Meet the team

Dr Emma Černis

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY (UoB)
CENTRE LEAD & CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST (MDDC)

BA(Hons), MSc, DClinPsy, DPhil
HCPC Registration Number: PYL34827

Emma is a qualified and registered Clinical Psychologist, and also a leading researcher in the field of dissociation and depersonalisation. She holds the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK, and is Centre Lead of the Midlands Dissociation & Depersonalisation Centre.

Emma's research focuses on understanding dissociative experiences from a psychological perspective. Typically, this work is ‘applied’ (as opposed to purely theoretical) and takes a cognitive approach.

The key aim of this work is to develop an effective talking therapy specific to dissociative experiences and to improve the care that people with dissociation are offered. This includes raising awareness of dissociation amongst clinicians and improving their confidence working with it.​

Clinically, Emma specialises in working with dissociation and depersonalisation. One day per week, she works at the Midlands Dissociation & Depersonalisation Centre (MDDC) offering expert therapy, clinical supervision, training, and consultation.

For over a decade, Emma held various roles supporting people of all ages experiencing psychosis across the full range of clinical severity: from children and adolescents with 'at risk mental state', to adults and older adults with diagnoses of chronic 'schizophrenia'. She also has experience working with children, young people, and families affected by sexual harm.

Emma's working and supervision style is heavily influenced by her clinical training. Her supervisees and mentees will tell you she has strengths in goal-setting, action plans, collaborative formulations of research or clinical stuck-points …and colour coding. 

Prounounced “Churr-niss” | Pronouns: she/her

Brief CV

  • Biomedical & Clinical Sciences (DPhil) - Oriel College, University of Oxford

    Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) - Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford

    Mental Health (MSc) - Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

    Experimental Psychology (BA Hons) - St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

  • Černis, E., Loe, B. S., Lofthouse, K., Waite, P., Molodynski, A., Ehlers, A., & Freeman, D. (2023). Measuring dissociation across adolescence and adulthood: Developing the short-form Černis Felt Sense of Anomaly scale (ČEFSA-14). Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465823000498

    Černis, E., Beierl, E., Molodynski, A., Ehlers, A., & Freeman, D. (2021). A new perspective and assessment measure for common dissociative experiences: ‘Felt Sense of Anomaly’. PLOS ONE, 16(2), e0247037. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247037

    Černis, E., Ehlers, A., & Freeman, D. (2022). Psychological mechanisms connected to dissociation: Generating hypotheses using network analyses. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 148, 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.01.049

    Černis, E., Freeman, D., & Ehlers, A. (2020). Describing the indescribable: A qualitative study of dissociative experiences in psychosis. PLOS ONE, 15(2), e0229091. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229091

  • Current - Centre Lead & Clinical Psychologist, Midlands Dissociation & Depersonalisation Centre

    2023-2024 - Clinical Psychologist, Forward Thinking Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s & Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

    2020-2022 - Lead Trial Therapist, SleepWell, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

    2018-2020 - Honorary Clinical Psychologist, Oxford Early Intervention in Psychosis, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

    2017-2018 - Trial Therapist, Feeling Safe & SlowMo trials, Oxford Cognitive Approaches to Psychosis, University of Oxford

    2016-2017 - Horizon, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

  • Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC): PYL34827

In the Press

Meet the Team

  • Gwynnevere

    PhD Candidate

    Gwynnevere uses experimental tasks and fMRI to detect differences in reality monitoring ability between people with dissociative experiences or psychotic-like symptoms.

  • Kateryna

    Honorary Research Fellow

    Kateryna’s work focuses on the lived experience of Ukrainians in the context of war, and whether mindfulness-based approaches can provide support.

  • Eleanor

    Birmingham Health Partners Pre-Doctoral Fellow

    Eleanor’s work focuses on improving the wellbeing of children in foster care. In her fellowship, Eleanor is co-producing and evaluating a parent-led programme for kinship carers.

  • Meg

    Trainee Clinical Psychologist

    Meg’s DClinPsy thesis will use data from the GCSE students’ ABCD survey to explore young people’s beliefs about dissociation.

  • Rachael

    Trainee Clinical Psychologist

    Rachael’s DClinPsy thesis is exploring the similarities and differences between the experiences of body dysmorphia and depersonalisation.