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Dr Gina Di Malta

Senior Lecturer In Psychotherapy And Counselling

Psychology

gina.dimalta@open.ac.uk

Biography

Professional biography

I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist accredited with the British Psychological Society, Senior Lecturer in psychotherapy and counselling, Editor-in-Chief of the international peer-reviewed journal Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, and past Editor of the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology's peer-reviewed publication Counselling Psychology Review. My research is aimed at the developments of psychotherapy and counselling.

Prior to joining the OU, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Associate Lecturer at the University of Roehampton and the Existential Academy. I conducted psychotherapy research with the Centre for Research in Social and Psychological Transformation (CREST), and taught and supervised students on Counselling Psychology doctorate programmes. 

I have practiced as a Counselling Psychologist in a range of clinical settings including NHS Increasing Access for Psychological Therapies (IAPT), NHS primary and secondary care, University counselling services, and charity sectors.

Qualifications

2016. Doctor of Counselling Psychology (PsychD, awarded May 2017), Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, UK

2013. MA in Clinical/Counselling Psychology (Valedictorian), Department of Psychology, La Salle University, USA

2010. MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK

2009. BA in Psychology (Distinction), Department of Psychology, Empire State College, USA

Professional Memberships

Health Care Profession Council - HCPC registred (since July 2017, PYL34509)

British Psychological Society - Chartered Psychologist (248376)

Higher Education Academy - Associate Fellow (since Oct 2017, PR135330)

BPS Division of Counselling Psychology Steering Committee - Member (2021-present)

Award

Society for Psychotherapy Research UK Early Career Award

Research interests

My research interest sits in the study of psychotherapy processes and how these can be enhanced to facilitate impact on client outcomes. Research topics I work on include patient choice, goal-oriented practices, preferences in psychotherapy, relational depth, and pluralism in research and practice. More recently, I have expanded my interest to explore the impact of connectedness on wellbeing in communities. 

Selected articles

Di Malta, G., Cooper, M., Bond, J., Raymond-Barker, B., Oza, M., & Pauli, R. (2023). The Patient-Perceived Helpfulness of Measures Scale: Development and Validation of a Scale to Assess the Helpfulness of Using Measures in Psychological Treatment. Assessment, https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911231195837 Impact Factor: 3.8

Di Malta, G., Bond, Smith, K., J. Conroy, D., Moller, N. (2022). Distance education students’ mental health, connectedness and academic performance during COVID-19: A mixed-methods study. Distance Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2022.202935 Impact Factor: 3.1

Di Malta, G., Evans, C., Cooper, M. (2020). Development and validation of the relational depth frequency scale. Psychotherapy Research.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2019.1585590 Impact Factor: 2.984

 

Teaching interests

  • Person-centred theory and practice
  • Pluralistic theory and practice
  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Psychological assessment and formulation
  • Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy and third wave approaches

Open University Teaching

2024/25. D230 Module production

2023/24. D230 Module Production Block Lead 'Assessment in Counselling and Psychotherapy'

2022/23. DD310 Module Chair; Short course production co-lead 'Advanced Therapeutic Relationship'

2021/22. DD310 Module Chair; D241 team member

2020/21. DD310 Module Chair; D241 team member

2020/21. D241 Module team member

2019/20. D241 Module production

2019/20. DD310 Module team member

Invited Talks and Lectures

2022.    SPR series Workshop: Working with client preferences

2019.    Pluralistic therapy in context. DPsych, City University, UK.

2019.    Qualitative Research methods. Whole module (online), DPsych, New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC), Middlesex University, UK

2019.    Clinical supervision. Whole module (online), DPsych, NSPC, UK

2019.    Focussing/ Emotion Focussed Therapy. PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2018/19. Person-centred skills practice. Whole module, PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2018/19. Professional Practice Group. Whole module, PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2018.    Quantitative research methods (online). Whole module, DPsych, NSPC, UK

2018.    Person-centred theory: The necessary and sufficient conditions. PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2018.    Psychological contact and relational depth. PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2018.    Person-centred theory: Active client-active therapist. PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2017/18. Collaborative Assessment. PsychD, University of Roehampton, UK

2017.    The Identity of a Counselling Psychologist. DPsych, NSPC, UK

2017.    Counselling in a Higher Education Setting. DPsych, NSPC, UK

Publications

Book

The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (3rd ed.) (2024)

Book Chapter

The relational approach to person-centred therapy (2024)

The person-centred approach today and tomorrow: Seeds of a peaceful revolution (2024)

Empathy (2024)

Relational Depth (2024)

Person-Centered Theory in Psychotherapy (2023)

The Humanistic Approach (2021)

Understanding Sadness and Worry (2021)

Journal Article

Clients' Preferences for Their Therapists' Relational Styles in Psychotherapy: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study (2025)

Risk factors associated with postpartum anxiety in Australia, Europe, and North America: A systematic review and narrative synthesis (2025)

The Patient-Perceived Helpfulness of Measures Scale: Development and Validation of a Scale to Assess the Helpfulness of Using Measures in Psychological Treatment (2024)

The Impact of Relational Depth on Subjective Well-being in Close Relationships in the Community (2024)

The Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences: Measurement Invariance across International Datasets and Languages (2024)

Validation of the Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP) in Chinese lay clients and mental health professionals: Factor structure, measurement invariance, and scale differences (2023)

Patient Perspectives on Working with Preferences in Psychotherapy: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study (2023)

Extended validation of the Relational Depth Frequency Scale: Retest reliability, divergent and criterion validity, and measurement invariance in UK‐ and US‐stratified samples (2023)

Is designing therapeutic? A case study exploring the experience of co-design and psychosis (2023)

Distance education students’ mental health, connectedness and academic performance during COVID-19: A mixed-methods study (2022)

Relational depth from the perspective of the psychotherapy dyad: Psychometric properties of the Relational Depth Frequency Scale (2022)

Pilot Randomised controlled trial of counselling in a community mental health setting: Pitfalls and learnings (2020)

An Application of the Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI) in the Validation of the Relational Depth Frequency Scale (2020)

From intention to action: A mixed methods study of clients' experiences of goal-oriented practices (2019)

Development and validation of the relational depth frequency scale (2019)

Testosterone disrupts human collaboration by increasing egocentric choices (2012)

Presentation / Conference

Risk factors associated with Postpartum Anxiety in Australia, Europe, and North America: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis [Conference Poster] (2024)

Implementation of home practice support strategies for older adults attending an online mindfulness based cognitive therapy course: An adaptive intervention protocol (2023)

Thesis

The Development and Validation of the Relational Depth Frequency Scale (2017)