, S., Thurston, S., & Marshall, L. D. (2022). Bringing creative psychotherapies to primary NHS Mental Health Services in the UK: A feasibility study on patient and staff experiences of arts for the blues workshops delivered at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22, 616– 628. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12544 (IP 1.75)

Farish-Edwards, F., Parsons, A. S., Starkey, J., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Thurston, S. D., Omylinska-Thurston, J., & Karkou, V. (2022). Digitising Creative Psychological Therapy: Arts for the Blues (A4B). In J. Prescott (Ed.), Digital Innovations for Mental Health Support (pp. 1-17). IGI Global. http://doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-7991-6.ch001

Omylinska-Thurston, J., Frost, C. (2022) Working as a Counselling Psychologist in Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) Service. In: Best, D., Nicholas, H., Bradley, M. Roles and Contexts in Counselling Psychology: Professionals in Practice. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159339-4

Omylinska-Thurston, J., Karkou, V., Parsons, A.S., Nair, K., Haslam, S., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Lewis, J., Thurston, S. (2020). The development of Arts for the Blues – the new creative therapy for depression. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913919826599 (IF 0.50)

Parsons, A. S., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Karkou, V., Harlow, J., Haslam, S., Hobson, J., Nair, K., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Thurston, S. and Griffin, J. (2019). Arts for the Blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2019.1633459

Haslam, S., Parsons, A.S., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Nair, K., Harlow, J., Lewis, J., Dubrow- Marshall, L., Thurston, S., Griffin, J., Karkou, V. (2019) Arts for the Blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression – pilot study. Perspectives in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913919826599

Omylinska-Thurston, J. Walton, P. McMeekin, A. & Proctor, G. (2019) ‘Client perceptions of unhelpful aspects of CBT within IAPT serving an inner city/deprived area’ Counselling and Psychotherapy Research https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/capr.12249

Omylinska-Thurston. J. & Cooper, M. (2014) Helpful aspects in psychological therapy for patients with primary cancers. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. 14 (2) https://doi.org/10.1080/14733145.2013.813952