Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Sally O'Keeffe

Mental Health Fellow

Background

I am a Research Associate in the Population Health Sciences Institute. I joined Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2023 as a Mental Health Fellow in the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) for the North East and North Cumbria, within the Children and Families theme. I am Co-Lead for the Early Life and Adolescent Cluster in Fuse: the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health. I am a mixed methods researcher and my work seeks to develop and test the effectiveness of interventions for youth mental health problems. I am particularly interested in self-harm and suicide prevention, and improving mental health support for young people living in care. Current projects include:

  • Repairing Epistemic Mistrust and Securing Engagement in Therapy (RESET) study (Co-Principal Investigator).
  • Support Adolescents with Self-Harm (SASH) trial (Co-Investigator).
  • Examining the normalisation of trauma-informed care in children's social care: the ENTRAC study (Co-Investigator).
  • Testing a new comprehensive mental health screening package for young people in care (MyVoice).
  • The Support Systems for Self-harm and Suicide (4S) Study. 
  • Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of mothers at risk of recurrent care proceedings: a realist synthesis.


I am particularly interest in mixed-methods, including ideal-type analysis which is a qualitative method for constructing typologies. I have co-authored a book on ideal-type analysis, published as part of a qualitative methods series by the American Psychological Association.


Prior to this, I worked as a researcher at City St George's University of London and Anna Freud. I undertook my PhD at University College London which investigated treatment dropout for young people receiving therapy for depression. My previous projects include:

  • Improving outcomes in patients who self-harm – Adapting and evaluating a brief pSychological inteRvention in Emergency Departments’ (Assured).
  • Improving Mood with Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Therapies' (IMPACT) trial.
  • IMPACT-My Experience (IMPACT-ME) study.
  • An evaluation of the Youth Intensive Psychological Practitioners (YIPP) programme in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust.
  • Intervening with vulnerable birth mothers to reduce care entry: a realist and quasi-experimental evaluation of Startwell provision in North East England.


Research

Research Interests

  • Young people's mental health
  • Depression
  • Self-harm and suicide prevention
  • Mixed methods research


Funding

  • O'Keeffe, S., Li, E., & Midgley, N. (2025). The roles of epistemic mistrust and alliance rupture in dissatisfied dropouts from psychotherapy. British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. (Principal Investigator, £27,748).
  • McCabe, R., O'Keeffe, S., Priebe, S., Ougrin, D., Martin, P., & Feng, Y. (2020). A Psychological Intervention to Reduce Suicidal Behaviour in Adolescence: Supporting Adolescents with Self-Harm. The Kavli Trust. (Co-Investigator: £748,584).
  • McGovern, R., Fernandez-Garcia, C., Alderson, H., Ward, K., Lin, N., O'Keeffe, S., Hamilton, CJ., Stanford, M., Wood, L., & Ternent, L. National Institute for Health and Care Research, Research Programme for Social Care. (Co-Investigator: £350,631).
Publications

  • Articles

    • McCabe R, O'Keeffe S, Long M. . Healthcare 2026, 14(2), 168.
    • Widnall E, Robinson H, Wang L, Hartwell G, Streckfuss Davis R, Mathews F, Mughal F, Spencer L, O'Keeffe S, Russell A, Biddle L, Kidger J. . BMC Public Health 2026, 26, 1376.
    • McCabe R, Suzuki M, O'Keeffe S, Walker N, Hooper R, Priebe S, Mihaylova B, Feng Y, Dickens C, Aitken P, Araújo Soares V, Byng R, Giacco D, Kapur N, Lee W, Riou P, Ryan M, Simpson A, Smith H, Goldsmith LP, Bakou AE. . Trials 2026, 27, 172.
    • Bakou AE, Amati G, O'Keeffe S, Emmens T, Wilkie A, Rowley C, McCabe R. . PLOS Mental Health 2026, 3(5), e0000616.
    • O'Keeffe S. . Trials 2026. In Press.
    • McGovern R, Geijer-Simpson E, O'Keeffe S, McGovern W, McCarthy S, Lhussier M, Bate A. . Child Protection and Practice 2025, 5, 100166.
    • McCabe R, O'Keeffe S, Ougrin D, Priebe S, Martin P, Feng Y, Temple R, Long M. . BMJ Open 2025, 15(9), e101015.
    • O'Keeffe S, Suzuki M, Ryan M, Priebe S, Byng R, Simpson A, Araújo-Soares V, Albert R, Fialho R, Walker N, Bakou AE, McCabe R. . Pilot and Feasibility Studies 2025, 11, 20.
    • Goodwin J, Gordon I, O'Keeffe S, Carling S, Berresford A, Bhattarai N, Heslop P, Nielsen E, O'Connor RC, Ogundimu E, Pelton M, Ramsay SE, Rodgers J, Townsend E, Vale L, Wilson C, Cassidy S. . Autism in Adulthood 2025, 7(3), 293-302.
    • Jose Difronzo M, Thackeray L, O'Keeffe S, Calderon A, Midgley N. . Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2025, 28(1), 841.
    • Sharp L, Thackeray L, O'Keeffe S, Midgley N. . Journal of Child Psychotherapy 2024, 50(3), 418-438.
    • Shah N, O'Keeffe S, Hayward S, Suzuki M, McCabe R. . Frontiers in Psychiatry 2024, 15, 1271674.
    • Mende F, Batista J, O'Keeffe S, Midgley N, Braga R, Gonçalves MM, Henriques MR. . Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 2024, 31(1), e2896.
    • Loades ME, Midgley N, Herring G, O'Keeffe S, The IMPACT Consortium, Reynolds S, Goodyer I. . Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2024, 63(2), 122-135.
    • Steponaityte G, O'Keeffe S. . Journal of Child Psychotherapy 2024, 50(2), 306-324.
    • Meier J, Thackeray L, O'Keeffe S, Midgley N. . Journal of Child Psychotherapy 2023, 49(3), 393-411.
    • Lord H, O'Keeffe S, Panagiotopoulou E, Midgley N. . Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy 2023, 22(2), 169-178.
    • O'Keeffe S, Suzuki M, McCabe R. . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2023, 20(19), 6883.
    • Stapley E, O'Keeffe S, Midgley N. . International Journal of Qualitative Methods 2022, 21, 1-9.
    • O'Keeffe S, Midgley N. . Journal of Affective Disorders 2022, 299, 142-143.
    • O'Keeffe S, Suzuki M, Ryan M, Hunter J, McCabe R. . BJPsych Open 2021, 7(5), e175.
    • O'Keeffe S, Martin P, Midgley N. . Psychotherapy 2020, 57(4), 471-490.
    • O'Keeffe S, Weitkamp K, Isaacs D, Target M, Eatough V, Midgley N. . Trials 2020, 21, 952.
    • Fonagy P, Lemma A, Target M, O'Keeffe S, Constantinou M, Ventura Wurman T, Luyten P, Allison L, Roth T, Cape J, Pilling S. . Psychological Medicine 2020, 50(6), 1010-1019.
    • Grossfeld M, Calderon A, O'Keeffe S, Green V, Midgley N. . Journal of Child Psychotherapy 2019, 45(2), 209-228.
    • O'Keeffe S, Martin P, Goodyer I, Kelvin R, Dubicka B, IMPACT Consortium, Midgley N. . Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2019, 58(10), 983-992.
    • O'Keeffe S, Martin P, Target M, Midgley N. . Frontiers in Psychology 2019, 10, 75.
    • Midgley N, Reynolds S, Kelvin R, Loades M, Calderon A, Martin P, IMPACT Consortium, O'Keeffe S. . Journal of Psychotherapy Integration 2018, 28(4), 413-428.
    • O'Keeffe S, Martin P, Goodyer I, Wilkinson P, IMPACT Consortium, Midgley N. . Psychotherapy Research 2018, 28(5), 708-721.
    • Dunn V, O'Keeffe S, Stapley E, Midgley N. . Research Involvement and Engagement 2018, 4, 46.
    • Midgley N, O'Keeffe S, French L, Kennedy E. . Journal of Child Psychotherapy 2017, 43(3), 307-329.
    • Midgley N, Parkinson S, Holmes J, Stapley E, Eatough V, Target M. . European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2017, 26(1), 25-34.
    • Parkinson S, Midgley N, Holmes J, Stapley E, Eatough V. . Qualitative Research in Psychology 2016, 13(2), 109-129.
    • Midgley N, Holmes J, Parkinson S, Stapley E, Eatough V, Target M. . Psychotherapy Research 2016, 26(1), 11-21.
    • Midgley N, Parkinson S, Holmes J, Stapley E, Eatough V, Target M. . Journal of Adolescence 2015, 44(1), 269-279.

  • Authored Book

    • Stapley E, O'Keeffe S, Midgley N. . American Psychological Association, 2021.

  • Book Chapter

    • Currie CC, Walburn J, Hackett K, McCabe R, Sniehotta F, O'Keeffe S, Beerlage-de Jong N, Araujo-Soares V. . In: Geert Crombez, ed. Comprehensive Clinical Psychology. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2022, pp.118-148.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

    • Parkinson S, Dunn V, Stapley E, Midgley N. . In: UCL Qualitative Health Research Symposium. 2017, London: BMJ Publishing Group.