BrainWaves Living Well 2026 Speaker: SELF-HARM IN ADOLESCENCE – EMBRACING THE DIGITAL WORLD TO FIND NEW SUPPORT TOOLS

In this session, Ellen will present her research into understanding the complexity and dynamics that underpin adolescent self-harm. Having identified in her research the key transitions that occur in the lead‑up to a self-harm episode and more importantly, the modifiable nature of these transitions, Ellen will discuss the co-creation of a research-based, digital assessment tool, the CaTS‑App©, which helps young people map out their experience of self harm, as well as the evaluation of a socially assistive robot designed to support young people at risk of self-harm with emotion regulation and mental health symptoms.

About Ellen

Ellen is an award‑winning academic who leads the Self-Harm Research Group (SHRG) in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. She is also a Visiting Professor at the Nottingham Institute of Mental Health. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Nottingham, and completed her postdoctoral work at the Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford.

Ellen co-led the UKRI‑funded Digital Youth programme, a major interdisciplinary research initiative focused on understanding risk and resilience in the digital world and developing innovative digital tools to support adolescent mental health.

She is also a Co‑Investigator at the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre for Mental Health (MindTech), where she co-leads the Children and Young People’s theme. Her team is internationally recognised for world-leading participatory research, pioneering innovative tools and methods that meaningfully involve young people throughout the research lifecycle.