Dr Helen Damon
Contact details
About
Overview
Dr Helen Damon is a senior lecturer on the doctorate in counselling psychology (DPsych). She is registered as a chartered psychologist with the BPS and as a counselling psychologist with the HCPC. She is a qualified play therapist, filial therapist, fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and member of the BPS Register of Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors (RAPPS).
Helen previously worked as a lecturer, and placement coordinator, on the doctorate in counselling psychology (DPsych) at Regent's University London and as an external examiner for postgraduate courses at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. In addition to her academic work at City, she currently reviews journal articles for Counselling Psychology Quarterly and Counselling Psychology Review and collaborates with lecturers in science education at King's College London to conduct research and training on promoting wellbeing. She has published sole author, first author and joint-authored articles and chapters in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.
Helen has an established independent practice delivering psychological therapy to adult clients and clinical and academic supervision to people training or qualified in psychology- and mental health-related professions. She practises pluralistically, drawing especially on existential-phenomenological and person-centred approaches. She specialises in clinical work relating to end-of-life, loss, and bereavement - in particular, working with adults who experienced bereavement in childhood; low self-esteem; and questions of personal identity, values and the meaning of (one's) life. She has worked in the NHS, including in specialised adult and child bereavement services; the charitable sector; and the educational sector.
Qualifications
- DPsych Counselling Psychology, Regent's University London, United Kingdom, 2014 - 2018
- BSc (Hons) Psychology, The Open University, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2014
- MA Play Therapy, The University of Roehampton, United Kingdom, 2011 - 2013
- BA (Hons) Literae Humaniores (Classics and Philosophy), The University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 2002 - 2006
Employment
- Senior Lecturer in Counselling Psychology, City, University of London, United Kingdom, September 2023 - present
- Network Clinician, Psych Health, United Kingdom, March - September 2023
- External Examiner, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom, June 2019 - July 2022
- Counselling Psychologist in Independent Practice, Self-employed, United Kingdom, December 2018 - present
- Lecturer in Counselling Psychology, Regent's University, London, United Kingdom, January 2018 - September 2021
Fellowships
- Fellow, The Higher Education Academy, 2018 - present
Publications
Publications by category
Chapters (2)
- Damon, H., Brock, R., Manning, A. and Towers, E. (2022). Critiquing teacher well-being policy in England: Developing a values-based approach to promote trainee teachers' well-being. In Maguire, M. and Towers, E. (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of teacher education research (pp. 1-19). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Damon, H. (2021). "Objective"-ication: Problems with treating judgement as fact. In Milton, M. (Ed.), Balancing on quicksand: Reflections on power, politics and the relational. (pp. 49-57). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030791353.
Journal articles (3)
- Damon, H. and Ayling, R. (2025). The elephant in the room: Arguments against horizontalized line-by-line coding in qualitative research. Qualitative Research. doi:10.1177/14687941251390799
- Damon, H., Ayling, R. and Lodge, R. (2022). A constructivist grounded theory of counselling psychologists’ in-the-moment decision-making process about touching their clients. Counselling Psychology Review, 37(2), pp. 37-46. doi:10.53841/bpscpr.2022.37.2.37
- Manning, A., Towers, E., Brock, R. and Damon, H. (2019). Supporting the wellbeing of science teachers: Developing a wellbeing session for trainee science teachers and an interview study of teachers' views on wellbeing support. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 85, pp. 24-27
Media
- Damon, H.(2021). Good practice in the treatment of mental illness.
Thesis/dissertation
- Damon, H. A constructivist grounded theory of counselling psychologists' in-the-moment decision-making process about touching their clients. (PhD)
Professional activities
Clinical activity
- Counselling Psychologist in Independent Practice, Dr Helen Damon, December 2018 - present