Bridging research, neurodiversity, and neurological support: key takeaways from the Celebrating Psychology in the Midlands Conference

By Prisha Sharma, Assistant Psychologist at Redford Court 

 

Science without clinical application is an unfinished thought. At the recent Celebrating Psychology in the Midlands Conference at Nottingham Trent University, practitioners and academics gathered to confront some of the most pressing challenges in modern psychology. As an Assistant Psychologist, presenting my audit on deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease was an opportunity to highlight how precision medicine and holistic psychological care must work in tandem. Here I share the core insights, research highlights, and key takeaways from a day dedicated to advancing evidence-based care. 

The event opened with a warm and inspiring welcome speech from Professor Julie Hulme, who strongly encouraged early-career psychology professionals and students to actively engage in academic events. Her call to action set an inclusive, forward-thinking tone for a day packed with groundbreaking talks. 

1. Neurotrauma and movement disorders: sharing original research

One of the highlights of my conference experience was delivering an oral presentation on my research: “A Regional Audit of the Neuropsychological Outcomes of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s Disease.” 

Presenting this audit was an exciting opportunity to showcase regional clinical outcomes and highlight how advanced neurosurgical interventions impact on long-term management in movement disorders. Since research on DBS has such a strong focus on alleviating motor outcomes, my study focused on how this surgical intervention affects cognitive outcomes. Working at Brainkind, where we support individuals with acquired brain injuries (ABI) and long-term neurological conditions, understanding the nuances of interventions like DBS is critical. It reinforces how precise medical treatments, combined with holistic neurorehabilitation, can drastically improve a person’s quality of life. It also highlights the role of multidisciplinary working and how each specialty plays a major role in decision-making. 

1. Acquired brain injury (ABI) in youth

Staying within the realm of developmental and neuropsychology, a key session focused on shaping digital support for young people with lived experience of ABI. Satveer Bhella, PhD student from Coventry University, highlighted a glaring gap in current literature: the need for more mixed-methods research that actively draws on the lived experiences of both survivors and their caregivers. Understanding the complex social challenges faced by young people post-ABI requires looking beyond clinical metrics. Digital tools hold enormous potential to bridge support gaps, provided they are co-designed with the families navigating these disruptions daily. 

1. Neurodiversity: challenging one-size-fits-all models

Neurodiversity emerged as one of the most prominent common themes across the conference, prompting critical self-reflection for psychological practitioners. A compelling presentation by Alisha Hoque, undergraduate student at Birmingham Newman University, detailed the severe impact of a late autism diagnosis on adults in education, employment, and daily life. Researchers highlighted increased rates of masking and the relentless pressure to conform. Crucially, the talk emphasized the urgent need for school and workplace support while individuals remain on assessment waiting lists, rather than leaving them without accommodations during years of uncertainty. Another standout talk called “Mindfulness isn’t a happy pill” by Clare Sharp, from Birmingham Newman University, addressed emotion regulation and self-compassion in adults with ADHD. The presenter posed a crucial question: “what happens when a psychological intervention doesn’t fit the way someone actually experiences the world?” We must avoid turning mindfulness into another behavioural standard that we ask neurodivergent individuals to meet. Interventions must adapt to the neurotype, not the other way around. Traditional cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and standard mindfulness practices often rely on neurotypical models of interoception, attention, and emotional processing. Adapting interventions, such as simple exercises, increasing awareness of body’s internal signals, or sensory-friendly self-compassion tools is necessary to avoid pathologizing, that is taking natural behaviours or emotions as a disorder, a person’s natural cognitive processing. 

1. LGBTQ+ youth mental health: systems over individuals

In a powerful presentation on the Trevor Project, Dr. Liam Cahill and Dr. Willem Stander presented vital data regarding LGBTQ+ youth mental health, focusing on the dynamic between distal vs. proximal stressors. Victimization was identified as the largest overall predictor of suicide attempts among LGBTQ+ youth. Furthermore, conversion therapy (a practice with no scientific backing which tries to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity) showed the largest single association with suicide attempts, alongside alarming trends in online blackmail targeting LGBTQ+ students across the UK and Channel Islands. Conversely, positive LGBTQ+ inclusive content in schools was shown to be protective against suicidal ideation, self-harm, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Cahill and Dr. Stander emphasized that every strong predictor of poor mental health they identified sits outside the young person. Rather than framing distress purely as internal pathology, most of these risk factors are structural and can be dramatically altered through public policy, safer school environments, and systemic advocacy. This is relevant to the work we perform at Brainkind because we are also aware of the impact environment can have on someone’s adjustment and wellbeing. In brain injury recovery, a supportive and healthy environment offers active sensory, cognitive, and social stimulation, promoting neuroplasticity as a result. Chronic stress and social isolation which are examples of unhealthy environments, lower performance on complex mental tasks and deteriorate long term mental wellbeing.

1. Navigating ambiguity and community health outcomes

Several talks shed light on how individuals interact with healthcare systems during times of medical vulnerability. A qualitative interview study by Polly Swain, trainee clinical psychologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, explored the experiences and support preferences of individuals diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) often the first neurological episode that may or may not precede multiple sclerosis (MS). CIS is a single-event immune system attack on the coating that protects nerve cells. Symptoms include pain in eye movement or blurry vision, poor balance, facial weakness, and numbness/weakness of the body. The study revealed that many patients live in intense ambiguity. Upon experiencing initial symptoms, many turn to search engines, assuming the worst, which severely rocks their sense of identity and triggers immense emotional strain. The issue is compounded by disjointed healthcare delivery, where available resources are almost exclusively MS-focused, leaving both patients and non-specialist healthcare workers lacking tailored information for CIS.  

Health psychologists Dr Amy Baraniak and Niall Anderson highlighted the power of community-level interventions. They explored unpaid carers’ experiences during hospital discharge and identified key themes contributing to severe carer burden, including carer invisibility, dismissal of carer expertise, communication breakdowns, and unprepared transitions. They demonstrated that community-based psychological support significantly improvements in biopsychosocial outcomes. When a system-wide approach is paired with the right local support, positive health outcomes can be successfully replicated across diverse regions. 

The Celebrating Psychology in the Midlands Conference demonstrated that whether we are evaluating high-tech neurosurgical interventions, advocating for structural policy shifts, or redesigning community care pathways, the core goal remains the same – building empathetic, evidence-based systems that honour individual lived experience.  

This conference was highly relevant to the work we do at Brainkind, as it explored how identity, environment, and health circumstances influence wellbeing. Supporting people with complex neurological conditions requires us to draw upon psychological knowledge and clinical expertise to understand the many factors that shape an individual’s experiences, needs, and recovery journey. The conference prompted reflection on how our care and interactions need to be informed by a holistic understanding of the person to ensure that our support is the very best it can be.