Maggie Long

Dr Maggie Long is a Senior Lecturer in Counselling Studies with the School of Communication and Media. She is currently Course Director for the BSc (Hons) Communication and Counselling Studies. She completed her PhD in 2013, which focused on self-harm and help seeking. Maggie's research interests include mental health, self-injury, trauma, gender and relational wellbeing. She employs an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and researching mental health that draws on sociological and psychological concepts and theories. She is particularly interested in sociological concepts applied to issues in mental health. Maggie has supervised seven PhDs to completion on issues related to maternal wellbeing, youth mental health, social justice, and addictions. Maggie is currently supervising three PhD researchers, carrying out research in the fields of mental health, trauma, neurodiversity, and counselling/therapy. Her research findings have been published in key international journals including Qualitative Health Research, Health Sociology Review and Deviant Behavior. Maggie was Principal Investigator on the 2022 “Sustaining Healthy Relationships” project commissioned by Relate NI, and the 2024 University-funded impact project, “Relating: Relationship Hacks for Everyday Life”, which involved the development and production of a series of podcasts based on the 2022 research, available to listen on the Relate NI website and Spotify. Maggie's book, “A Psychosocial Understanding of Self-injury and Trauma” was published by Open University Press in 2022. Maggie's book and her most recent publications in the Journal of Psychosocial Studies, bring together her interdisciplinary approach to understanding trauma and gender-based violence in contexts of collective trauma.