Dr Matt Brooks

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Dr Matt Brooks PhD, MSc, BSc(Hons), SFHEA

Senior Lecturer, Joint Research Seminar Lead, Psychology Assessment Lead

Forensic Psychology lecturer with expertise and interests in posttraumatic growth and trauma

My profile

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology in the School of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

I teach and supervise students across the postgraduate psychology programmes in the School regarding trauma, stress and wellbeing, and research methods, largely on the MSc Forensic Psychology course. I also hold leadership roles as the joint lead for the Psychology Seminar Series and the Assessments Lead for Psychology.

My interests and experience broadly span the areas of clinical, health, and forensic psychology. My Ph.D. research focused on positive psychological change after traumatic and stressful life events, known as posttraumatic growth, which is my core research area. I maintain an active research profile, publishing research on posttraumatic growth, psychological trauma and stress in international journals, and undertaking a number of ongoing research projects in these areas. I am a member of the MMU Health Psychology and Communities Research Centre, the Stress, Health and Performance Cluster in the Faculty of Health and Education, and the Life Paths Research Centre in the United States. I supervise Ph.D. students in areas relating to posttraumatic growth, stress, and victimology. 

I have supported and/or led research and evaluations with criminal justice organisations, victim services, health providers, and local authorities, on a variety of topics including repeat victimisation, service engagement, early intervention in family violence, support for male and female victims of sexual violence, female sexual offending, and child sexual exploitation. More recently, I am involved in projects understanding a portfolio approach to resilience after violent victimisation, and work around supporting juror wellbeing in response to distressing criminal cases. I am keen to engage with media outlets and have contributed to media articles and delivered talks at practitioner events. 

Alongside teaching and research experience, I have former practitioner experience working as an Assistant Psychologist in a secure children’s residential setting with young boys who had engaged in harmful sexual behaviour. Additionally, I volunteered for the Lancashire Probation Service, working with young people who had engaged in offending behaviour.

Academic and professional qualifications

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2020) - Manchester Metropolitan University - Distinction
  • PhD Psychology (2018) - University of Central Lancashire
  • MSc Forensic Psychology(2013) - University of Central Lancashire - Distinction
  • BSc (Hons) Psychology(2010) - University of Manchester - 2:1

Membership of professional associations

  • Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and member of the Crisis, Disaster, and Trauma section
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Other memberships

Expert reviewer

I act as a peer reviewer for a number of international clinical, health, and forensic psychology journals, particularly in the area of psychological trauma and posttraumatic growth, and a grant reviewer for the Health and Medical Research Fund of the Hong Kong government.

Interests and expertise

For more information about my research interests and ongoing projects, click the ‘Projects’ and ‘Research Outputs’ tabs above.

Get in touch

BR 3.11 Brooks Building
Please email for an appointment.

Impact

This page lists impact beyond citations in academic articles and books. See the research outputs and press and media tabs for my research articles in journal articles and in the media.

Citations to my research in national and international media:

Citations to my research in policy:

Projects

My research interests sit at the intersection between clinical, forensic, positive psychology, and preventative intervention. My key research focus is posttraumatic growth, victimisation, and positive psychology.

Posttraumatic growth

My main research activity concerns positive psychological change that can occur following adverse events, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG). More specifically, I seek to explore how and whether PTG could be used to enhance wellbeing in people who are exposed to adversity (particularly those exposed to multiple forms of interpersonal violence, abuse, and harm).  

To build the evidence-base around PTG further, my work seeks to address the following broad research questions through mixed-method approaches:

1. What are the adversity-related, psychosocial, and structural facilitators and barriers to PTG in those who experience adversity?

2. To what extent is growth reflective of positive psychological and behavioural change, an illusory coping strategy, or both?

3. How do professionals working with people exposed to adversity experience secondary and vicarious PTG? How do their own personal experiences of adversity shape PTG? 

Current projects include:

  • Posttraumatic growth over time: A mixed method investigation
  • Emotion regulation, emotion beliefs, posttraumatic growth, mental and physical health
  • Posttraumatic growth in female survivors of domestic abuse, and the interpersonal and structural facilitators and barriers to growth
  • Nature connectedness and posttraumatic growth
  • Scoping review of strengths-based protective factors that could facilitate perceived growth in survivors of collective violence

Trauma within the criminal justice system: Wellbeing of jurors and trauma-informed courts

I am interested in the ways that trauma intersects within the criminal justice system, in terms of those who access support or work within it.

I have previously worked on a BA-funded grant into juror wellbeing with Dr. Hannah Fawcett. We examined the impact of presenting different forms of skeletal evidence in the courtroom upon jurors, and also the role of prior trauma and mental health on short and long-term emotional and stress responses among mock jurors. Our work has received media attention and political support from Baroness Berridge in the House of Lords. We were the first to launch Jury Duty Appreciation Week in England and Wales in 2024, recognising the important work that jurors do and the need for well-being support for those affected by distressing trials. We continue to develop this area of research into the wellbeing of jurors in the coming months.

For more details about our work, please see our Courtroom Wellbeing Hub website.

Psychological trauma and victimisation

I have a related interest in understanding the impacts of psychological trauma and victimisation. I am particularly interested in the influence of trauma dosage and the consequences of exposure to multiple forms of adversity across the the lifespan. I am also interested in the antecedents of, and factors that sustain, repeat victimisation.

Previous projects in this area have included an EU-funded study into repeat victimisation and service use, early intervention in domestic violence, and evaluations of support provided by third sector organisations to male and female survivors of sexual violence.

Teaching

Postgraduate courses

My teaching takes place on the postgraduate programmes in Psychology.

MSc Forensic Psychology programme:

  • Theory & Practice in Forensic Psychology (Unit Lead)

 MSc Psychological Wellbeing in Clinical Practice and MSc Forensic Psychology:

  • Dissertation (Dissertation Supervisor)

MSc Childhood Development and Wellbeing in Practice,  MSc Psychological Wellbeing in Clinical Practice, MSc Forensic Psychology and MSc Health Psychology:

  • Research Principles and Methods (Quantitative Lead)

Supervision

PhD supervision

He is also member of four supervisory teams:

  • Kayumba Chiwele (PhD student, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2022-present). Principal Supervisor, with Dr Kim Heyes as First Supervisor. Project titled: A Community-Based Intervention to Tackle Domestic Violence and Improve Mental Health in Young Underprivileged Women in a Peri-Urban Community of Misisi in Lusaka, Zambia. 
  • Kate Whittenbury (PhD student, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2019-present). First Supervisor with Dr Martin Turner as Principal Supervisor. Project titled: Exploring the Impact of Indirect Exposure to Trauma.
  • Craig Howes (PhD student, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2020-present). First Supervisor with Dr Martin Turner as Principal Supervisor. Project titled: Exploring self-regulation in runners to examine whether dysfunctional beliefs mediate the relationships between athletic identity and physical and psychological wellbeing.     

Former doctoral students:

  • Lauren Haythornthwaite (Clinical Doctorate student, University of Liverpool, 2018-2023). External Supervisor with Dr Gundi Kiemle (Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool) and Rob Balfour (CEO, Survivors West Yorkshire). Project titled: Posttraumatic growth among female survivors of domestic violence: Interpersonal and structural facilitators and barriers. Completed.

I am happy to be contacted for PhD supervision in the following areas:

  • Psychological trauma and/or stress 
  • Posttraumatic growth
  • Victimology

MSc dissertation supervision

I actively encourage my dissertation students to publish their work. To date, I have supervised over 50 postgraduate dissertations.

Research outputs

Career history

2022 - present

Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University

2019 - 2022

Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University

2013 - 2019

Researcher, University of Central Lancashire

2013 - 2017

Assistant Psychologist, Coastal Child and Adult Therapeutic Services

2012 - 2016

Volunteer, Lancashire Probation Service

Press and media

Brooks, M., & Fawcett, H. (2024, May). The trial: Daily Mail. Apple Podcasts.

Stanford, P. (2024, May). ‘I still have nightmares from my jury service on a rape trial’. The Telegraph.

Brooks, M., & Fawcett, H. (2024, February). Jury Hub Podcast: Wellbeing of Jurors. Open University.

Brooks, M. & Fawcett, H. (2024, February). Jurors need help – gruelling criminal cases can leave them with lasting trauma. The Conversation.

Rosseinsky, K. (2023, July). “I’ve been deeply lonely at crucial life moments”: can you be too independent? Stylist Magazine.

Robson, D. (2022, March). The complicated truth of post-traumatic growth. BBC Worklife.