She began her academic career as a Social Psychology researcher in Education, and completed her PhD at King’s College London. She also has BA and MA in Education, an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Group Counselling. Her PhD explored the experience of immigrant families as they engaged with London schools, and she was particularly interested in the coping mechanisms that immigrant families employ to overcome the hurdles of international migration and the challenges of adapting to a new culture, and raising children in a cross cultural environment.
She began to engage with Positive Psychology research and apply its interventions during her PhD, when she developed and delivered a cross-cultural psycho-educational programme for overseas students. The programme drew from her dissertation, and was designed to ease participants’ cross-cultural adaptation process, lessen transition shock and culture shock symptoms, increase wellbeing and resilience, and promote their socio-cultural integration. In her subsequent jobs she developed and delivered several training programmes, which incorporate Positive Psychology interventions, which are tailored for occupational settings, including Stress Management, Resilience Building, Occupational Wellbeing, Prosocial Behaviour, Strength Work, and Mindfulness.
Over the years she developed expertise in Positive Work and Organisational Psychology. Her current work is interdisciplinary and ties together topics from Positive Work and Organisational Psychology and Economic and Consumer Psychology, Prosocial Behaviour and Mindfulness. She’s also been teaching these topics mainly in higher education. She’s currently the Course Leader for the PGCert online distance learning course: The Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing at Work at the University of Sussex, UK. She’s also the former course leader for the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology at the University of East London, UK.
She published 3 books and numerous papers. Her last book Positive Psychology: the Basics (Routledge) is a textbook used for teaching in higher education. She’s currently writing another book. Recently she’s taken the role of Guest Editor for Behavioural Sciences for a special issue on: Prosocial Behaviours at Work: Key Concepts, Measures, Interventions, Antecedents, and Outcomes.