Dr Jennie Dayes

Dr Jennie Dayes

Senior Lecturer

My profile

Biography

When not working for ManMet, I spend my time writing (I’m studying an MFA in Novel Writing), walking my dog Woody in the countryside, gardening, spending time with my family, reading, playing board games, and making feeble attempts at yoga and meditation.

I love castles and anything with a bit of history or archaeology.  I’m obsessed with Gardener’s World.

Motto I’m trying to live by at the moment: You can do everything, just not all at once.

Words of wisdom

If you’re not doing something it’s probably because the next step you’ve set for yourself is too big. Flush self-judgement down the toilet and set yourself a realistic step. Even if it’s creating a folder on your laptop entitled ‘assignment’. It’s a step and it’s probably a lot more realistic than ‘write half my essay today’.

Learn what being kind to yourself is. Embody this.

Academic and professional qualifications

  • Currently studying: Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Novel Route)
  • Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
  • Graduate Certificate in Counselling Psychology
  • BSc (hons) Psychology

Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Heath and Care Professions Council. 

Consultancy and advisory roles

  • Currently on advisory committee for the new BPS guidelines for working with ME/CFS.
  • Consulted on project developing continued professional development materials for those supporting the bereaved and grieving.
  • Sat on advisory board for the development of the 2021 NICE guidelines for children/young people living with ME/CFS.

Practitioner roles

After qualification I worked for six years in private practice as a Counselling Psychologist, providing psychological therapy to a range of mental health difficulties and experiences including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, OCD, bereavement and loss, relationship breakup, self-esteem and body confidence difficulties.

Visiting and honorary positions

Honorary researcher at the University of Bradford

Membership of professional associations

Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and care Professions Council

Previously a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society

Get in touch

Brooks Building

Impact

Sat on advisory board for the development of the new NICE guidelines for children/young people living with ME/CFS.

Run workshops from bereavement and grief ‘etiquette’ research for Marie Curie. 

Projects

  • Currently lead the bereavement and grief ‘etiquette’ projects, exploring the felt sense of ‘should’ ‘must’ ‘right’ ‘wrong’ ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ experienced when engaging with death, dying, and grief.
  • Previous work with Continuing Bonds Team - running workshops, developing social media and online resources, editing and publication of anthology of creative works (https://continuingbondslive.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/thelivingandthedead.pdf)

Teaching

Why do I teach?

Short answer: Because I really like my subjects and sharing these with others.

I also like to see students grow in their field, not just with the topic but in their confidence. We can all do it, we just need to engage in it (and be taught) in the right way for us.

Why study…

Providing a space where another person can get to know themselves, learn they are not alone in their feelings, express themselves without judgement, and find new ways forward in life makes psychological therapy a job like no other. Job satisfaction is huge.

Complete honesty? I get bored easily. The variety psychological therapy offers is important for me to feel I am spending my time on earth in a meaningful way. No client is the same as another. The therapeutic space is dynamic and deep, and provides opportunity for new experiences every day.

You can shape who you are as a therapist according to who you are as a person. Do you like yoga and meditation? Great. Use it in your therapy work. Keep a diary in your space time? Brilliant. Use diary writing with clients. Fascinated by unconscious drivers but less so by thought records? FANTASTIC! Research tells us the more aligned you are with your model the better your clients are likely to do.

Studying psychology, counselling, and psychotherapy doesn’t just mean a person can work in therapy. They can research too. They can supervise (other therapists in their clinical work). Teach. Write. It’s a subject which lends itself to opportunity.

Subject areas

Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Grief and Bereavement, Qualitative Research.

Supervision

I supervise dissertations on the Psychology with Counselling and Psychotherapy BSc.

I supervise a Phd student asking, ‘Living with Ménière’s disease from a young age: an exploration of identity formation and psychological wellbeing’.

Research outputs

  • Mostly qualitative approaches. Incorporate some survey methods.
  • Expertise in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Thematic Analysis.
  • Grief and bereavement.
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
  • Enjoy multidisciplinary projects, e.g. death and bereavement/archaeology, wellbeing/archaeology, death and bereavement/archaeology/creative writing.
  • Recent research questions addressed:
    • Where does ‘etiquette’ arise in death, dying, bereavement and grief contexts?
    • What is the lived experience of ‘etiquette’ when giving, getting, and living with memorial tattoos? 
    • How are mindfulness-based interventions experienced by people living with ME/CFS?
    • What are the therapeutic effects of engaging with archaeological digging at the Battle of Waterloo for veterans?
    • ‘What impact does engaging with archaeological materials about death and dying have for health and social care workers? 

  • Chapters in books

    Dayes, J. (2018) 'Foreword.' Grief Demystified: An Introduction. Jessica Kingsley Publishers,

  • Journal articles

    Sparrow, A., Dayes, J. (2024) '“Not too sure on how that would be defined, to be honest”: Exploring students’ understandings of the health effects of lifetime stress.' Psychreg Journal of Psychology, 8(2) pp. 13-31.

    Dayes, J., Keenan, J., Sadza, M., Croucher, K. (2023) 'Etiquette in the context of death and dying: communication and conversation.' Omega: Journal of Death and Dying,

    Croucher, K., Büster, L., Dayes, J., Green, L., Raynsford, J., Comerford Boyes, L., Faull, C. (2020) 'Archaeology and contemporary death: Using the past to provoke, challenge and engage.' PLoS One, 15(12)

    Dayes, J., Faull, C., Büster, L., Green, L., Croucher, K. (2018) 'Archaeology and modern reflections on death.' BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, 9(2) pp. 229-230.

    Buster, L., Croucher, K., Dayes, J., Green, L., Faull, C. (2018) 'From plastered skulls to palliative care: what the past can teach us about dealing with death..' AP : Online Journal in Public Archaeology, 3pp. 249-276.

    Dayes, J. (2011) 'Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A discussion of cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy..' British Psychological Society, Counselling Psychology Section: Counselling Psychology Review, 26(2) pp. 70-75.

  • Conference papers

    Dayes, J., Sadza, M., Keenan, J., Harris, R. (2022) 'Memorial tattoo etiquette: Death narratives on the body..' In Death and Culture IV.. York St John, York., 8/9/2022 - 9/9/2022.

    Croucher, K., Dayes, J., Giles, M. (2022) 'The living and the dead: Creative conversations between past and present..' 8/9/2022 - 9/9/2022.

    Sadza, M., Dayes, J. (2022) 'How do first-generation Polish immigrants experience grief and bereavement in the United Kingdom?.' 8/9/2022 - 9/9/2022.

    Scrafton, L., Dayes, J. (2021) 'Artefacts and grief: how do we experience these?.' In Death, Dying and Disposal 15. Manchester Metropolitan University, 8/9/2021 - 11/9/2021.

    Dayes, J., Croucher, K., Faull, C., Buster, L., Green, L., Raynford, J. (2019) 'Using archaeology to develop empathy around death, dying, bereavement and grief..' In British Psychological Society, Division of Counselling Psychology. Cardiff, 28/6/2019 - 29/6/2019.

    Dayes, J., Buster, L., Croucher, K., Green, L., Faull, C. (2017) 'Death Etiquette: findings from the Continuing Bonds study.' In Death, Dying and Disposal. 6/9/2017 - 10/9/2017.

  • Theses and dissertations

    Dayes, J. (2015) A pluralistic approach to medically unexplained symptoms.

  • Posters

    Dayes, J., Faull, C., Green, L., Croucher, K. (2018) 'Understanding difficulties with grief in the context of 'death etiquette'..' [Poster] In British Psychological Society; Division of Counselling Psychology Conference. Date viewed 2018.

Press and media

Media appearances or involvement

2024: Guest on The Bereaved Parents’ Club podcast.

2019: Appeared on Radio Royal Bradford discussing grief and bereavement and the Continuing Bonds: Creative Dissemination project.